Jeep Flights: More Teasers for the Easter Safari

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

Every year, gearheads at Jeep make a pilgrimage to the off-road mecca that is Moab, bringing along a yaffle of concept vehicles. Some of these rigs point to a future model, others too-cool restomods, and a few are tremendously bonkers one-offs.

We’re not entirely sure into which category today’s teaser will fall but, knowing Jeep, there’s a decent chance they’ll be putting this terrifically overpowered off-roader into production.

It’s apparently been two decades since the Rubicon name was first appended to a Wrangler, explaining the ‘20’ marked in superscript at the end of this Jeep’s bonnet banner. Other typical badges such as the Trail Rated icon are present and accounted for, plus a very entertaining ‘392’ tag on the flared hood. The latter tells us there is a 6.4-liter V8 under the hood of this concept, a mill already found in production Jeeps where it cranks out 470 horsepower.

Pro tip: Your author can confirm it is best to have the wheels of a Wrangler 392 pointed in a straight line before the dropping the hammer. This amount of power in a rig with a high center of gravity is as terrifying as it is grin-inducing. Fuel prices be damned, I’d gladly park one right next to my own V8-equipped Challenger.

Jeep has also teased a couple of other concepts ahead of Easter Safari, including what’s presumably an electrified variant of an existing model. The brand is all in with their 4xe line of vehicles, with company brass promising just about all its lineup will be powered by electrons in some form or another over the next few years. On the other end of the spectrum, a silhouette of a Gladiator pickup has been shown, featuring what appears to be burly accessories and a 392-style hood.

Elsewhere in Jeepland, all hands are busying themselves with an electrification strategy called Zero Emission Freedom, an effort which includes introducing the brand’s first all-electric SUV sometime in the 2023 calendar year. CEO Carlos Tavares showed a sketch of that vehicle during a Stellantis presentation earlier this year, revealing a machine which seems to be about the size of a present-day Compass while mashing together design cues from that model and the little Renegade.

[Image: Stellantis]

Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • Kcflyer Kcflyer on Mar 11, 2022

    Dear Jeep. Can we have the 5.7L v8 and 8 speed automatic in the Wrangler? If you really want to make it irresistible offer it with the six speed manual. Pretty Please. The 6.4 is too pricey. Maybe make the 5.7 a 2 thousand dollar upgrade over the 6 cylinder. please and thank you.

  • Redapple Redapple on Mar 11, 2022

    KC.... Fricken A yes! I m in line behind you.

  • Bd2 Dark Brandon is doing a great job for the US. I hope he can run for a third term.
  • Dave M. My hipster daughter is greatly into it. We watched the race together this weekend. It was interesting but I'm not devoted to it like she is. She'll be at the Austin race in October.
  • Bd2 If I had time to watch other people driving, then I would go for LMP.
  • Steve Biro There are 24 races on this year’s F1 schedule. And I guarantee you no more than two will be reasonably exciting, Meanwhile, F1’s reception for Andretti reveals the dark underbelly of the sport. I have followed F1 since the 1960s and, frankly, I am running out of interest. I’ll catch a race if it’s convenient but won’t bother DVRing them.
  • YellowDuck Been watching since the 80s, seriously since the 90s once we had reliable TV coverage. I'm in Canada though. Hey, and don't forget that the Interlagos race is also in a convenient time zone, as is Mexico. So that's 5 races in the Americas. Absolutely love it, but it takes a bit more interest in the technical / strategic side of things to really appreciate it. It's not just going fast in circles until someone crashes into someone else, while drunk people watch. The US can be proud of what it has contributed - Austin is one of the best tracks on the calendar, Vegas turned out to be much better than anyone could have hoped, and even Miami - a real Indy car-style track - produced a good race this year.
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