Taking the new Toledo-built Wrangler off road - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

The 2013 Jeep Wranglers are now in showrooms, but before they hit dealerships, Chrysler puts the new models to the test at a massive off road course just outside Ann Arbor.

13abc's Lissa Guyton covers the Jeep beat. She was the only local reporter to travel to the Chrysler Proving Grounds in Chelsea earlier this summer to see the new Wrangler in action. Jeep team members say it easily handled everything they threw at it on the off road course. Lissa drove the new model back in June, but Chrysler asked us to keep the story under wraps until now.

The Jeep team says the 2013 model is a great mix of new and old. From hills to rocks and water to rough terrain they test the Wrangler against every off road obstacle you can imagine.

And according to Jim Morrison the Director of Jeep Product Marketing they just ramped up the course, "We needed a new, stronger, more difficult course to really push the Wrangler to the limits and that is what we're doing."

The latest model sports new wheels as well interior changes including seats and lighting. Mark Allen is the head of Jeep design and he says what hasn't changed is it's signature trait, "The Wrangler capability is always there, we just keep making refinements and tweaking things to make it better, but one thing we won't ever mess with is the off road capabilities, which is really the Wrangler's calling card.'

Morrison says the mix of new and old is working well, "The combination of new powertrain and some changes to the interior are working extremely well. throw in the amount of passion and fun that go into making it, and it the coolest vehicle in the world, it really is."

When it comes to sales Allen says the Wrangler continues to shatter records, rolling right over the competition,"The Wrangler has no good reason to exist, it is a bit of an oddity in the auto world, but it survives and thrives and there is no end in site, it is just going to go and go and go."

Both Allen and Morrison credit much of the on-going success to the Toledo workforce, "Toledo is home of the wrangler and we love that. The city and the jeep are intertwined and I think it will stay like that forever."

The 2013 Wranglers are just starting to trickle on to dealer lots, so yo can now get behind the wheel too. One other thing we learned from the head of Jeep design is they will continue offering unusual colors, like the bright orange, green and blue models they are now making. They saw expect even more fun color offerings in the future.