Meet This Year’s Easter Jeep Safari Concepts

Every spring, Jeep enthusiasts converge on the off-road haven of Moab, Utah for the Easter Safari, a week of throwing heavily modified Wranglers and other Jeeps up improbable-looking obstacles and trails.

Jeep itself has been in on the fun for the last few years, bringing along a selection of concepts each year outfitted with various bits of off-road kit from the Mopar parts department. This year, it’s brought four new ones along, each with a different theme and powertrain.

The first three concepts are all based on the Wrangler and its Gladiator pickup derivative. The Low Down is in fact an homage to a previous Easter Safari concept, the Lower 40 from 2009. That car featured a chopped roof, massive 40-inch tyres and a 5.7-litre Hemi V8.

The Low Down maintains that theme with 42-inch tyres, Dana 60 axles and a body that’s been chopped down and fitted with a clear power dome on the bonnet. That’s to allow a view of the Low Down’s centrepiece: the 6.4-litre, 475bhp ‘392’ Hemi V8 that’s being steadily phased out across the Dodge and Jeep ranges.

The Willys Dispatcher concept, meanwhile, is said to be a nod to early civilian Jeeps from the postwar period. As a result, it’s been given a retro makeover, with minty green paint and white steel-look alloy wheels. Inside, it gets a combination of tan leather and houndstooth cloth. The powertrain is from the Wrangler 4xe, a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder with a plug-in hybrid system.

The Gladiator Rubicon High Top applies a retro sheen to Jeep’s pickup with a 1970s-tastic graphics pack and colour scheme, and also fits it out with 40-inch tyres, Dana 60 axles and adjustable air suspension. Further off-road kit comes in the form of a Warn winch and power-operated rock rails. Power comes from the dependable but ageing 3.6-litre Pentastar V6.

Finally, and the only one not on the Wrangler platform, is the Vacationeer. It’s based on the North American market Grand Wagoneer, a vast SUV with seating for up to eight. Its body, painted in a colour called Spearminted, is accented by some wood-effect graphics that reference the wood-panelled Wagoneers of the 1960s and ‘70s.

The retro theme continues on the inside with the chequered fabric seat inserts and wood trim. It also gets what Jeep calls a ‘Skyloft’ (read: very nice pop-up roof tent). The Vacationeer is powered by the 510bhp version of the 3.0-litre twin-turbo Hurricane straight-six that will also be used in combustion versions of the new Dodge Charger.

Don’t expect any of the Easter Safari concepts to make production, but it’ll be possible for enterprising Jeepists to create something close to some of them with the various production aftermarket parts they utilise. The Easter Safari itself, meanwhile, is taking place between 23 and 31 March.