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].
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:
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.
Let’s start with the somewhat cool ones.
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).
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).
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:
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.
I will say, I dig the Low Down’s transparent hood:
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:
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?:
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:
And there was the Scrambler 392 Concept:
And there was another Magneto, a version of which we’d seen before, but still:
Let’s go back to 2022, because look at these seven machines:
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:
Let’s go back to 2021:
In ’21, there were six concept Jeeps, with one being the first iteration of the Magneto:
And there was this incredible 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):
There were six concepts, and I really don’t have to say anything else other than this:
Holy shit the Five-Quarter was easily one of the best Jeep concepts ever. Just wow.
But that wasn’t the only stand-out for 2019; the J6 regular-cab short-bed was also thoroughly legit.
Let’s go back to 2018:
There were six concepts, including the incredible Wagoneer Road Trip:
And there was the 4SPEED:
Let’s step back to 2017, one of the greatest years for EJS concepts:
Just look at the hotrodi-ish Quicksand concept:
And check out the CJ66!:
Don’t forget the weird doors and roof on the Jeep Safari Concept:
Even the Switchback at least had some weird doors:
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:
Ok, let’s keep going. Here’s 2016:
Check out that Renegade pickup!
The Trailcat is a 707 horsepower….um, something:
Look at how absurdly badass the Crew Chief 715 Concept is:
And how about that Shortcut Concept?:
Hell, Jeep even brought an old FC-150 out to Moab:
Here’s 2015:
The Staff Car is one of my favorite mostly-Just-A-Jeep-Wrangler concepts:
The two-door Jeep Chief is pretty sweet with its Jeep SJ-inspired “Razor Grille”:
I even kinda dig the Jeep Wrangler Africa — a stretched, high-top four-door Wrangler with extra cargo room for overlanding:
Here’s 2014:
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:
Come on, you can’t tell me that the 3,000 pound lightweight “Stitch” concept isn’t awesome:
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:
Am I talking about the red J-12 Concept? No, though that thing is awesome:
No, in the pantheon of Jeep Concept Greatness, there stands one Jeep at the pinnacle, far above the rest:
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.
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
I never really understood why they were so hell-bent on doing the concepts, and pretty hardcore sometimes at that. Hasn’t carbon fiber been a staple for a few builds? Seems wild to have that on a vehicle you may roll of smash, especially when it’s likely for one appearance and then it’s taken off.
I can appreciate them though. 99.9% sure they called that Renegade truck a Comanche, and it even had a diesel engine in it! That was incredibly wild they built that thing.
Grand One and Quicksand are also pretty amazing.
while i agree that this year’s selections are both small in number and not as outlandish, is will say that “New” Vacationer interior is bonkers and i want it so bad. i grabbed a screenshot of it to save.
I’m buying a JLU this year, and at some point I’d love to take it to a local upholstery place and see if they can approximate the plaid fury that is that interior. they just don’t do interiors like that anymore (except maybe recent GTIs), and that’s a tragedy.
I never imagined you’d go 10 years back with the photo montages. Count to 10, big guy, it will be ok
I guess I’m a “Jeep Guy”. I’ve owned a few, and currently have a 1981 CJ-5 in front of my house… Jeep lost their way.
Ten years ago they had fire in a bottle. A base JK was $23k without AC and had half doors.
Now, its $3,500 in addition to having to have full doors. Want a color other than white? That is $600.
They lost the youth market. When I looked to replace my JK Wrangler, the Toyota 4Runner cost less, was nicer to drive on-road, has more features for less cost, I didn’t have to deal with the Jeep dealer, and was easily $12k less than a Rubicon and still came with a locker.
When you lay off the engineering talent to change the company right after doing a $3 billion stock buy back, you have lost your way.
Jeep can die. I’m okay with that.
Also replying to my own comment: Apparently edit disappears after a period? I meant “lightening in a bottle”, but I just had a kiddo that needed to get school and went to edit it after getting home. That is not an option?
An aside, I really liked the J6 concept. If it had a bench I would have been first in line to throw them my money.
I have owned 5 jeeps, one each from the 70s, 80, 90, 00s, and 10s. I love my JKU. but if I had to replace it I would look at Toyota or even a Bronco Everglades which, on paper, has 35s and lockers for $15K+ less MSRP than a similar Wrangler.
perhaps not since Harley Davidson missed the adventure bike turn has a company so associated with americana pissed away so much good will.
So you went from a JK to a Srsly.
Let’s talk about the disappearance of half doors. This is something that has bothered me for years.
David, you mention the half doors several times in this piece in a positive light. I have factory half doors for my Gladiator, and I get compliments on them all the time.
The last Jeep with standard half doors was the TJ, and it was last made 17/18 years ago. In the interim, Jeep had made the full door standard, presumably because customers demand a more comfortable riding experience. The same thing goes for the prevalence of hard tops over soft tops.
I may be in the minority now, but THE DRAW of putting up with a slow, poor road handling, loud and obnoxious vehicle is the availability of an open air experience. I’m outside of Chicago and I live for half door season. I put ‘em on last week. With the fabric uppers they’re loud and annoying. At 55mph in the rain, they leak. And that’s ok- it’s a Jeep. I bought it for the ability to take the uppers out on a beautiful spring day and enjoy the open air.
Save the Manuals? Sure, I guess. Really though, it should be save the soft tops and half doors.
My YJ came with half doors, but I ended up selling them and going with full doors in the winter and no doors in the summer. My main issue was the soft uppers were a pain to open (compared to rolling down a window) and scratched/cracked easy. I do like the look though, if I found a cheap set in red I might buy them to run in the summer. I’m glad jeep still offers them as an option though.
I had a red YJ with half doors, sold it in early 2023. With the YJ, I almost never had the soft uppers on as it was a summer only vehicle.
Zipper windows suck. While I understand the appeal of no doors, I have a giant dog and two small kids- I need the half doors to keep them inside.
To be fair. The JK/JL half doors are VERY nice. they have a full frame that is thicker and doesn’t bend at 70 mph. The YJ frame pretty much kept the weather out, but are terribly loud, much like the CJ frames.
I still want the Africa. Build it, cowards.
I also want the Africa, More space in the back for camping and dogs than a regular 4 door.
And if you get caught in a storm, will you bless the rains?
Jeep is broke as fuck, see your other article about stallanis laying off its engineers. They also, I believe, were cutting way back on auto shows.
No way are they making 7 jeeps for this that will cost them a bunch, they literally can’t afford to anymore!
That said, the Willys skinny tires was the only good one they did, tasteful in and out. The seats in the wagoneer are beautiful, and I like the color, but don’t like the car overall.
I honestly am shocked if Jeep is around in 5-10 years. I think they will end up with just the wrangler as an independent vehicle, or sold by another company completely under the jeep name. Every other product they make sucks, and while the wrangler sorta sucks, it has enough of a following to survive, although I think that following is sorta over like Harley Davidson because of pricing and just stupid choices from their owners.
I too was pretty surprised David went on about why would they not make more concepts and wilder ones when just days ago layoffs happened and more are likely to come. For someone who likely still talks to people back in Detroit area he needs to get his head out of the sand, or maybe he truly has gone full Hollywood and can’t put the pieces together anymore.
Wow that was rude. I suggest you read the second half of the headline. And the article itself, in which I make it clear that EJS is a huge monetary drain, so I get them not going all-out this year.
Actually, I added an update just to make it abundantly clear JUST FOR YOU.
More importantly, this IS a case of the company just being cheap. They are doing JUST fine. They’re just working on becoming “more efficient,” which is why – as my article notes – I’m not surprised they cut the concept cars.
Stellantis made $18,600,000,000.00 net profit in 2023 – more than GM and Ford combined – most of it from Jeep and Ram. These cuts to projects and people represent the mothership’s priorities, nothing more.
Jeep sales were down 6% in the time period you are talking about, and thats with way more inventory after covid so you they can’t blame that. I believe they will continue to lose market share, cut back on spending and have a hard road in front of them.
I might be wrong! Time will tell.
Maybe, maybe not – that’s an exercise in predicting the future. Here and now, they are absolutely not “broke as fuck.”
Sure, you are right, they aren’t going to the poor house tomorrow.
On February 15th Stellantis approved a $3 Billion Euro stock buy back, which requires cash on hand. You can’t do that if you’re broke.
I don’t know what it is with you guys, but I don’t give a single fuck about stallanis. I am talking about the Jeep brand in America, sure its got a big daddy that made lots of money, but its not doing well in America, which is what I am talking about. I never said Stallanis was broke. The brand has huge issues that any writer in the country will readily admit, and the company even admits! But go ahead and be technically true. I exaggerated, or maybe just wasn’t wording it how you liked, you can kill me for it later this week, I have some things to do this afternoon.
This is like saying a kid is rich because his dad is, well what happens if dad cuts him off? I have yet to be able to find any breakdown that separates jeep. I could be totally wrong, but neither of you truthers have given any data to support what I said was wrong. You just keep talking about the parent company.
How many cars does Stellantis sell under the Stellantis name plate?
dammit! Like it or not, the United States of America, a single soverign nation, exists in an entire world!! This isn’t 1914, Woodrow Wilson. We can’t isolate from the rest of the planet and pretend that we exist in a vacuum.
Stellantis doesn’t do a breakdown by unit towards profitability. They only release a consolidated financial report, which can be found here: https://www.stellantis.com/en/investors/reporting/financial-reports
Interestingly, the NA sales are 1.8 million units (autos) for the year ending 2022, which is the same as 2022 (page 32). That is down from 2 million units in 2021.
Their overall profitability is up. It really gives a better insight that they are making more profit per vehicle while selling less cars.
Ultimately, the best overview for insight is the current overall financial statement for 2023: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/STLA/financials
This is a situation where we both are right. Stellantis and Jeep are NOT broke, yet it seems apparent Jeep’s youthful heyday with major market growth is moving to the rear-view mirror.
Jeeps now cost much more while their brand has been dismissing the lower cost products (cheap Wranglers and Renegades) that the youth were gravitating toward. Ideally, they need customers across multiple income levels so that a buyer of a cheap Jeep buys a more expensive one later.
They went so much upmarket that they have lots of high end inventory. The Autopian has reported that here.
As for the lower priced car buyer, it seems that Toyota and Ford have captured more of that market (based on my purchases and my peers) while carefully adjusting for tighter CAFE standards. It seems that those automakers will do better in a longer timeline.
I mentioned this before, I’m a “Jeep Guy”. I live in Western Colorado and can rock crawl every weekend if I want to. I have owned a few and have a CJ-5 in front of my house right now. They are stupid fun to drive, but I couldn’t justify buying one for my last daily driver purchase because the costs were $50k+ while a comparable Toyota was $40k. That is a problem.
Anywho… I’m still going to EJS 🙂
Thanks for this. I think this is a good summary and appreciate the time you took.
The Jeep Trailcat was a really handy vehicle in Forza Horizon 4.
You could turn up the wick well beyond the standard 707hp and just blast across the terrain in a straight line.
I sued it pretty religiously in Horizon 5 myself.
Things wicked off-road!
NGL except for the Trailcat they all look like the same boring ass Willy’s and Wagoneer in clown makeup and hooker outfits.
That’s funny, those two were the only ones I thought looked sorta decent.
This is odd.How do i not remember Jeep’s annual concepts?
Whatever.Many of these are GREAT.
It’s surprising none have gone into production
“Going into the desert to do some off-roading in my new Jeep, anyone want to join me?”
“Shotgun!”
(Oh great.. of course Chad would call shotgun first.
Who invited this guy?
Now he’s riding with me…
Shotgun?
Maybe it will be fine, maybe I’m being overly judgmental.)
“Mind if I bring my Aloe Vera plant, in case we get sunburned?
You know succulents are natures way of……….”
(God damnit Chad! Why are you putting potted plants in my cup holders?)
“Sure, fine, whatever.”
Full disclosure: I’m not a Jeep guy. David has a point in that it’s good that Jeep is still doing these concepts every year. However…
Have any of these concepts ever resulted in a production vehicle? Are there any major ideas here that have found their way into production Jeeps (again, not a Jeep guy, so I’m sincerely asking)? If not, I can kind of understand why Peugeot & co. aren’t throwing a lot of money and energy into this.
Dear gods, I just wrote something pro-Stellantis. Sorry, y’all, it’s been a long Monday.
I don’t think so, its just a big marketing campaign and something for the jeepers to feel special about. Not saying that in a bad way, but that’s what it is. I agree with your point, some of these in the past would have been awesome to be able to order.
I don’t know if a lot of it results in production models, but it’s still a showcase for future and new dealer accessories, isn’t it?
Occasionally it has been. It’s mainly just a Jeep circlejerk to keep people interested in the brand.
I like how the lowdown didn’t have a screen. Physical buttons, very smooth.
This article is on-point, and I say that as a former multi-time Jeep owner and fan of, and regular practitioner of, off-roading. The only two that at all piqued my interest this year were the Vacationeer, almost entirely for that sweet, sweet upholstery, and the Willy’s Dispatcher. However, compared to years past, neither is very compelling. Past trucks like the Wagoneer Roadtrip, the Five-Quarter, the Crew Chief 715, and, of course, the Mighty FC had me daydreaming of being insanely wealthy and owning them. None of the trucks featured this year have me doing anything more than raising an eyebrow in mild interest.
If nothing else, we’ve finally been given a modern Wagoneer with a decent take on wood paneling (that is woodgrain on that strip, right?), and the wheels are a good modern interpretation of wagon wheels (sad the company doesn’t seem to offer them in white normally). Plus, if Jeep ever wanted to offer that seat pattern as a shirt, they’d have at least one buyer.
Not gonna lie, I actually like the Vacationeer.
In addition to the bad form of a big dollar flex after layoffs, the general reception of the resto-mod vehicles which all cannot and will not be offered to anyone without 7 figure and a the number of a great custom shop isn’t a great way to connect people with the brand today, with what a moderately well off enthusiast could dream about doing.
Everyone knows the old shit is cool, it is undeniable preferred visually and in the nostalgic glasses of Jeep history. The core problem is it offers absolutely no path to a sale TODAY. It’s a heavy reminder that really, at no point is is possible to modify the new, currently on sale vehicles in the same way and how visually, especially amongst the Jeep cognoscenti the best of the Jeep is in the past.
No, but engaging in the Jeep culture and showing that they like cool Jeep builds is a really good way to connect with customers.
Very cool photo history. Thank you.
That said, whatcha expect? Jeep is now part of an international conglomerate Dutch no less. They have no loyalty to Jeep beyond “what have you done for me lately “. That’s the way the world rolls now.
Given that, I’m kinda expecting a wooden shoe version. Might resonate globally. Then again, it’s Spring. Tulip season, baby. How about a “April Flowers” special edition. No more Moab. Holland MI, coming up.
I was just watching a YouTube video whose premise was that the PC is effectively perfected and has become a commodity, to the point where manufacturers are creating problems where none exist, just so they can try to differentiate themselves by solving them.
The same could be said about ICE vehicles, including everything that Jeep sells. There’s nothing that you’d want any Jeep model to do that can’t be done in stock form or with modifications already available from the aftermarket.
I think it would also be bad PR to show off millions of dollars worth of custom vehicles mere days after telling 400 engineers that they no longer have jobs.
Interesting that pretty much every one you liked is a restomod. Unfortunately making them meet modern safety rules would likely ruin the looks of them.
Umm…… Except for how most of them were not restomods. The Mighty FC, the lightweight silver one, the Staff Car, and really a significant majority of the vehicles shown here are JK or JL wranglers sliced up one way or another.
The Staff Car is making new look old, as are several of the others. Maybe modretro should be the term?
Besides the black windshield frame I love the color of the Dispatcher concept (Element 115 Green).
I also love the Warn m8274 winch addition.
If Jeep Made a Wrangler 4xe sport in that Element 115 Green I’d have a hard time saying no even though the 4xe drivetrain is hot garbage and I don’t really want a 4 door Jeep.
Jeep seriously needs to ditch the 4xe drivetrain and either go with a planetary e-CVT like Toyota, or go with a range extended BEV drivetrain (with both keeping the solid axles front and rear.
And after that they need to put said drivetrain in the 2 door Wrangler and the Gladiator. And seriously Jeep needs a 2 door long bed Gladiator.
I’d be happy with 15 miles of electric range provided I have a reliable range extender built in.
Automakers need to ditch Hybrids without e-CVTs at the minimum if they’re not going to ditch traditional hybrids all together by going with Range Extended BEV drivetrains.
Umm……. A range extended electric car with 15 miles of electric range is literally a series hybrid, and not a range extended BEV.
Semantics
It is semantics. It’s the definition of words, and how different words have importantly different definitions.
In this case, a range extended BEV refers to a vehicle designed to do a vast majority of its driving powered by electric batteries and carries a small generator, barely powerful enough to drive the car, just for contingencies basically.
This is very different from a series hybrid. Series hybrid refers to a vehicle which is driven primarily on the power of gasoline/diesel through an electric drive. This generally has much smaller batteries and requires a much larger, more powerful engine, since you’re actually supposed to spend a lot of time driving powered by that engine.
This is how locomotives work, and it’s a very different principle of operation and a very different design compared to something like an i3 or Volt.
I’ll be honest, they all look like Hot Wheels-ed versions of their street-legal counterparts. Not that they aren’t cool or anything, but saying one year’s concepts are better than the others is kind of lost on me.
The FC is definitely the coolest though, and they should make a 2024 version of that. Also can the restomods really be considered ‘concepts’? Aren’t they more just show cars since they’re not previewing any production model?
None of them are actually previewing any production model, so they’re really all show cars, not just the restomods.
Other than the two green color schemes, nothing excites me about this year’s customs. Plus, all four doors: boo.
That vacationeer upholstery is bitchin’! The Overlander was pretty great too. Man I love plaid interiors. IH had a scout and travelall upgrade by a company called Midas that even put a strip of plaid down the center of the headliner, in addition to seats and door panels. I want to do something similar in my Travelall build.
Frankly, the wagoneer’s proportions work WAY better with the mild lift and real meats under there.
There is only so much you can do with the Jeep theme, at some point there will be some repeat of the riff. Hopefully the 2025 edition will be better. And ideally they bring some of the concepts to production
Not very exciting at all this year. But am not a Jeep person. YMMV