Who wants to go on safari to look at a few elephants and zebras? Let's face it; if you've seen Madagascar, you've had the safari experience. Why not forsake Kenya in favour of Moab, Utah, USA over the Easter break instead and go on a safari to check out some interesting new Jeeps in the wild?
Every Easter, Jeep and its fans get together in the arid wastes of Moab to celebrate all things Jeep-y and off-road-y and Jeep always brings along a few concept versions of its cars, which may or may not lead to full production models.
This year it's bringing three versions of the Wrangler. First up there's the Level Red, which refers to the highest grade of difficulty of an off-road course. The Level Red gets a two-inch suspension stretch, special axles and transfer box and a powerful 3.6-litre petrol engine to heave itself over all those rocks. In spite of its name the Level Red is actually painted in a deep black colour, with a body stripe and some shiny off-road kit, including half-cutaway doors (we want those on our Fiesta...). The interior gets lots of bright red accents and a prototype versatile load bed arranger.
The Wrangler Maximum Performance (Jeep really doesn't mess around with wispy names, does it?) is designed for those "who spend every minute on the trail." Or who have watched too many episodes of Bear Grylls. The MP gets clever axles and a transfer box with a special crawler gear for climbing serious obstacles. It also gets special underbody and bumper protection and a new 'flat-top' kit for the bonnet and wings. There are also super-bright LED lights attached to the roof rail for lighting up difficult sections at night. Or just for scaring the wildlife.
Most striking of all are the massive wheels though, crowned with enormous 37-inch BF Goodrich tyres. No kerbing damage for this one...
Finally, there's the Wrangler MOJO, where the OJ refers to the bright orange paint job, or Orange Jeep. Like the Level Red, this gets taller suspension and trick differentials and axles, as well as a crawler gear in the transfer box. There are also prototype LED headlights that should presumably make it through to production at some stage, while the cabin again features cut-down doors and a lockable storage box in the 'boot.'
Based on the new Cherokee, which we've just test-driven for the first time ('squinting Leonardo DiCaprio', © Paul Healy), the Cherokee Adventurer features a 48:1 crawl gear ratio (no idea either but it sounds fun...), a beige exterior with contrasting black bonnet, 17-inch wheels with serious Goodrich off-road tyres, under body protection and tow hooks and a tricked-out interior.
The last car to make the show is the Grand Cherokee Eco Diesel Trail Warrior, which arrives with air suspension, a satin black finish to the exterior trim, a roof basket, 20-inch cast aluminium wheels, rock rails and a crawler gear setup. Inside is a black-and-beige colour scheme that is presumably meant to remind you of those comfy combat pants worn by Bear Grylls and Ray Mears. Nice.
Anything else?
More than likely, most if not all of this stuff will find its way onto the Jeep options lists, and one or two of the models may well become available as special editions. Here's hoping we get the Eco Diesel Trail Warrior...