Home » Jeep Phoned In The Easter Jeep Safari Concepts This Year. Here’s Why I’m OK With It

Jeep Phoned In The Easter Jeep Safari Concepts This Year. Here’s Why I’m OK With It

Easter Jeeps Ts2 (1)
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The Easter Jeep Safari concepts are an annual tradition from my former employer, Chrysler (now called Stellantis). The company does not have to build wacky custom Jeeps every year, but it does anyway, and for that I am immensely grateful. That said, relative to years past, this year’s concepts were phoned in; there’s just no other way to put it.

My headline would technically be better if I ditched the “Here’s why I’m Okay With It” ending, but I’d be an ungrateful swine if I just ragged on some concept cars that Jeep makes for our enjoyment (and for marketing, of course). Come on: Nobody needs to spend millions on half a dozen fun concept cars that journalists get to drive at the Easter Jeep Safari — an event Jeep shows up to year in and year out despite all the costs associated with flying out employees, housing those employees, shipping vehicles, renting space in the hardware store parking lot for a big display, feeding and sometimes housing journalists, and on and on. [Update: And to make it abundantly clear, this is not something that a company that’s recently been cutting employees needs to spend money on. -DT].

Vidframe Min Top
Vidframe Min Bottom

With that out of the way, I’m going to call a spade a spade. This year’s concepts are mid. Boring. Wack. Whatever term you want to use. Let’s have a look:

2024 Easter Jeep Safari Concepts (clockwise, Left To Right): Jee

For one, there are only four concepts, which is fewer than anytime I can remember. There’s the Willys Dispatcher Concept, the Gladiator Rubicon High Top Concept, the Vacationeer Concept, and the Low Down Concept, none of which is all that remarkable. Usually there’s at least one model that’s badass and worthy of a poster, but this year there are just a couple that are somewhat cool.

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Let’s start with the somewhat cool ones.

2024 Jeep® Willys Dispatcher Concept
2024 Jeep® Willys Dispatcher Concept

The Dispatcher concept is somewhat cool because it’s got half doors and steelies, both of which look fantastic. Plus, the Willys embossment on the hood is fun, as is the green color, especially with the black windshield frame, which used to be how old Willys Jeeps came from the factory (painted body, black windshield frame).

2024 Jeep® Willys Dispatcher Concept
2024 Jeep® Willys Dispatcher Concept

The interior looks OK. There are some custom seats, a custom center console lid, and a custom dash trim insert. The powertrain is the 2.0-liter engine in plug-in hybrid configuration (it’s a 4xe underneath).

2024 Jeep® Vacationeer Concept
2024 Jeep® Vacationeer Concept

Also somewhat cool is the Vacationeer concept, which is based on a Jeep Grand Wagoneer. It’s got a lift, some big tires on special wheels, a roof tent, a winch, and a cool looking interior:

2024 Jeep® Vacationeer Concept
2024 Jeep® Vacationeer Concept

The other two concepts — the Gladiator Rubicon High Top and the Lowdown — are basically a beefed-up Gladiator 3.6 and a beefed-up four-door Jeep Wrangler 392, both with half doors and humongous 40+-inch tires.

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2024 Jeep® Gladiator Rubicon High Top Concept
2024 Jeep® Gladiator Rubicon High Top Concept
2024 Jeep® Gladiator Rubicon High Top Concept
2024 Jeep® Gladiator Rubicon High Top Concept

 

2024 Jeep® Low Down Concept
2024 Jeep® Low Down Concept
2024 Jeep® Low Down Concept
2024 Jeep® Low Down Concept

I will say, I dig the Low Down’s transparent hood:

2024 Jeep® Low Down Concept
2024 Jeep® Low Down Concept

But that’s it. Yes, for 2024, the Easter Jeep Safari concepts are a beefed-up four-door Wranger, a beefed-up Gladiator, a Green lifted Grand Wagoneer with a plaid interior, and a Green Wrangler with steel wheels and a brown leather cabin.

I’m grateful — again — because Jeep doesn’t have to do this, but the fact that the brand phoned in 2024’s concepts is pretty much irrefutable. I mean, look at the 2023 EJS concepts:

2023 Easter Jeep Safari Lineup Of Jeep® Brand Concept Vehicles
2023 Easter Jeep Safari lineup of Jeep® brand concept vehicles

First, let’s get to the elephant in the room — 2023’s Grand Wagoneer Overland Concept looks a hell of a lot like the “new” Vacationeer, doesn’t it?:

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Grand Wagoneer Overland Concept
Grand Wagoneer Overland Concept
Grand Wagoneer Overland Concept
Grand Wagoneer Overland Concept

So really, it appears that Jeep has 3.5 new concepts for 2024. Yikes. What’s the cause of this? The French imposing strict budget cuts? (I’ve heard whispers of this from former colleagues). Or is it the fact that the real brains behind the whole EJS operation — Mark Allen — retired last year? Yeah, probably both.

Anyway, to drive home how boring this year’s concepts are, let’s show off some Mark Allen-era EJS concepts, shall we? In addition to the Grand Wagoneer that seems to have been recycled, there was this incredible Jeep Cherokee 4xe concept:

1978 Jeep® Cherokee 4xe Concept
1978 Jeep® Cherokee 4xe Concept

And there was the Scrambler 392 Concept:

Jeep® Scrambler 392 Concept
Jeep® Scrambler 392 Concept

And there was another Magneto, a version of which we’d seen before, but still:

Jeep® Wrangler Magneto 3.0 Concept
Jeep® Wrangler Magneto 3.0 Concept

Let’s go back to 2022, because look at these seven machines:

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Electrified Power, Legendary 4x4 Capability And Commanding Perfo
Electrified power, legendary 4×4 capability and commanding performance will be front and center during the 56th annual Easter Jeep Safari, the Jeep® brand’s home away from home. The Jeep brand and Jeep Performance Parts by Mopar (JPP) team are debuting an impressive lineup of custom-built 4×4 and 4xe concept vehicles, including the all-electric Jeep Wrangler Magneto 2.0 concept.

I won’t lie: The 2022 concepts weren’t amazing, but at least there were seven of them, and there was a nice army-green half-door-equipped four-door with steelies. The new Dispatcher honestly isn’t that different:

Jeep Ru31 Con

Let’s go back to 2021:

2021 Easter Jeep Safari  jeep® magneto, Jeep Red Bare, Jeepste
2021 Easter Jeep Safari — Jeep® Magneto, Jeep Red Bare, Jeepster Beach, Jeep Orange Peelz, Jeep Farout and Jeep Top Dog concepts in Moab, Utah

In ’21, there were six concept Jeeps, with one being the first iteration of the Magneto:

2021 Easter Jeep Safari Jeep® Wrangler Magneto Concept
2021 Easter Jeep Safari – Jeep® Wrangler Magneto concept

And there was this incredible Jeepster Beach concept:

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2021 Easter Jeep Safari Jeep® “resto Mod” jeepster Beach Conce
2021 Easter Jeep Safari – Jeep® “Resto-Mod” Jeepster Beach concept
2021 Easter Jeep Safari Jeep® “resto Mod” jeepster Beach Conce
2021 Easter Jeep Safari – Jeep® “Resto-Mod” Jeepster Beach concept

It’s an updated 1968 C101 Jeepster Commando grafted onto a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon frame, with a 2.0-liter Hurricane turbocharged inline-four under the hood. It’s awesome.

Let’s step back to 2019 (the Easter Jeep Safari did not take place in 2020 due to the pandemic):

The Jeep And Mopar Brands Have Once Again Joined Forces To Creat
The Jeep and Mopar brands have once again joined forces to create six new, custom-built concept vehicles for the annual Easter Jeep Safari that takes place in Moab, Utah, April 13-21.

There were six concepts, and I really don’t have to say anything else other than this:

Jeep® Five Quarter: “resto Mod” Of 1968 Jeep M 715 Gladiato
Jeep® Five-Quarter: “Resto-Mod” of 1968 Jeep M-715 Gladiator-based military vehicle is a true 4×4 showpiece featuring a blend of vintage and modern chassis and drivetrain components. The Jeep Five-Quarter is one of six custom-built concept vehicles from the Jeep and Mopar brands for the annual Easter Jeep Safari event that takes place in Moab, Utah, April 13-21.
Jeep® Five Quarter: “resto Mod” Of 1968 Jeep M 715 Gladiato
Jeep® Five-Quarter: “Resto-Mod” of 1968 Jeep M-715 Gladiator-based military vehicle is a true 4×4 showpiece featuring a blend of vintage and modern chassis and drivetrain components. The Jeep Five-Quarter is one of six custom-built concept vehicles from the Jeep and Mopar brands for the annual Easter Jeep Safari event that takes place in Moab, Utah, April 13-21.

Holy shit the Five-Quarter was easily one of the best Jeep concepts ever. Just wow.

Jeep® J6: Mixes Classic Jeep Truck Styling With Concept And Pro
Jeep® J6: Mixes classic Jeep truck styling with concept and production Jeep Performance Parts and accessories from Mopar. The Jeep J6 is one of six custom-built concept vehicles from the Jeep and Mopar brands for the annual Easter Jeep Safari event that takes place in Moab, Utah, April 13-21.

But that wasn’t the only stand-out for 2019; the J6 regular-cab short-bed was also thoroughly legit.

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Let’s go back to 2018:

From Left To Right; Nacho Jeep® Concept, J Wagon Concept, B Ute
From left to right; Nacho Jeep® Concept, J-Wagon Concept, B-ute Concept, Jeepster Concept, 4SPEED Concept and front center is the Sandstorm Concept.

There were six concepts, including the incredible Wagoneer Road Trip:

Jeep® Wagoneer Roadtrip Concept
Jeep® Wagoneer Roadtrip Concept

And there was the 4SPEED:

Jeep® 4speed Concept
Jeep® 4SPEED Concept

Let’s step back to 2017, one of the greatest years for EJS concepts:

Jeep® Concept Vehicles At The 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari In Moab
Jeep® concept vehicles at the 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari in Moab, Utah.

Just look at the hotrodi-ish Quicksand concept:

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Jeep® Quicksand Concept At The 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari In Moa
Jeep® Quicksand Concept at the 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari in Moab, Utah

And check out the CJ66!:

Jeep® Cj66 Concept At The 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari In Moab, Ut
Jeep® CJ66 Concept at the 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari in Moab, Utah

Don’t forget the weird doors and roof on the Jeep Safari Concept:

Jeep® Safari Concept At The 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari In Moab,
Jeep® Safari Concept at the 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari in Moab, Utah
Jeep® Safari Concept At The 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari In Moab,
Jeep® Safari Concept at the 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari in Moab, Utah

Even the Switchback at least had some weird doors:

Jeep® Switchback Concept At The 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari In Mo
Jeep® Switchback Concept at the 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari in Moab, Utah

But the king of 2017, and one of the greatest EJS concepts ever (I say “one of” because we’re getting to the absolute #1 concept here in a bit) is the Grand One Concept, based on the first-gen “ZJ” Jeep Grand Cherokee:

Jeep® Grand One Concept
Jeep® Grand One Concept
Jeep® Grand One Concept At The 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari In Moa
Jeep® Grand One Concept at the 2017 Easter Jeep® Safari in Moab, Utah

Ok, let’s keep going. Here’s 2016:

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2016 Moab Easter Jeep® Safari Concepts (from Left To Right): Je

Check out that Renegade pickup!

Jeep® Comanche Concept

The Trailcat is a 707 horsepower….um, something:

Jeep® Trailcat Concept

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Look at how absurdly badass the Crew Chief 715 Concept is:

Jeep® Crew Chief 715 Concept

And how about that Shortcut Concept?:

Jeep® Shortcut Concept

Hell, Jeep even brought an old FC-150 out to Moab:

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Jeep® Fc 150 Heritage Vehicle

Here’s 2015:

Seven New, Capable And Fun Jeep Concept Vehicles – Featuring A

The Staff Car is one of my favorite mostly-Just-A-Jeep-Wrangler concepts:

Jeep® Staff Car Concept
Jeep® Staff Car Concept

The two-door Jeep Chief is pretty sweet with its Jeep SJ-inspired “Razor Grille”:

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Jeep Chief– Easter Jeep Safari 2015

I even kinda dig the Jeep Wrangler Africa — a stretched, high-top four-door Wrangler with extra cargo room for overlanding:

Jeep Wrangler Africa – Easter Jeep Safari 2015

Here’s 2014:

2014 Moab Easter Jeep® Safari Group Shot

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I won’t lie to you: 2014 was pretty mid. Jeep was celebrating its new Jeep Cherokee KL, so there are some KL concepts. There are some Wrangler-based ones, and a Grand Cherokee. It was a bit uninspired, I’ll admit, but at least there were six cars.

Now let’s check out 2013:

Jeep And Mopar Vehicles For The 47th Annual Moab Easter Jeep Sa

Come on, you can’t tell me that the 3,000 pound lightweight “Stitch” concept isn’t awesome:

Jeep Wrangler Stitch Jeep Wrangler Stitch

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But the reason why this article is so damn long is that I wanted to get back to 2012, when Jeep debuted the greatest Jeep Concept vehicle in history:

Cn012 055jp

Am I talking about the red J-12 Concept? No, though that thing is awesome:

Cn012 027jp

No, in the pantheon of Jeep Concept Greatness, there stands one Jeep at the pinnacle, far above the rest:

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Img 3009

The Jeep Mighty FC Concept.

It’s absolutely perfect. Here, allow the man behind it, the recently-retired Mark Allen, to tell you all about it:

Mark Allen, former head of Jeep design, is far more than just a former employee of Chrysler, he is a true Jeep diehard. He attends Jeep events for fun, he has encyclopedic knowledge of Jeep history, and overall he’s just an extremely cool guy. He once gave me an AMC 304 out of his AMC Javelin for free. He called me, offered me the engine, gave me his address, and when I stopped by, he hooked that 304 to a chain and dropped it into my pickup truck.

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Now he’s gone, and it appears nobody’s picked up the Easter Jeep Safari mantle. Or the French are really tight with cash. Again, I think it’s a bit of both. In any case, I’m okay with the phoned-in 2024 Concept cars because, if we’re being real, these fun vehicles are probably #1 on the budget-cut-choppability index, and I’m just grateful Jeep has been doing them this long. Hopefully next year they come out stronger, or maybe they’ll be gone forever, and we can just remember what a hell of a run this was.

All Images: Jeep

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Jblues
Jblues
6 months ago

I heard there was a new ShortCut concept out there. Did you see it?

Tyler Durden
Tyler Durden
6 months ago

What is even the point of these concepts? Why not actually PROCUCE and SELL a couple of the designs? There are a few amazing looking ideas here, and they look far better than most of the modern designs today.

Figure out a common platform/chassis, and stick some limited edition bodies on top; maybe 5,000 or 10,000 for each design. Seems simple.

Last edited 6 months ago by Tyler Durden
Swedish Jeep
Swedish Jeep
6 months ago

Jeeps are not 100k cars- ever (I’m looking at you 392….). What I don’t see mentioned here is how Jeep has dropped the prices by 10-15% across the board on everything but the 4xe. Here in TX even the Rubis are 3-4 k off, Gladiators are nearly 8k off and those ugly Wagoneer- wannabe Escalades are 15k off…. Or where they should have been priced to begin with. You can get a NEW Renegade 4wd for 20K making it the cheapest thing out there.

Meanwhile the Ford Maverick went from 20k to 27k and is staying steady. Jeeps drop in price, Maverick Hybrids up 35% in 2 years….. The market is dictating what Mfgs can charge for cars…

As far as the Bronco’s everyone loves to compare- the stripper models are gone- Killed by Ford like a drug dealer hooking you on the good stuff, they are just as expensive as the Rubis with all the bells and whistles.

Austin Vail
Austin Vail
6 months ago

These are all proof to me that it’s absurd there aren’t a ton of kit car companies building alternate bodies for Jeep Wrangler chassis. They’re plentiful, they are body on frame so you actually can in fact just bolt an alternate body on, and Jeep people already like extensive modifications. There’s no reason someone couldn’t make nose swaps and aftermarket beds and bodywork to build their own versions of these types of concept Jeeps. But no, instead we get angry Jeep grilles and hideous angular fender flares.

Ryan L
Ryan L
6 months ago

The simpsons canyoneer is fun but definitely feels like a mulligan.

How bad do we need a dedicated shop doing restomods on late 90s grand cherokees.

JaredTheGeek
JaredTheGeek
6 months ago

The Vacationeer is clearly an ode to the National Lampoon’s Vacation Family Truckster and I love it.

Ixcaneco
Ixcaneco
6 months ago

Thanks so much for this article. Great to go through each year and compare what Jeep brought. Excellent!

Arthur Flax
Arthur Flax
6 months ago

Correct me if I’m wrong and call me a blasphemer, but every Jeep concept, ever, looks like a restomod of a past Jeep. That being said, I like the steel wheels and paint on the 2024 Jeep® Willys Dispatcher Concept.

PlatinumZJ
PlatinumZJ
6 months ago

I say it every year…we need plaid upholstery as an option.

Myk El
Myk El
6 months ago
Reply to  PlatinumZJ

I so miss patterned cloth seats as being just a relatively normal thing one could get. Admittedly, I was very, very young when it was still common.

Bill Garcia
Bill Garcia
6 months ago
Reply to  PlatinumZJ

Funny enough, and I will never admit this to my wife, but getting the plaid seats was the #1 reason a custom-ordered Volvo XC60 T8 ended up in the driveway… right next to my Wrangler 🙂

TXJeepGuy
TXJeepGuy
6 months ago

I feel like there’s only so much they can do. But each year should have a cool resomod, and two vehicles that hint at a new trim level. Maybe we’ll get factory 40’s out of this year.

Theotherotter
Theotherotter
6 months ago

Given DT’s notorious pop-cultural ignorance, I’m surprised he could come up with that many synonyms for ‘mediocre’.

Dead Elvis, Inc.
Dead Elvis, Inc.
6 months ago
Reply to  Theotherotter

Influence from the California girlfriend, maybe?

Agc9e
Agc9e
6 months ago

I will never get over how amazingly bland the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. Just so, so, so boring.

Cyko9
Cyko9
6 months ago
Reply to  Agc9e

They should’ve given the “Vacationeer” a jungle camo wrap or something to make it seem remarkable. A modern Wagoneer with a roof tent? Least probable concept to be reproduced. The other concepts for 2024 look pretty much like day 2 after someone buys a stock Jeep Wrangler: lifted, big tires & no top. I like all those half doors, though.

LactoseTheIntolerant
LactoseTheIntolerant
6 months ago
Reply to  Cyko9

I think its shade of Green is supposed to be a reference USDA Forest Service Green along with the Dispatcher. Maybe someone at Jeep has been reading the former site and now The Autopian?

https://jalopnik.com/the-2021-ford-bronco-needed-to-be-rendered-as-a-u-s-fo-1844423831

JaredTheGeek
JaredTheGeek
6 months ago

Nah, its clearly an homage to the Family Truckster.

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