by Matt Konkle
Managing Editor
MOAB, Utah — Each year, the Easter Jeep Safari is a whirlwind of motion for those who come out to Moab, Utah, every spring. From trail rides, often multiple times each day, to sightseeing adventures inside many of the surrounding national parks, or even top-down, doors-off cruising through the town itself on the way to visit friends or restaurants, the whole experience is constant movement.
Yup, a day at EJS can quickly slip away with everything the whole experience has to offer.
And, well, we did not want our fifth day at EJS to fly by so fast. That’s because Wednesday during EJS week is our annual chance to see the Jeep brand’s latest concept vehicle crop.
See, Jeep designers spent most of their spare time throughout the year spinning up vehicle concept ideas, then take their top ideas and create unique, one-off Jeeps that highlight a theme, products, or even hide certain cues for upcoming production models.
“Easter Jeep Safari was created by Jeep owners for Jeep owners, and this incredible event has helped steer the Jeep brand’s development of off-road 4x4 vehicles over the years, while most importantly connecting us with the community and the thousands of Jeep enthusiasts who gather each year,” said Jeep Brand Chief Executive Officer Bob Broderdorf. “Moab is our home away from home and a playground that can only be properly explored in a Jeep. The custom Jeep and JPP concepts we’ll unveil this year, along with unique immersive experiences, will once again demonstrate Jeep brand’s unmatched off-road capability and underscore what it means to drive a Jeep.”
This year, the brand brought seven concept vehicles into the Utah desert to display. Some were updates, or a refresh, of previous concept ideas, while others were all new designs.
Along for the ride this year were Rewind, Bug Out, Convoy, Blueprint, Sunchaser, J6 Honcho and High Top Honcho.
Rewind, Blueprint, Sunchaser and Bug Out all displayed the Wrangler platform, with Rewind as the lone two-door edition while Bug Out had been a four-door at the start before the rear doors were removed in favor of a long box design.
Convoy started life as a Gladiator Mojave, and then the engineers morphed it to replicate a 1963 Gladiator SJ. Meanwhile, the J6 and High Top Honcho offered a throwback look at 1970s Jeep truck editions, with J6 again sporting just two doors.
That J6 look is something many wish would make it into production as a Jeep truck, but while the brand has never officially slammed the door on this idea, it so far has been highly resistant.
So, we longingly gazed at these concepts while a few of Jeep’s design executives talked about each vehicle, then saw our chance when they were done to get in and take each one for a ride.
We started with Rewind, a purple ‘Grimace’ colored Wrangler featuring a wild 1980s/90s scheme with plenty of call outs to that era like an old cell phone, stickers, ‘Be Kind, Rewind’ badge, and a few others.
Next was Blueprint and its two-toned blue appearance. Jeep wanted this one to highlight all kinds of JPP products that people can purchase for their own vehicles, and each product has its own QR code that linked to a specific landing page.
Third was Convoy, and that early ‘60s inspired Gladiator look. Among other parts, like a special top and doors, engineers constructed a new hood and special seven-slot grille that is the first of its kind. This grille/hood combination is also something we’d love to see Jeep make into a production piece in future models.
We then had a chance to ride out in Bug Out, Jeep’s nod to a lighter-weight overlanding vehicle. Many of its products and body changes were designed to remove excess weight, while interior hooks provided a spot to hang a hammock. Additionally, in keeping with that overlanding theme, Jeep included an electric off-road E-scooter inside the vehicle for those looking to ride around a bit after setting up their campsite.
Sunchaser, on the other hand, seemed to be a concept built to show off an appearance that anyone could replicate, as most of its JPP items were more traditional, such as a two-inch lift kit, high clearance fender flares, rock rails and rooftop storage. However, the vehicle also sported two more products we hope make the production cut—a pivoting light bar and side window storage boxes.
After parking Sunchaser back where it belonged, we finally had a chance to look over our favorite selection of this year’s concept field—J6 Honcho. And, sure, we’ve seen it before in 2019 as the J6 Gladiator. Still, this one had updated graphics, six high-powered TYRI auxiliary lights, concept fender flares, a unique front triple-hoop bumper and a custom spare tire carrier. But most of all, the two-door look is just something we’ve always admired.
Finally, we moved from the two-door J6 to the four-door High Top Honcho. Like the J6, this one was seen before as the High Top Gladiator. For 2025, designers painted the thing in a ‘70s style brown, yellow and orange scheme, while also adding white steel wheels, concept fender flares, color-matched hardtop, Dana 60 axles and rear roll bar system similar to what we have on our JTe Gladiator.
As concept day drew to a close, so did (for us) EJS week. To make it home in time for Easter, our plans had us leaving during the morning hours Thursday and arriving back in West Chester, Pennsylvania, sometime Saturday afternoon.
It is a long week, EJS is each year, but incredibly rewarding for our Quadratec team.And this year, we enjoyed spending time with our customers and industry friends on a Metal Masher trail ride. We inhaled plenty of content for upcoming catalogs and new product releases. Helped out with a Tread Lightly! Trail Restoration Project on the Top of the World Trail, and had the chance to drive around some unique Jeep vehicle concepts.
Not a bad way to spend some April days in the southeastern Utah desert.
Recommended Reading:
2025 Easter Jeep Safari Concept Vehicles — Jeep Continues To Tease Two-Door Truck
