We meet Jimmy at 35,000ft above the Sahara desert. What he lacks in physical stature, he more than makes up for in evangelical passion for his chosen subject.

Were Jimmy actually on this aircraft, I might find his brand of indefatigable enthusiasm rather grating, but he’s not: he’s dancing around on the screen of the portable DVD player that’s been lent to me by Chrysler’s press people to introduce me to this new Jeep Cherokee. He is a one-man press conference with a quick wit, a sharp suit and an annoying manner.

My fear is that Jimmy (full name Jimmy Rhodes, an American presenter hired to front the Jeep advertising campaign, even though he’s unknown to Brits) scored this gig because Jeep thinks he is the living embodiment of all the Cherokee stands for. I hope not.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Cherokee since it was at the vanguard of the Jeep brand’s UK relaunch in 1993. That original and its successor (which this car will soon replace) were not great cars but at least they were authentic off-roaders, true to the values of the oldest 4x4 marque of all. My hope was that this entirely new generation of Cherokee would retain that character, while providing a little more creature comfort.

I don’t like the lights that should dominate instead of sitting as splodges at either side of Jeep’s trademark seven-bar grille but the rest of the car is chunky and industrially angular, as any good Jeep should be. Its look would die a thousand deaths if the car were just another one of the ever burgeoning ranks of pseudo-SUVs from a brand with no history in the genre, but for the Cherokee it is just right.

And before we’ve even set off, it seems to have most of the basics covered. For a start there’s a great deal of room in the front, back and boot, which is more than you can say for many of the off-roaders with which it will have to compete when sales start next May. The quality of the interior fitments has been improved, and while it’s still not hard to find evidence of the lousy construction standards that have blighted almost all American cars to go on sale in the UK in recent years, it doesn’t any longer feel irretrievably shoddy. It’s just a little bit rough around the edges.

Underneath there’s new suspension at front and rear, claimed to improve behaviour both on and off the road, while the 2.8 litre diesel engine is now substantially more powerful, yet uses less fuel, emits lower levels of CO2 and, says Jeep, is considerably quieter.

So far so good. Problems only arise when you pull the lever of the optional (£1,000) five-speed auto box into Drive and head out onto the road. We’re in the far south of Morocco, right on the edge of the Sahara, and you can’t go fast here, unless you want to risk your life as well as those of the many donkeys, goats, camels and children that wander aimlessly along the roadside. Even so, I can tell the ride quality is still fairly agricultural and engine performance remains limited, despite the power boost. It is tolerably quick and acceptably comfortable, but really no more.

In an era when customers want their SUVs to look like off-roaders but drive like hot hatches, I think this is likely to count against the Cherokee. And it’s no use banging on about how much better it is than the old model, because any car that fails to improve on the standards set by a predecessor introduced six years ago should never have been signed off as fit for sale.

Somehow, though, the fact that the engine is coarse is nothing like as offensive in a Jeep as it would be in any other rival. It almost complements its nononsense, hair-shirt character.

And despite the lack of straight-line shove, fun can still be had because it actually handles rather well, steering predictably and proving easy to manoeuvre.

Of course Jeep has not brought me here just to cruise around the roads, and soon I am selecting four-wheel drive and heading for the mountains of sand to the south. Jeep knows this is the environment that best suits the Cherokee, and slipping into character is easy and automatic. On the long dirt roads that lead to the desert, you pull back the full-length fabric sunroof, find your elbow heading for the windowsill and watch the dust swirl into vortices in the mirror. With the Atlas mountains behind you and the Sahara ahead, it’s not difficult to feel intrepid and to realise the car was born for this kind of adventure. Quite how it would cope with the Hammersmith flyover at 8am on a rainy Monday is another matter.

But for now golden dunes of ever-shifting sand are gathering around the Jeep, tugging at its tyres, trying to suck it down. Driving on sand requires a diametrically opposed technique to driving through mud. On slippery surfaces, speed is a killer, but out here it is the only friend you’ve got. When you try to drive off after coming to a halt on an entirely innocent looking patch of straight and level sand the car digs straight down until its belly hits the desert floor.

And here, in a setting of precisely zero relevance to the UK car buyer, the Jeep was simply outstanding. That engine may not offer much go, but it kept the wheels turning and the Jeep moving long after logic said I should have been reaching for the sand shovels. It ascended vast walls of sand and not once in several desert hours was it defeated. Come what may, and without complaint, it took everything the Sahara and I could throw at it and just kept going.

It is easy to feel well disposed towards a car when it has provided an experience like that, but even with that warm glow of achievement still fresh in my belly, I can see that the Cherokee will really only appeal to a certain sort of SUV buyer.

If you’re after an on-road car that merely looks like an off-road car, then forget this Jeep – it’s far too honest and others are much better at that particular charade. Driving a Jeep will undoubtedly make you look rugged in front of your friends but the rest of the time it might drive you to distraction, so think hard before buying one for its badge.

On the other hand, you may have a need for such a car, even if you don’t live in a desert. You may do a lot of towing, or live somewhere sufficiently remote to risk getting cut off in the winter. You may even have a genuine need or desire for its clearly terrific off-road abilities, which extend all the way from its bash plates to its low-ratio transfer box, standard on all models.

Or you may just buy one because, whatever else it may or may not be, it is nothing if not real. You may already be tiring of this new breed of soft SUV whose sleek looks cannot forever conceal the awkward fact that its off-road abilities simply can’t match its promise. You might conclude that the Jeep’s rather limited performance and slightly bouncy ride is a more than acceptable price to pay for a car that is the genuine article: a proper, pukka off-roader from a real manufacturer of off-roaders.

It is a view with which I have a certain sympathy. In an age in which perception has become more important than reality in almost all areas of our lives, it is refreshing to be reacquainted with a product that is exactly as it looks; usually that requires a Ferrari.

So I wish the new Cherokee well. It’s not as good as Jimmy suggested it might be, but that was hardly a surprise. He looked like the kind of guy who would put in a favourable word for athlete’s foot if you asked him nicely enough. But it is a good and proper SUV and, in these increasingly image-obsessed days, a welcome one too.

Vital statistics

Model Jeep Cherokee CRD Limited
Engine type 2768cc, four cylinders, turbodiesel
Power/Torque 177bhp @ 3800rpm / 339 lb ft @ 2000rpm
Transmission Five-speed manual
Fuel/CO2 30.1mpg (combined cycle) / 250g/km
Performance 0-62mph: 11.5sec (est) / Top speed: 112mph (est)
Price £24,595
Verdict Charming and characterful but still a flawed SUV
Date of release May 2008

The opposition

Model
Nissan X-Trail 2.0dCi 150 Aventura £24,395
For Quite good to drive on road and reasonable off
Against Looks a little odd inside and out

Model
Land Rover Freelander 2 Td4 XS £25,510
For Great image, excellent to drive on road
Against Costly, lack of low-ratio box limits off-road ability