Most automakers have owners. Jeep has fans.
When you have owners, the closest you come to a themed holiday is a series of TV commercials advertising discounts under a marketing name you made up for a month.
When you have fans, you can invite them to an annual event and they’ll show up. Every spring, Jeep brings thousands of off-road enthusiasts into Moab, Utah – home of some of America’s best vehicular trails – to the annual Jeep Easter Safari.
They arrive in their own Wranglers and vintage Cherokees for group rides. But Jeep also brings along a collection of one-of-a-kind new toys to show off.
2024 is a bit of a tamer year for Safari-goers. Jeep brought just four concepts to this year’s event (down from seven last year).
Jeep Wrangler Low Down Concept
Once they’re finished showing off a concept, many automakers park it in a warehouse somewhere and forget about it. Jeep tends to bring older concepts to events over and over for years – a way of keeping faith with the massive tuner community that modifies Wranglers for fun. So, a Jeep concept can be a recurring hit.
The 2009 Lower 40 Concept is a hit. For that one, Jeep put a big 5.7-liter V8 under the hood of a Wrangler and fit huge 40-inch mud-terrain tires. But they kept the ride height at factory level with deep fender cuts.
The Low Down is an homage to that model. This time, it rides on 42-inch beadlocks under high-clearance carbon fiber fender flares.
“The stock Wrangler Rubicon 392 suspension remains intact, but Dana 60 axles with 5.38 gears replace the standard Dana 44 axles with 4:10 gears. Between the diameter of the tires and the shortening of the front and rear bumpers, the Low Down’s center of gravity remains low, while the ground clearance, breakover, and approach and departure angles all get dramatic increases,” Jeep says.
Painted Poison Apple Red, it uses the 475-horsepower 6.4-liter 392 V8 engine Jeep is retiring this year.
Jeep Willys Dispatcher Concept
For this model, Jeep took its most modern powertrain and gave it a vintage vibe.
The Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid becomes the Dispatcher with Super Traxion 36-inch tires “wrapped around vintage-style 16-by-7-inch alloy steelies.” The bumper is a brand-new custom setup designed to look like a classic and hold an 8274 Warn winch.
It’s all painted in Element 115 Green – an Easter egg shade – with the windshield header in gloss black. Inside, distressed saddle leather and houndstooth cloth inserts give it an old-school feel. Jeep also pulled off the headrests for a classic look.
Jeep Gladiator Rubicon High Top Concept
The Jeep Performance Parts division always brings a few concepts of its own to Moab. This year, they start with the Gladiator pickup. It uses the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine and a TorqueFlite 8-speed automatic transmission.
The High Top is painted in a Ginger Snap and gloss black scheme that will remind some of you of 1980s cassette tapes. That theme continues inside with quilted tan and black leather seats.
It rides on 40×13.5R18 BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO3 tires mounted on 18-by-9-inch Satin Black KMC Grenade Crawl beadlock wheels.
Flat fender flares give lots of clearance. “Unstoppable Dana 60 front and rear axles with matching 5.38:1 gearing and an AccuAir adjustable air suspension help make easy work of any serious off-road excursion.”
American Expedition Vehicles gave it a custom front bumper with a protective hoop for the Warn winch. In the bed, the Decked storage system available from Jeep Performance Parts gives it dual sliding drawers.
Jeep Vacationeer Concept
The Grand Wagoneer gets some Moab love with this mint green overlander. Wood-look graphics on the sides nod to vintage Wagoneers.
It rolls on 35-inch BFGoodrich mud-terrain tires with larger wheel openings to accommodate them. Roofline-mounted Tyri LED lights show the trail at night. But it’s the RedTail Overland Skyloft roof-mounted pop-up tent that will get most of the attention.
Jeep removed the second- and third-row seats to make the rear into living space. You can access the loft without leaving the SUV. The tent is climate-controlled, with solar panels to provide some of the power for the setup.
“Power in the Jeep Vacationeer concept comes from the 3.0-liter Hurricane Twin Turbo 510 engine, delivering 510 horsepower and 500 lb.-ft. of torque,” Jeep says.
Inside, “The Jeep brand turned to renowned fashion designer and Wagoneer enthusiast/owner Kiel James Patrick for the front Tupelo leather seats.” They feature a New England plaid dotted with silhouettes of the kind of classic Jeep vehicles that show up in Utah for Easter.
