This custom Wrangler looks like an angry, armored alien.
If you weren’t able to make it out to Florida last month for Jeep Beach 2018, don’t feel too bad. You can find plenty of footage from the huge Jeep bash online. In fact, we recently shared some of that footage from an attendee with you. A lot of it was from a bird’s-eye view. Now comes a focused, ground-level view of one particular Wrangler from this year’s Jeep Beach.
The annual gathering of Jeep owners and their rigs is also home to an enormous all-Jeep vendor show. One of those many vendors was Fab Fours, known for its extreme visual modifications. It does a lot of business in the full-size truck world, but the creation in the OFF ROAD N Chillvideo above makes it clear that Fab Fours also has plenty of add-ons for Jeeps, including the new JL Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon.
With the exception of certain details, such as the door handles, hinges, and tail lights, it’s hard to tell right off the bat what this rig started life as. Fab Fours covered it in hardware. Up front, there’s a dramatic V-shaped bumper/grille combo that flows back to form the front fenders and body armor. The windshield is surrounded by Fab Fours’ signature cowl which does reduce outward visibility, but increases the JL’s visual attitude.
A graphics package slashes diagonally from the top of the back windows to the bottom of the front doors. Full-length assist steps/running boards sit between aftermarket wheels and knobby tires. More body armor forms a flat fender above the rear wheels. There’s no spare tire on the back of this heavily modded JL, but there is an upgraded bumper that seems to integrate the factory parking sensors.
It’s not a look for everyone, although in the land of modded Wranglers that is Jeep Beach, it probably blended right in.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
