New York: Muscled-up 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee will take the stairs, thank you

First thing this morning at 12:01 am, we gave you a deep dive into the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and earlier we sneaked a few snapshots while the truck lazed about before its press conference. Now, we've just returned from Chrysler's press conference to bring you live shots of a polished silver example that climbed the stairs up to the stage here in New York's Javits Center.

Shown here in this color live for the first time, we found that silver serves the Grand Cherokee's newfound contours and angles to very good effect – particularly the muscular door panels. This was also the first glimpse we had of the GC's new air suspension doing its thing, as it easily clambered up the stage steps at full off-road height (11.1-inches), before sinking to its lowest setting, where it looked for all the world like an impromptu low and mean SRT8 version.

We also managed to be among the first inside the vehicle to bring you a few exclusive snapshots of the model's rich new orange-brown leather treatment. Click on the high-res gallery below to see the frame-by-frame climb and the interior for yourself.

Photos Copyright ©2009 Chris Paukert / Weblogs, Inc.