Yes, that ask has us confused too. Here’s what we think
Jeep brings a fleet of cool concepts to every Jeep Easter Safari
One of the best things Jeep does every year is bring a fleet of really cool concept vehicles to the Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah. Their teaser for this year, though, has us a little bit confused.
“Ever wonder what blending two mighty off-roaders like the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Gladiator might look like,” Jeep asks in their press release.
We’re thinking that no, we weren’t wondering about that because the Wrangler and Gladiator are largely the same things. They share most of their bodywork and even have the same doors, which is why the Gladiator’s rear doors look so small. Jeep simply stretched the Wrangler Unlimited to create room for the Gladiator’s pickup bed.
But it’s that stretch that we think Jeep is talking about. “What if a truck dared to be more like an SUV to increase its departure angle?” Jeep says.
So keeping in mind that the two-door Jeep Wrangler and four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited are two different vehicles in the Jeep corporate mind and looking at the sketch from Jeep, we think this could be something interesting.
Imagine a two-door Wrangler with a pickup box. A single-cab Gladiator, if you will. Sort of like the long-rear Jeep TJ Wrangler Unlimited of 2004-2006, but more pickup-trucky. Jeep’s released sketch shows that the other possibility is a four-door truck (though the doors and pillars have been removed) with a shorter truck bed, keeping passenger capability but losing some utility.
For Jeep owners, a shorter wheelbase is a huge deal off-road. Longer models need a wider circle in which to turn around obstacles, they’re also more prone to getting hung up on the frame when cresting hills. All of this meaning that while the idea sounded strange at first, the more we think about it the more sense it makes.
The 2022 Easter Jeep Safari starts April 9th, so expect to see the full reveal of this – and Jeep’s other concepts – right around that date.
