(Images: FCA North America) It’s that time of year again! Each year, Jeep whips up a few concept packages to bring out to Moab as part of the Easter Jeep Safari deal. Each year, we drool over these exercises, which can range from vehicles that show off Mopar products and other aftermarket kits to full-on concept and one-off vehicles. Some years we get a Renegade that will actually live up to it’s Jeep nameplate and other years we get vehicles like the Jeep Shortcut, a JK-based vehicle that nailed the look of a mid-1960s CJ5, complete with the V6 emblems from that era, steel wheels, and flat fenders…the kind of thing that purists would lose their composure over. We’ve gotten the Grand One, a restomodded ZJ Grand Cherokee, and the Jeep Crew Chief 715, another JK-based vehicle that riffed beautifully on the old Kaiser M-715 military truck. In short, we get excited for Easter Jeep Safari concepts because it’s when we get to see the engineers and the designers go all-out and have a little fun. It’s for the fans of a nameplate that has transcended any company that has owned it, into it’s own unique thing, both as a vehicle and what that vehicle means to fans the world over.
Two teasers have been revealed so far. Both are JL Wrangler based and both seem to harken back to the old days for Jeep. The orange vehicle has had it’s fenders modified and appears to be running a full-tube bumper or rockplate setup. And if our eyes are still sharp, the dust cloud seems to be obscuring what might be a truck bed. Naturally, a lift is going to be a part of the deal and we expect a V8 swap, according to the promise that hoodscoop is offering. The orange/white one is even more interesting, because that two-tone design says “Commando” like none other. Hopefully any modified styling cues take from the Kaiser-era Commando and not the C104 variation that American Motors pushed out the door.
These are just two sketches that have popped up. We expect to see more come out soon…
