It will come to little surprise to anyone that our Benna CDJR Jeep owners are among the most enthusiastic about their vehicles. Every spring, Jeep fans meet at beautiful Moab, Utah, for the Easter Jeep Safari. It’s a big off-road party where the Jeep faithful meet, compare their rides, and give them exercise. Naturally, with so many Jeep fans present, Jeep itself made a splash with no less than seven concept vehicles.
The Wrangler is the heart of Jeep and thus made up the base of four of the seven concepts but also present were the Gladiator, Grand Wagoneer, and even a very modified 1978 Cherokee. Drivetrains were also diverse, with a mix of gasoline-powered engines and electron-pushing EVs driving the fat off-road tires. Here are our favorites.
Magneto 3.0
This was a final encore for a concept that has been making the rounds since 2020. It is a two-seat Wrangler concept driven by a single electric motor sending power through a six-speed transmission. It appeared this year in a very surf-like blue and white exterior. Possibly showing off bits and pieces that will make it to the upcoming production Recon EV, the Magneto features dual driving modes. The mode for distance and conventional driving limits power to 285 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque, which closely mirrors today’s V-6-powered Wrangler. The other mode is very “other” indeed, with 650 horses and 900 lb-ft, In that mode, the Magneto can start in any of its six gear ratios, so the transmission acts as a bit of a drive mode selector, with 1st and 2nd devoted to slow rock crawling, 3rd and 4th for faster desert, 5th and 6th for highway cruising. Such a drivetrain arrangement could be perfect for future Jeep EVs.
Scrambler 392
At first glance, the Scrambler 392 looks very much like a lime-green Magneto 3.0, particularly with the 2-seat configuration and hexagonal doorless access created by the slanting B-Pillar bodywork over a roll bar. But this is built off a 4-door Wrangler, so behind its two seats is a longer wheelbase and open bed with a tailgate courtesy of the Gladiator. As the name implies, under the hood is the 392 cubic inch V8 available on the Wrangler Rubicon. Its 20-inch wheels are dwarfed by 40-inch tires behind, which is a new Mopar AccuAir air suspension that can raise the vehicle between 1.5 and 5.5 inches at any time via either a control switch inside or by smartphone app.
1978 Cherokee 4XE
This is a mash-up of a vintage Cherokee body over a Wrangler 4xe Plug-in hybrid chassis. The yellow exterior goes full nostalgia with 70s exterior graphics and slotted deep-dish mag wheels. The Cherokee’s original blue-tint windshield is in place, as are the wind vents, which can only be thought of as ironic since the rest of the vehicle is window-free. Besides the turbocharged 2.0-liter four and two electric motors, a 4xe also donated its dash and steering wheel though with a continuation of the exterior color scheme. It is a great tribute to an iconic mode.
Grand Wagoneer Overland
Instead of showing up Land Rovers in high-rent shopping districts, this Grand Wagoneer is ready to take two people deep into no man’s land while still providing plush accommodations overnight for two. The latter is courtesy of a $30,000 RedTail Overland roof tent complete with carbon-fiber walls, solar panels, double-pane windows, and climate control. Normally you’d access the tent via a ladder outside, but here you enter from the Grand Wagoneer’s repositioned rear sunroof. And there is no standing on the upholstery to get up there because this Overland takes its accommodations for two to heart by removing the 2nd and 3rd-row seats and creating a living room with a throw rug, bean bag chairs, throw pillows, and a reconfigured version of the Grand Wagoneer’s available McIntosh entertainment system. The overland is powered by the Grand Wagoneer’s available 3.0-liter Hurricane Twin-Turbo inline-6 producing 510 horsepower and 500 lb-ft of torque. The exterior is Industrial green, facing into gunmetal details. In front is an integrated Warn winch and two sets of laser lights, and the whole thing rolls on 18-inch wheels with 35-inch tires.
If you’d like to see even more, have a look at this video from YouTube
These are four of what we found to be the most interesting concepts Jeep brought to Moab. While all of these vehicles involved some very extensive customization, they sport plenty of off-shelf Mopar accessories for the details, including Warn winches, external lighting, custom wheels, and skid plates, among others. If you want to make your Jeep or Ram or any other Stellanis vehicle a little more you, check out the Benna CDJR Mopar accessories on our site or at our Superior, Wisconsin location.
Connect with us
