Jeep Showcases Easter Treats

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

The annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab will kick off later this month, meaning we’re in for a deluge of teaser shots for whatever the mad scientists have cooked up in the Jeep labs ahead of this year’s gathering.

Straight out of the box we have this artist’s rendering of a Wrangler, clad in High Velocity paint and showing up for duty in Willys trim. We speculate this is a Wrangler and not a Gladiator thanks to the charging door peeking out from the right-hand side of the image, a dead giveaway this thing rocks a 4xe powertrain. Although, it’d certainly be cool if Jeep used this year’s EJS to show off a preliminary look at a Gladiator 4xe.


In addition to the in-yer-face hue, the Willys trim level is embossed into the hood of this thing instead of showing up as a set of vinyl stickers. One-off details like these are what make the EJS concept rigs so appealing. We’d be remiss not to mention the jumbo tires sticking up from the bottom of the frame, suggesting this Jeep will have all manner of suspension modifications – some of which may or may not eventually be available through the ever-growing Jeep accessories catalog. 


A shout-out to the so-called ‘Universal Jeep’ is seen in the background, a sure-fire reference to the term Willys applied to its quarter-ton CJ utility vehicles after the war. This is a term which showed up in advertisements throughout the 1950s and well into the ‘60s. Historians of the brand may argue the term may apply for any CJ produced between 1942 and 1986, at which point the Wrangler name entered the lexicon along with square headlights, the latter of which roiled the fan base into a frothing frenzy.


This year’s EJS takes place at the end of March, due to a twist in the Gregorian calendar which places Easter prior to April Fool’s for the first time in several years. 


[Image: Jeep]


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Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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 2 comments
  • Redapple2 Redapple2 on Mar 08, 2024

    We NEVER said Embossed in the plant. It s stamped. 2) It looks like an X. Not S. So what is the heck is a Willy X. A porno?

    • Parkave231 Parkave231 on Mar 08, 2024

      "Is that a Dana 35 in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?"


  • Mike Beranek While the product may appear to be "better", only time will tell. The American automotive environment can chew a car up and spit it out. Will these Chinese EVs survive like a quarter-century old Cavalier, or will they turn out like VinFast's "cars"?
  • Mike Beranek This police vehicle will be perfect for when the State of Florida starts tracking every pregnancy.
  • Dave M. The Highlander hybrid, a larger, heavier vehicle, gets better mpgs. Why? Also, missed opportunity - if Toyota had made this a hatchback, they could have scooped up the "want a Tesla S but not ready for a full EV" crowd, however small or large they may be....
  • TheMrFreeze Difficult call...the more the mainstream automakers discontinue their more affordable models and only sell crazy overpriced EVs and trucks, the more appealing the idea of letting in cheap imported cars becomes with the buying public. If the government is going to impose tariffs on Chinese vehicles, at the same time they need to be getting with the Big 3 and telling them to fill the void with affordable models and not use the tariff as an excuse to simply raise prices. Otherwise, public pressure could see the tariffs withdrawn.I seem to recall the last administration put a 25% tariff on Chinese steel, at which point the US manufacturers immediately used the opportunity to raise their prices 25%...that needs to not happen.
  • Daniel J The real problem I see is it's about 8K too much. I'd prefer a lower trim but they don't offer enough HP for my tastes.
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