By Andrew Wendler

Ah, spring, when a young man’s thoughts turn from the cold, dark struggle of winter to busting across the sun-kissed Utah landscape in a kick-ass 4×4. For devotees of the Jeep brand, the annual Moab Jeep Safari not only is an off-roaders dream vacation, but also an opportunity to check out some of the wilder concept vehicles the Jeep brand and its Mopar associates have been brewing up during the winter. This year the pair took a half-dozen vehicles—three from Jeep, three from Mopar—and went to work, reconvening at Chrysler’s HQ in Auburn Hills for a final shakedown before shipping out for Moab. Although the FC Concept and the J10 retro-truck from last year’s outing didn’t leave much turf in left field unturned for 2013, the teams still managed to put together a mighty impressive group of vehicles made from equal parts dreams and ingenuity, while hinting at products to come. Here’s the lineup:

Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk II Concept

Arguably the most impressive thing about the Grand Cherokee Trailhawk II (pictured above) is how good it looks in person. Despite wearing jumbo-sized 35-inch Mickey Thompson tires on 17-inch wheels, the concept received no lift kit or suspension mods. To fit the tires, Jeep simply got busy with the Sawzall and opened up the wheel wells until the super-sized blackwall tires fit. Teamed with the custom flares and blood-orange paint, the results are ruggedly handsome. A 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V-6 with a Banks Engineering exhaust provides motivation to the tune of 420 lb-ft of torque.  Exterior mods include a Grand Cherokee SRT hood, SRT front and rear fascias that have been modified for extra ground clearance, a blacked-out grille, a matte-black roof, and one-off custom roof rails. Custom front and rear skid plates, dual rear tow hooks, and modified Mopar rock rails finish off the package. All in, this is one Grand Cherokee that means business.

Jeep Wrangler Flat Top

This is what your gramps would call an “immaculate chop.” No ragged edges, no ungainly transitions, just a two-inch drop in roof height that looks so clean that you’d need a stocker next to it to illustrate is radicalness. To achieve it, Jeep clipped the windshield and removed the B-pillar, which, in turn, necessitated removing all side glass, and then put it all back together. It may sound easy, but there are no plans for the aftermarket. The exterior is finished in metallic sandstone with copper and brown accents. The hood and bumpers are customized versions from the Wrangler Rubicon 10th Anniversary model, and a massive Warn Zeon winch and a TeraFlex spare-tire carrier round off the exterior enhancements.

Power comes from a stock 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 and a six-speed manual with a Mopar exhaust. A Mopar/Dynatrac Prorock 44 axle sits in front, a 60 in the rear, both out fitted with 5.38 gears and ARB lockers. Thirty-seven–inch Mickey Thompson tires provide the height without a lift kit, while the suspension is beefed up with King remote reservoir shocks, pneumatic bump stops, and …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver