It’s spring time and for off-road driving enthusiasts, that means it’s time to head back to Moab, Utah for the Easter Jeep Safari. Jeeps have long been among the most personalized and customized vehicles on the road or off.So just as they have for many years now, the designers at Jeep have cooked up some fun new concepts for the 2025 Safari. There are 3 all-new concepts based on the Wrangler/Gladiator platform, plus four others that are mainly focused on highlighting what owners can do by dipping into the Jeep Performance Parts (JPP) catalog from Mopar.
Given that Jeep sales were down 10% year-over-year through March, anything the company can do to get people excited about the brand is important. The big theme here seems to be: Remember how cool the past was?
J-Truck Meets Gladiator
The Convoy concept brings together Jeep’s military utility vehicle origins with the fondly remembered J-Series pickup trucks of the 1970s and 1980s, like the J10 that David owns, on the platform of a modern Gladiator Mojave. The bodywork forward of the firewall has been completely replaced with new parts that draw heavily on the look of the classic J-trucks, but doesn’t actually use any parts from the old trucks. A 12,000-lb Warn Zeon winch is integrated into the minimalist front bumper to help maximize approach angles.
The forward leaning J-truck face includes modern LED headlamps and is combined with simplified Wrangler-style fenders. The Convoy has chocolate brown canvas half-doors and a canopy top that calls back to those earliest MB Jeeps of World War II. The bodywork is finished off in a grey-ish tan paint that Jeep calls Ghost Ops.
Inside, the cockpit is mostly stock 2025 Gladiator, but there are low-back seats finished in a distressed brown leather. The entire floor has also been coated in mil-spec O.D. Green.
The whole truck has been lifted and rolls on 40-inch BF Goodrich Krawler tires on 17-inch Warn wheels. The front edge of the tires is basically fully exposed, so the Convoy could almost climb up a sheer rock wall.
It’s Time To Bug-Out
For the overlanding crowd, the design team conceived the Bug-Out concept. One of the challenges with overlanding rigs is weight. My neighbor is building an overlander right now based on a Ford F-550 chassis cab. While he might be able to survive clickers of the Last of Us in his truck, even without the camper fitted to the Bowen utility bed, it weighs about 10,000 lbs meaning there’s a lot of places it will have a hard time going.
The key to the design of the Bug-Out is cutting weight wherever possible. This one started life as a four-door Wrangler Unlimited 4Xe. The rear doors and rear seats have been eliminated, and the Mopar front half doors are installed. The roof has been lifted by four inches to allow for more in-cabin space. Behind the front doors is new carbon fiber side bodywork that extends back an extra foot and incorporates a Gladiator-style tailgate. The body sides where the rear doors used to fit are now filled with auxiliary battery packs to help power your gear during those extended off-the-grid camping trips.
The new lightweight framework that supports the roof has also integrated beefy aluminum D-rings in the windshield header and rear end. With the front seats folded forward, these can be used to support a hammock hung diagonally so a six-footer can sleep inside the Bug-Out. Also included in the cargo area is a fold-up electric off-road scooter that has about a 40-minute run-time and can be charged from the Jeep’s plug-in hybrid system.
To enable the Bug Out to get further from what’s left of civilization, there are 37-inch BF Goodrich KM3 mud-terrain tires on 18-inch Forgeline lightweight wheels with high clearance flares. Approach and departure angles are further enhanced by a minimal steel front bumper and a tube style rear bumper. The whole thing is finished in a matte silver paint job with bright yellow accents on the grille and body sides.
Jeep hasn’t said exactly how much lighter the Bug Out is, if in fact it is, but it sure has the right kind of minimalist look and it’s definitely gonna be less than Mark’s behemoth, although it will offer less protection from the zombies.
Bringing Back The ’80s
The final all-new concept is a Rewind to when much of the Jeep design team were kids in the ’80s and ’90s. The Jeep Rewind is a two-door Wrangler Rubicon in bright Grimace purple with the kind of colorful neon graphics that were de rigueur on Trapper Keeper binders of the era. In fact, when we saw the Rewind at a preview in the design studio, there was a Trapper Keeper sitting on the passenger seat.
The multi-colored seat and dashboard coverings themselves were sewn up from a 1990s vintage ski suit and definitely look the part. While a cassette deck would have actually been more befitting of a CJ5 or CJ7 of that period, the crew couldn’t find a way to integrate that with the stock Uconnect 5 infotainment system. However, they got the next best thing with a portable DiskMan sitting in the center console and plugged into an auxiliary port along with a vintage car phone from the days when they were hard-wired in. While the DiskMan works, the first-gen analog cell networks that those phones used were decommissioned nearly two decades ago.
The Rubicon is powered by a stock 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with an eight-speed automatic, but the rolling stock has been upgraded. The 17-inch AEV five-pocket wheels are a rewind to the design that was common on Lamborghini Countach posters that were commonplace on young boys’ bedroom walls in the 1980s. The wheels are custom painted in silver with gold pockets and wrapped in the same 37-inch KM3 tires used on the Bug Out and there’s a 2-inch lift.
Let’s Sell Some Accessory Parts
The other four vehicles Jeep is bringing to the Safari are more focused on highlighting what’s on offer from JPP. The Blueprint has a cool-looking color scheme of a black main body with a range of bright blue accessory,es including the tube doors, high top fenders, rock rails, and 17-inch alloy wheels.
There are actually two different types of wheels on the Blueprint, with bead-lock capable units on the passenger side and standard wheels on the driver’s side. The wheels are all fitted with the latest 37-inch BF Goodrich K03 tires.
There’s also a blue snorkel, blue seats, and blue bumpers with a winch on the front. As has become the custom for Jeep at the Easter Safari, all of the JPP equipment has QR codes that attendees can scan to take them directly to the ordering site if they find something they like.
The Sunchaser is a four-door Wrangler 4Xe finished in a solar flash yellow and satin black two-tone treatment. Like many of the other Jeeps here, there’s a two-inch lift kit to help accommodate the 37-inch KM3s and a Warn winch to help extract less capable off-roaders.
While most of the custom parts are production pieces from JPP, there are a few experimental bits that Mopar is trying out. On the Sunchaser, this includes the gear boxes that fit where the rear quarter windows would normally go and vented versions of the high-top fenders.
In addition to the storage rack on the roof, there is a new Mopar ILLUMINAT3 pivoting light bar. This has 3 segments that can individually pivot to help light up a campsite.
The Gladiator High-Top Honcho is a pickup truck with very 1970s red, orange, and brown stripes on the sides. The white steelies are equipped with 40-inch raised white letter K03s and experimental steel flat fenders are used to provide enough clearance. Heavy-duty Dana 60 axles with 5.83:1 final drive gearing are fitted at each end.
The American Expedition Vehicles steel front bumper has been modified with an extra steel hoop to provide protection for the winch. The bed is fitted with a roll bar and a decked storage system.
The final entry for 2025 is actually a replay from 2019 when Jeep brought out the J6 Honcho. It’s based on a four-door Wrangler Rubicon, but it’s been converted into a two-door pickup with a 6-foot box that’s 12 inches longer than Gladiator bed, but the overall length is still a foot less than a Gladiator.
The J6 has been repainted from its original Mopar blue to white with blue stripes. There are new bronze wheels fitted with 37-inch KM3 tires, and there’s a custom spare tire carrier in the bed. Other than the color scheme and the new tires, the J6 is otherwise largely unchanged from its 2019 appearance.
Easter Jeep Safari is always a great marketing opportunity to sell accessories to the most diehard Jeep fans and also try out some new ideas in public. Will anything from the new concepts make it to future production Wranglers and Gladiators? Who knows, but that new front end on the Convoy would be a nice update for the next-generation Gladiator.
I’m with everyone else in hating how they always tease the single cab long bed… but to be fair that style doesn’t sell very well these days. BUT! this is probably the one segment that it’ll probably still sell well enough.
(if the price was right which it probably wouldn’t be anyway)
That tailgate font should have been standard on Gladiators since day 1. The current one is just… small and boring. Or do stamped, you penny pinchers. The J-series nose would also at least set it apart from a wrangler.
All great, of course, but what I really want is the Mighty FC… I’ll settle for the J6 and Honcho though
I still want the J6.
Sincerely a Comanche owner.
Has a single one of these ever turned into a production model? Every year I see at least 2 or 3 of these which I would throw ALL THE MONEY at if it were real.
AND SINGLE CAB JEEP PLEASE. That is the biggest tease going back YEARS now,.
I *still* think about that 2007 JT concept.
https://www.quadratec.com/c/blog/2007-jt-concept-truck
How was this never made?
I WANT to buy a two door pickup, yet they will not produce one. Hell, it has been teased so much that I quit and replaced my old Wrangler with a 4runner.
I have a CJ-5 and I could see a Scrambler in my future… I’m not holding my breath.
The Honcho and J6 would look way better with the Nukizer/J-series nose. I wish Jeep would just produce that bodywork as a factory option. The aftermarket conversions are stupidly expensive.
Also, quit teasing us and just build a single cab longbed Gladiator already.
Mostly nice but getting a bit boring. Could do with 1-2 wilder concepts
I adore that j6. Stellantis could throw a wild card into the small truck game with it too. Though they won’t
Oh so Jeep CAN build a two door ‘long bed’ pickup. They just won’t it seems
Ooh that J6 hits something fierce let me tell you
The Rewind needs Renegade-style box flares. I’d also like to see them do something with the Avenger, even if it’s not a current North American model (in general, it’s a letdown that it’s entirely Wrangler-adjacent builds this year).
make a hybrid three cylinder manx clone you cowards.
XJ001 FTW!
https://www.legendmag.co.uk/img/2/xj001-2.jpg
I refuse to consider even the Honcho cool here. Unless that rear door is addressed, I will be boycotting all Gladiator based trucks. Yes, the J6 is fine, it’s only got the one door and it isn’t stupid.
First reaction: Is David ok? Didn’t make it past the by-line without thinking, “Wait, DT isn’t doing the Easter Concept article?! Is he alive? Has he full on hollywooded and doesn’t have time for such nonsense? Is he panic building an Easter Jeep project that (like always) is going terribly until he somehow pulls it off?”
Yeah, reading about Jeep’s Easter show cars from anyone but David seems like we’re cheating on him.
The Convoy is over the top but fun. Talking about a facelift, why not figure out a way to redo the front like that instead of just adding a black plastic grille insert.
And the J6 is awesome. I guess 2-door trucks just won’t sell, but I’d seriously consider a trade-in if they offered these. I do like the Honcho, but it makes the Gladiator look even bigger than they already are.
Did I get old? I mean, I had a TJ and built it the way I wanted, but now I just cannot find the will to care about Jeep. I read the article to see if I was still inspired, but just am not.
Maybe it isn’t age; maybe Jeep lost their mojo?
This is the correct take. There isn’t anything that cool here except the single cab J6. The rest is just parts from the catalog.
Nope, I’m guessing you are just like me and highly value the simple, utilitarian nature of the older Jeeps, and have zero interest in the expensive fashion accessories shown here.
I dig the two-tone paint scheme on the Sunchaser. Instead of top/bottom two-tone, it’s front/back. clever.
I think the Convoy is my favorite of all these. I love to look of the throwback grille and the canvas safari cover on the bed. The low back seats seats however are a relic best left far in the past. I don’t even want to think about getting into a highway read-ender sitting in one of those.
The J6 is cool but stop dreaming, it’s never happening. Jeep just drags the idea back it out once every few years to fire up the faithful they they they go back to designing the next round of bolt on crap for the Mopar catalogue.
That J6 gives me the fizz. The rest is fairly meh Jeep stuff.
The J6 would’ve been my jam if Jeep had ever blessed it.
Pre coffee reading thought the Convoy had a Warren Zevon winch.
I’m in for a Warren Zevon winch.
Desperados Under the Sheaves
The Convoy is the Gladiator Jeep should have built. The Honcho and the J6 are pretty cool looking. The Bruiseprint, sorry Blueprint is fugly. No accessory on looks good save the tube doors. It makes my eyes hurt. I think I need to call the police because my eyes have been assaulted.
Agreed on the Blueprint. It is hideously tacky, which means Jeep owners will love it. Throw one on those stupid scowling Darth Vader grilles on the front and they’ll sell a million of them
The Blueprint was never meant to look good, its purpose is to display aftermarket accessories in a way that people can easily differentiate the parts from the stock Jeep. It’s like an IRL version of an online configurator that highlights the option you picked while greying out the rest of the vehicle.
The tube doors are ugly independent of the colour, though.
Give me the J6 with the Convoy front clip thrown on there, and make sure it has a bench seat so I can sit three across.
Honestly very underwhelming. They literally rehashed an old concept with a new paintjob and it’ll almost certainly never get made (J6 Honcho).
Agreed. Standard Jeep builds. Some cool stickers, though.
The majority of these feel like Stellantis told Jeep they could only do the EJS special builds if they cut costs by 75%.
The current style of Jeeps I see on the roads have been far more towards a deep-dish low-profile with wide stances – not the 37s that Jeep seems to think people want. But maybe that style is just local to me.
Neither one appeal to me as a comfortable ride.
It probably is regional as I wheel with guys with 35-37s on 17 in rims and are tucked in as far as possible.
See, there’s the difference: ‘I wheel with guys’ vs. ‘I see on the roads’…’off-roaders’ vs ‘pavement princesses’. Most are the mall crawlers version around me also.
Several months back, we had the annual snowstorm…4″-6″ maybe. My wife had to go into the office (nomally wfh) since she was backup for some in office function requiring a physical presence. She was really miffed when she found out the person who couldn’t make it into the office drives a Jeep Wrangler. Wife’s Subaru had no problem.
I’ve watched many a lifted suv with aggressive mud tires slide through on light frost/snow. Those big lugs don’t grip in the cold very well.