2023 Easter Jeep Safari off-road concepts revealed

US off-road giant Jeep has unveiled its 2023 line-up of concept vehicles coinciding with the Easter Jeep Safari.

The annual event – now in its 57th year – sees thousands of four-wheel drive enthusiasts descend on the small town of Moab in Utah for a weekend of four-wheel driving and rock crawling. 

The event is not organised by Jeep, but is run by a local Jeep club. Jeep started turning up as a brand about 15 years ago and has slowly been increasing its presence and involvement. 

Mark Allen – head of design for Jeep – started doing one-off special vehicles for the event, which has now turned into an annual run of six to eight concept vehicles ranging from mild to wild and often giving a glimpse into the future of Jeep vehicles and planning.

Read More: Designing an Icon - Mark Allen interview

“It’s one of those extra credit jobs that you don’t get any extra credit for,” Mr Allen recently told a media conference.

It’s also a way to connect with Jeep’s die-hard fans and a litmus test of ideas for future Jeep models.

Moab, located near the border of Colorado, is surrounded by unique and stunning landscapes. It’s rock-crawling heaven for four-wheel drivers, and has many well known and challenging tracks and obstacles amongst the so-called ‘slickrock’.

There is often a mix of concepts: a restored version of a classic Jeep, two Mopar-accessory concepts, vehicles with a camping focus (which Americans call ‘overlanding’), and some high-performance off-roaders as well. 

Jeep says most ideas behind the annual concepts come from themes that could form a part of future vehicles or features.

“It’s real mix (of departments), and my phone rings year round with somebody who has an idea that they want to get across." Mr Allen said in a roundtable interview with international media.

“It’s primarily through the design office, because we are the most interested in doing it."

READ MORE: On the ground at the 2019 Easter Jeep Safari

"Ideas usually originate or start with an idea or a sketch, but If there is any idea that somebody has, they really aren't too shy about catching me in the hallway, calling me up or sending me an email, and we’ve done a lot of that over the years."

"It started out really slow and small, and has ballooned in the biggest part time job you could ever want.”

Jeep’s involvement at Easter Jeep Safari has been credited with many off-road focussed design elements of the current generation JL Wrangler, and was an important part of developing the and assessing the appeal of the JT Gladiator. 

The third iteration of Jeep’s battery-electric Wrangler, the Magneto returns as version 3.0 with some big upgrades in 2023.

Originally a 2020 Wrangler Rubicon with a 3.6-litre V6 and six-speed manual gearbox, this electric Wrangler has once again gone under the knife as an exploration of fully electric off-roading.

There’s a new axial flux motor under the bonnet, which connects up to a special six-speed manual gearbox. Two different power modes can be selected: 212kW and 370Nm – which mostly mimics the original 3.6-litre motor that was replaced – and a ‘full beans’ 484kW/1220Nm mode.

Differentials are correspondingly huge, with a Dynatrac 60 (front) and 80 (rear) spinning 40-inch tyres on 20-inch beadlocked wheels.

Because of the immense torque, Jeep used the six-speed manual gearbox from a Hellcat-powered Dodge Challenger, but had to send it off for further strengthening in this application. And yet, it still is seen as the weak link in the powertrain, because the electric motor is capable of more. 

Updated programming has unlocked an additional 20 per cent in usable power and range, and there are now programmable driving modes for increased levels of brake regeneration, including an aggressive hill descent mode for ‘true one-pedal off-road driving’.

What’s the range and recharge times like? “I don’t care.” said Mark Allen. 

“It’s not impressive, It’s not about that. It’s about “what does an electric Jeep feel like? How does it respond and act?”

“It’s about our curiosity, but also to test the acceptance of electric off-road and how this vehicle performs. It’s got great throttle control, great finesse, and it is super adept at rock crawling in the Moab environment.”

Throwing back to the CJ-8 Scrambler of the 1980s – which was a longer-wheelbase variant two-door Jeep CJ - Jeep’s design team has reinvented same body style using the underpinnings of a V8-powered Wrangler 392. 

The custom body, which includes elements from a Gladiator at the rear as well as large amounts of carbon-fibre, reduces weight by around 200 kilograms in comparison to a standard Wrangler 392.

The vehicle is still powered by 350kW/637Nm 6.4-litre Hemi V8 (392 cubic inches), which is normally only available in a four-door format, and gives this concept a ‘pretty rowdy’ driving experience, according the head designer Mark Allen.

Will we see something like this in the future? Mark Allen couldn’t confirm anything like that, but he also said it’s a possibility:

“I do try to populate the minds, not just of consumers and you guys (the media), but the people in the building, that’s pretty important. And if we get a good reaction, there is usually some action.”

When we showed Gladiator, there was a lot of people asking ‘is there going to be a two-door version’, and we’ve done one concept already of that.

That concept was the J6 truck concept, at the 2019 Easter Jeep Safari. 

“Four door trucks always outsell the two-door trucks” Mr Allen explained.

“But if you think about it as an alternative to a Wrangler, somewhere in between the short wheelbase two door and the four-door, i think it kind of fits better there for me.

There’s often one or two amazing resto mods included in the batch of Easter Jeep Safari concepts, and this year is no different.

This time, it’s a 1978 Jeep Cherokee that has gone under the knife. Found on Craigslists without a powertrain and with some body issues, it was stretched and pulled into accepting a more modern chassis and driveline. 

And of course, this vehicle was thoroughly restored up to a high standard, like the many restomods of Jeep that came before it.

Underneath is a four-door Jeep Wrangler Rubicon powered by the plug-in hybrid 4Xe powertrain. A 200kW/400Nm turbocharged four-cylinder engine is matched to twin electric motors and a 17kWh battery for a combined total output of 280kW and 637Nm. 

The wheel arches were opened up to accept the 37-inch tyres, and Jeep thinned the pillars and removed the glass. There is a custom interior setup inside – including an 8-track – and one of Jeep’s design team (a keen spray painter) turned the inside roof into a funky mural.

This Wrangler concept is an exercise in colour experimentation. Following on from a successful run of Jeep’s Tuscadero Pink hue in 2021 – which greatly exceeded their expectations of popularity – CEO of Jeep Christian Meunier made a special request to explore this colour even further.

This new colour, which is yet to be named, is described as a ‘chromatic magenta’ that looks purple in the shade, but turns into a bold, metallic pink in sunlight.

The interior has been reworked with some funky details, and off-road performance has been improved to boot. Height-adjustable air suspension – provided by AccuAir – allows clearance for 37-inch tyres, and protection comes from AEV bars front and rear. 

While the new range of Wagoneer vehicles don’t carry a Jeep badge, that hasn’t stopped Jeep’s design team from getting their hands on one and doing some interesting things.

This is the ‘overland’ concept of the year, which starts (most notably) with a big Redtail Overland Skyloft roof-top tent. It’s a hardshell tent with hard walls (no canvas at all). It’s a new product that brings high levels of features, including air conditioning, heating, solar power and its own battery system. 

The Grand Wagoneer’s rear sunroof has been removed, which combines with a trap door in the roof tent for the ability to move between the two directly. The rear section has been cleared out of seats and trim, making the Grand Wagoneer and two seater and offering up a high volume of storage (and even living space) for a life on the road. 

The Grand Wagoneer – which isn’t coming to Australia – is powered by a new 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged inline six petrol engine, which makes 380kW and 680Nm, running through an eight-speed automatic transmission and a four-wheel drive system. It’s based on the same platform as the DT Ram pickup truck, and this concept gets 35-inch tyres improve off-road ability.

One of the concepts coming from the Jeep Performance Parts (JPP) and Mopar side of the business, the Sideburn Concept shows some new and concept bolt-on pieces for the Gladiator.

Up-front is a tube-style brush bar that folds downwards into a bench for two. There's also limb-risers on the bonnet (for pushing tree limbs out of the way on tight tracks), a concept sports bar and a tub that has been heavily reworked. There are Molle panels and Rotopax slots for some additional storage, and a spare wheel mounted right in the centre.

Those wheels – 17-inch HRE alloys – are now wrapped in 37-inch rubber and uses a Jeep Performance Parts 2-inch suspension lift for additional clearance. Dampers have been further upgraded, with Bilstein remote-reservoir units used.

Using a Wrangler 4Xe instead, the Departure concept brings a few similar concepts to the Sideburn concept (like the front 'bumper bench' and JPP/Bilstein suspension upgrades.

There are new custom flat-fender flares and liners, which include daytime running lights that meet the requirements for tyre coverage across 50 states in Jeep's home country. These laws are not as strict – in terms of modification and coverage – as what we have in Australia.

There are some Molle panels for securing smaller bits and accessories, along with an innovative storage solutions for a big rear-mounted spare wheel. The 37-inch tyres can take up a lot of storage space when kept somewhere inside the vehicle, but can also reduce your departure angle when rear-mounted on the outside of the vehicle. This new design from Jeep provides an innovative feature of being able to flip the wheel between two different positions, depending on whether one needs to prioritise storage or clearance.