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]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Related
