► Creativity/craziness of Mopar in seven concepts
► Celebrating 51st Easter Jeep Safari in Moab
► Concepts include dune buggy, lighting demo
Another year, another set of wild concept off-roaders from Jeep and its parts and customisation arm Mopar. The 51st annual Easter Jeep Safari kicks off on 8 April, so the two brands have once again teamed up to show off the best of what they can do. In order to impress the die-hard fans that visit the Easter Safari in their thousands, these concepts are extreme even by Mopar standards.
All of the new concepts are kitted out with production and prototype-spec Mopar parts and will be thrashed at the event to test out just how durable they are.
Easter Jeep Safari Concepts 2017: what have we got?
Jeep Safari
One of the softer, more ‘family friendly’ concepts, the Safari is designed to give those on the rear pew the best view. The (cue eye-roll) ‘windoors’ are made from aluminium and clear vinyl and the rear seats can rotate outwards so your passengers can pap elephants and giraffes with fewer heads in the way.
Jeep Grand One
Jeep has gone back in time with this one, resurrecting the design of the 1993 ZJ. The shape has been spruced up with custom 18-inch wheels and beefed-up wheelarches, but touches like a ’90s car phone and period materials inside help keep the classic look. It’s still capable of taking on the rough stuff, too, with a massive V8, selectable locking diffs and raised suspension.
Jeep Quicksand
According to Jeep, this one is a ‘loud, fast and fun hot rod.’ It’s built to take on the dunes of the Mojave, but the lack of door windows and open roof means that you’ll probably be swallowing some of it, too. Along with the brutish V8 with open headers, there’s a winch in case you get a little too enthusiastic/reckless/stuck (delete where appropriate).
Jeep Trailpass
The Trailpass is all about boosting the new Compass’s off-road abilities. Finished in a fetching shade of green with flashes of orange, the Trailpass gets bespoke leather seats, chunky Continental TerrainContact tyres and a roof basket for all your action sports gear.
Jeep Switchback
The Switchback pretty much crashed its way through the Mopar parts warehouse. The Wrangler-based concept is packed to the rafters with heavy-duty equipment including Dana 44 front and rear axles, toughened differential covers and a winch.
Jeep CJ66
It’s alive! The CJ 66 is built using parts from three different generations of Wrangler, so it’s basically Frankenstein’s monster with a HEMI V8. Finished in US President Orange (officially known as Copper Canyon Orange), the CJ 66 is the sum of Mopar’s crazy ideas made real.
Jeep Luminator
The Luminator has enough lights on it to at the very least cause a fair amount of tanning to anyone coming the other way. The concept has been built to showcase all of Mopar’s new lighting tech – just don’t look directly at it for too long.