Not every car that lands with us wears a Honda, Toyota or Nissan badge. This fresh import arrived from Japan packing a 6.4 litre Hemi V8, and this Jeep Grand Cherokee is exactly the sort of thing people forget we can source.
This Jeep is a 2014 Grand Cherokee SRT with 470bhp and launch control. On a school run it looks like any other big family SUV. Give it some throttle and you will feel it lunge forward with an almighty roar to follow.
The Hemi Engine
6.4 litres, naturally aspirated, eight cylinders and not a turbo in sight. It fires up with a proper V8 bark through the twin exhausts rather than the synthesised sound a lot of modern performance cars pipe through the speakers. It will do 0 to 62 in five seconds flat with a top speed of 160mph, which for a two and a bit tonne SUV is pretty ridiculous.
The ZF eight speed shifts cleanly, the suspension swaps the standard car's air setup for Bilstein springs and active damping, and it sits lower front and rear. There is launch control too, so you can pull away from the school drop off zone and reach 30mph faster than all the other parents.
Under The Radar
This is the appeal. It has none of the visual shouting of a German performance SUV and nobody at the lights has the faintest idea what it is. Inside, this example has the carbon interior trim, the SRT seats and the smaller SRT steering wheel. It does have a menacing stance, with hints to its performance such as its red brake calipers and large twin exit exhaust, however it requires an enthusiasts eye to truly recognise this car for what it is.
Japanese market cars tend to have led easy lives, and at 46,000 miles this one is no exception. Low mileage, well kept and about as far from the usual UK SUV as you can get.
Japan Is Not Just JDM
People come to us for Skylines and Type Rs, and rightly so. But the Japanese auction houses are full of imported American and European metal that was sold new over there, often in better condition and better spec than anything you will find here. If you can name it, there is a decent chance we can find it.
We have been importing from Japan since 2001 and we handle personal imports from the auction house to your driveway. Every step handled by us.
Got something unusual in mind? Get in touch and we will tell you what it takes to get it here.
