2016 Easter Jeep Safari Concepts Might Be Best Yet
Jeep officials have been hinting that this year’s lineup for the Easter Jeep Safari would top last year’s concepts, and they definitely didn’t disappoint.
After releasing a few teases last week, the company rolled out the full lineup on the concepts this morning, proving that you never know what Jeep and Mopar might have up their sleeve when it comes to the annual Moab event, which is set for March 19 – 27.
The 2016 Easter Jeep Safari includes the Jeep Crew Chief 715, Jeep Shortcut, Jeep Renegade Commander, Jeep Comanche, Jeep FC 150, the 707-horsepowered Jeep Trailcat, and the Jeep Trailstorm. Here’s a quick rundown on the concepts, along with a few photos of the Jeeps at a special event. There’s also a gallery at the bottom full of the official photos for the vehicles.
Built as a salute to legendary Jeep military service vehicles, the Jeep Crew Chief 715 features a “Tactical Green” color scheme with steel front and rear bumpers, 20-inch beadlock wheels, and 40-inch NDT military tires. The interior includes leather bucket seats with canvas inserts, aircraft-inspired control switches, and Mopar all-weather mats.
The Jeep Shortcut pays homage to the iconic CJ-5 from the 1950s with a shortened body, a unique grille, hood, tailgate, front and rear wheel flares, and custom chrome front and rear bumpers. Other features include a modified exhaust, 17-inch red steel wheels, and 35-inch BF-Goodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 tires.
The Jeep Renegade Commander concept comes equipped with an assortment of Mopar and Jeep Performance Parts including a 2-inch lift kit, and 17-inch Rubicon aluminum wheels with 29.5-inch BF-Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires. Interior features include Katzkin seat covers, body color bezel accents, a pedal kit, Mopar off-road kit, and Mopar all-weather floor mats.
Based on the Renegade, the Jeep Comanche might be one of the biggest surprises among the new Moab concepts. Touted as “Beige Against the Machine,” the pickup features a Satin Black hood, a concept lower front fascia, winch, steel rear bumper, soft top, and spare tire in the bed. The Comanche is also equipped with a 2-inch lift kit, a winch bolster, and 16-inch painted wheels and 32-inch BF-Goodrich All Terrain T/A tires.
The 1960 Jeep FC 150 concept pays homage to another great period of Jeep history found in the original FC 150 built from 1956 to 1965. The FC 150 concept still utilizes a steel body, much like the older model. But the chassis comes from a 2005 Jeep Wrangler modified to fit a Dana 44 front axle, Dana 60 rear axle, and 17-inch white steel wheels wrapped in 33-inch BF-Goodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 tires.
Certainly the most powerful of the concepts, the Jeep Trailcat answers the call for a Hellcat variant with a two-door Wrangler powered by a 707-horsepower supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI Hellcat V-8 engine mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. To get all that power, designers stretched the wheelbase of the Jeep an additional 12 inches while chopping the windshield two inches.
The Jeep Trailstorm might be the most inconspicuous of the seven concepts, with its camouflage exterior, but there’s certainly nothing inconspicuous about its potential off-road capabilities. The concept has been designed for elevated capabilities off-road with modifications on the Wrangler Unlimited that include 17-inch concept off-road wheels wrapped in 37-inch tires, a 2-inch lift kit with Jeep Performance Parts/Fox shocks, a Jeep Performance Parts Rubicon winch, and Dana 44 front and rear axles.
That’s quite a line-up. And even more, there’s speculation that the Jeep Crew Chief 715 and Jeep Wrangler Trailcat concepts might be signs of a few production models in the works.
