{"id":22047,"date":"2018-03-23T15:12:43","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T19:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=22047"},"modified":"2018-03-23T15:12:43","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T19:12:43","slug":"jeep-debuts-seven-new-moab-rock-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/jeep-debuts-seven-new-moab-rock-stars","title":{"rendered":"Jeep debuts seven new Moab rock stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CN018_005JPn3oqad1el4dond9dvbrc2qrh6b\"<\/p>\n<\/div>

Auburn Hills \u2013\u00a0<\/em>Behold the first Jeep of spring. Make that seven Jeeps.<\/p>\n

Thousands of off-road enthusiasts emerge from winter hibernation later this month to celebrate the annual Easter Jeep Safari on the\u00a0epic landscape of Moab, Utah<\/a>. For a week leading up to Easter Sunday, they will saddle up their street-legal, four-wheeldrive steeds to scale challenging trails with names like Hell\u2019s Revenge and the Golden Spike.<\/p>\n

Fiat Chrysler\u2019s Jeep and Mopar brands will celebrate the occasion with seven state-of-the-art mules like the high-speed Jeep Sandstorm, Jeep 4SPEED and luxurious Jeep Wagoneer Roadtrip.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love this event,\u201d said Jeep boss Mike Manley. \u201cWe spend a week (in Moab) with our customers who get to experience these vehicles in their natural habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vehicles aren\u2019t show concepts, but hardcore off-roaders that will be put to the test while in Moab.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are fully functional, and that\u2019s the key,\u201d Jeep design chief Mark Allen said in an interview. \u201cAll the hardware is real. We will fully drive and test them off-road. They are highly capable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen says the experience \u2014 Jeep has been making Moab concepts since 2003 \u2014 gives Jeep designers and engineers valuable insight into what customers want. Many of concept innovations wind up on production vehicles or in Mopar parts catalogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, on the 2018 Wrangler the high fender-flares are a product of the concepts,\u201d says Allen. \u201cAlso, the metal bumpers, because people were damaging the plastic ones. And we made the top a lot easier to take off \u2014 that was direct feedback we were getting from (Moab) enthusiasts.\u201d<\/p>\n

All but two of Jeep\u2019s seven concept rock stars are based on the Wrangler.<\/p>\n

One of the exceptions is the Wagoneer Roadtrip, a 1965 nostalgia piece that will whet Jeep nation\u2019s appetite for the opulent Wagoner and Grand Wagoneer\u00a0promised for 2020<\/a>. The Ram truck-based Wagoneers will be land yachts aimed at the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator.<\/p>\n

The other exception is the B-Ute, a concept based on the Renegade.<\/p>\n

The Wagoneer Roadtrip shows off interior luxuries like a custom cooler and toolbox. The Jeep team found it on Craigslist (\u201cIt was rust-free,\u201d said Allen), then took it apart and reassembled it with upgrades like disc brakes and a 4.7-liter Hemi V-8. Then they painted it \u201cmintage\u201d green. Stretched five inches from the \u201965 original, it comes with a wider track, custom fender-flares and Bottle Green glass. Its off-road capability will be reinforced by monster Dana front and rear axles with lockers, coil-over springs and big 33-inch BF Goodrich mudballs.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Wranglers crawl over Moab like insects and the 52nd Safari will no doubt welcome many, brand-new Wranglers which went on sale early this year.<\/p>\n

The Jeep Sandstorm concept is a Wrangler on steroids for sustained, high-speed off-roading in places like Mexico\u2019s Baja desert \u2014 which is a long way from Utah. Nevertheless, the long-wheelbase, stripped down Sandstorm (no tailgate, chopped doors, carbon-fiber hood) will get a racer\u2019s cage and beefed-up suspension with up to 18 inches of wheel travel on cartoonish 39.5-inch tires.<\/p>\n

Drivers will be strapped in to bucket seats in a stripped-down cockpit. A beefy, 485-horsepower, 6.4-liter V-8 engine provides power.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know nothing about high-speed off-roading,\u201d said designer Allen. \u201cThis is a great opener, and I\u2019ll learn a lot more in Moab. We can\u2019t wait to throw it around on the rocks.\u201d<\/p>\n

With rock-crawling in mind, the Jeep 4SPEED concept goes on a 950-pound diet. Following on the 2011 \u201cPork Chop\u201d and 2013 \u201cStitch\u201d concepts, 4SPEED\u2019s bod is shortened 22 inches for better approach and departure angles while maintaining the Wrangler\u2019s stock wheelbase. Also stock will be the 2.0-liter turbo-4 found in the new-gen Jeep. Not stock are massive, 35-inch tires and raised ride-height. The rear seats have also been removed.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the Jeep Safari concepts are:<\/p>\n

\u25a0The Nacho Jeep is so-named for a Nacho yellow paint job that would fit right in at Taco Bell. Nacho gets a see-through \u201ctube door,\u201d cold-air intake for the turbo-4 engine and a winch kit. Bright LED windshield and A-pillar-mounted lights aid nighttime visibility. In the back, a four-color antennae-like LED communicates to followers the trail conditions ahead: stop (red); 1-3 mph (amber); 3-25 mph (green); and a floodlight (white).<\/p>\n

\u25a0The Renegade-based Jeep B-Ute is armed with a Tigershark 4-banger and bristles with performance parts. Features include unique front and rear fascias, 11\/2-inch lift kit, roof rack and Mopar all-weather floor mats. Allen calls the Renegade the \u201cgateway drug to Wrangler.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u25a0The Jeep Jeepster reaches back to the \u201966 Jeepster for its inspiration. The original\u2019s classic, two-tone graphic theme is recreated with a Firecracker Red body and white, chopped hardtop. Rubicon fenders get fog lights that announce huge 37-inch tires. More Firecracker Red trim highlights the interior which also houses the spare tire. The tire-less swing-gate is reserved for storage packs for transporting gear, food and tools. In case you\u2019re in Moab for a while.<\/p>\n

\u25a0The premium J-Wagon concept is dressed to be at home in rural or urban environs. Starting as a Wrangler Sahara, the J-Wagon is painted gray with tinted glass and features body color-matching bezel trim and upscale Brass Monkey wheels. Posh appointments continue inside with camel-color leather seats and Brass Monkey trim on HVAC vents, door handles and steering wheel.<\/p>\n

The concepts\u2019 unique looks are all drawn from Mopar\u2019s parts bin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Auburn Hills \u2013\u00a0Behold the first Jeep of spring. Make that seven Jeeps. Thousands of off-road enthusiasts emerge from winter hibernation later this month to celebrate the annual Easter Jeep Safari on the\u00a0epic landscape of Moab, Utah. For a week leading up to Easter Sunday, they will saddle up their street-legal, four-wheeldrive steeds to scale challenging […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22047"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22047"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22048,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22047\/revisions\/22048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}