► Jeep’s 2023 Easter Safari cars
► One-offs include electric Wrangler…
► …and camping-spec Wagoneer
Jeep has unveiled its latest round of one-off Easter Safari show cars, and they’re as wild as ever.
Every year, design and engineer teams from Jeep and the wider Mopar business spend some of their off time creating concept cars to prove that there’s nothing as flexible as a Jeep.
The Easter Safari is an event in Moab, Utah. The 2023 event will be the 57th, and Jeep calls it a home away from home. ‘Every year, more than 20,000 Jeep enthusiasts descend on Moab, Utah, for Easter Jeep Safari to drive in the most extreme off-road conditions, where our engineers continue to push the capability of our Jeep vehicles to next levels,’ says head of Jeep North America, Jim Morrison; ‘it’s with these Jeep enthusiasts that we’ll be able to push the limits even more and get their feedback on where they want to take the Jeep brand into the future.’
This year, Jeep unveiled seven concepts. We’ve picked the four best of the bunch.
Jeep Easter Safari 2023: the concept highlights
Wrangler Magneto 3.0
For the third year on the bounce, Jeep has created a battery-electric Wrangler nicknamed Magneto. This year’s offering produces up to 650bhp and 900lb ft via a custom-built axial flux motor, and even includes a six-speed manual ‘gearbox’ and low-range mode. Huge Dynatrac axles and 40-inch tyres finish feature, as does a revision of the white and blue colour scheme the Magneto concepts have always had.
1978 Jeep Cherokee 4xe concept
A proper restomod, this. It’s the smashing together of a classic 1978 Cherokee body with the backbone of a Wrangler Rubicon 4xe plug-in hybrid. ‘Whenever we do one of these restomods where we take an old Jeep and update it, it’s by far one of the most popular things we do, says Jeep head of design Mark Allen; ‘this one is a sort of two-door version of the Wagoneer. It’s an original Cherokee we bought on Craigslist.’
As well as the properly 70s paint scheme, the Cherokee features the 4xe’s powertrain as well as 37-inch tyres with 17-inch wheels and a roll cage inside.
Grand Wagoneer Overland
A properly plush go-anywhere camper for two? Jeep has it licked with the Grand Wagoneer Overland. A custom ‘Skyloft’ roof fixture from RedTail Overland is made from carbonfibre and unfolds in just 10 seconds with one single action.
There are just two seats in this concept, as the design team wanted to focus on adding as many creature comforts as possible. Beanbags, rear seat entertainment kits and lumberjack-style plaid upholstery completes the look.
Jeep Scrambler 392
The Scrambler was Jeep’s first convertible back in 1981, and this lurid green concept is a bit of a nod to those hooligans of the past. The number is in relation the powertrain: the whopping 6.4-litre HEMI V8 used in the Wrangler Rubicon 392 (which we’ve driven here) that sounds like thunder and makes any Jeep shift like manure off a spade.
The bodywork has been extensively modified from its four-door Wrangler base, with a lower roofline and more steeply raked windscreen. And, of course, no doors, so you can see that fantastic tartan upholstery inside.