Jeep’s latest Wrangler concept really does need to go into full production, not least because it’s actually the work of Stellantis’ lightly bonkers SRT division.
Check out the photos to see just what the Street and Racing Technology folks have been up to. This thing’s full name is the Jeep Wrangler Scrambler SRT Concept, and we’re told it “honors the original Scrambler not by recreating it, but by imagining how far its rule-breaking formula could be pushed when V8 power, desert-racing hardware, and SRT performance development are allowed to run without constraint.” Sounds like a decent recipe to us.
Of course, the original Scrambler was a two-door truck from the ’80s, so the first thing SRT needed to do in order to bring it back was redesign the rear of the current Wrangler. They gave it longer doors, custom rear bodywork, and a proper pickup bed, as well as a new tailgate and chunky wheel arches. We’re told that the roll cage is structural, and you’ll have no doubt noticed the jump seats in the back. They’re actually removable or reversible.
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Up front, there’s a new and aggressive sharknose-style face, but it’s under the skin where the major changes were made. You see, because Jeep wants this thing to be a ‘high-speed desert machine,’ this is actually the first Wrangler to get an independent front suspension. The setup was developed with off-road racing champion Casey Currie and links up with a trophy truck-inspired rear axle and tough 17-inch wheels with 37-inch off-road tires.
Dune-bashing in the desert shouldn’t give it too many problems, then, and the whole ‘high-speed’ thing is covered by a 6.4-liter HEMI V8 with 470hp and 637Nm of torque. Yikes.
So, we’re all agreed? This thing really needs to go into production sometime soon...
More photos of the Jeep Wrangler Scrambler SRT Concept:
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
