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2011 Jeep Wrangler Renegade 
Every year, Jeep and Mopar hold a special event for fans of the two brands. Now on its 45th year, the Moab Easter Jeep Safari has become an annual convergence of some eye-catching Jeep concepts, all of which have been made specifically for the event. The 45th Moab Easter Jeep Safari is scheduled for April 16th, 2011, but with more than a week left before the event begins, we’ve already gotten a few sneak peeks on the six concepts that are expected to appear on the show. This year, the event will feature three customized Jeep Wrangler models with one being given the designation as the ‘Renegade’. Just like the Blue Crush and the Pork Chop, the Renegade comes with its own unique features courtesy of Chrysler’s aftermarket company, Mopar. Of the many modifications given to the Wrangler, the Renegade model now sports a powerful 6.4-liter HEMI V8 engine that produces 475 horsepower and mated to a six-speed manual transmission. In addition to the improvements done on the off-roader’s powertrain, Mopar also gave the Renegade a bevy of new items, including a heat dissipating hood, a new fuel door, sill guards, a bikini top, rock rails, slush mats, a half-door kit, a new winch-mounted front bumper, and a set of 35” Mickey Thompson Baja Claw radials that have been mounted on AEV Pintler wheels. It may not be as jarring as the Blue Crush or as peculiar as the Pork Chop, but the Renegade still holds a commanding and intimidating presence by the mere sight of it. The fact that it’s tailor-made for rough and tough terrain is a true indication of the off-roader’s capabilities. 2011 Jeep Wrangler Pork Chop
Easter Sunday isn’t scheduled until April 24th, 2011, but that didn’t stop the organizers of the 45th annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari from holding the event a week earlier on April 16th, 2011 in Utah. In what has become an annual tradition for Jeep and Chrysler’s aftermarket company Mopar, the two brands have used the Moab Easter Jeep Safari event to introduce a line of customized Jeep concepts to the gathered crowd in attendance. This year, Jeep and Mopar are introducing six new concepts to the event, one of which is the quirky-named Wrangler ‘Pork Chop’. Mopar took what began as a 2011 Jeep Wrangler Sport and shaved off some weight by dropping many elements found on the standard model, including the doors, the tailgate, the bumpers, the carpet, the sway bars, and the top, among other things. In addition to ridding itself of what apparently is 850 lbs worth of excess baggage, the car also got some new touches, including a custom roll cage, reshaped fender panels, a set of bright red lightweight Sparco ‘Chrono Road’ reclining bucket seats, a newly modified suspension system, a lowered windshield, and a set of Mickey Thompson 35” Baja Claw radials mounted on lightweight E-T Vintage V wheels. Just by looking at it, the custom Jeep actually looks really neat. The only problem we have is we don’t know why they ended up calling it ’Pork Chop’. 2011 Jeep Wrangler JK-8 Independence
Jeep Wrangler is no doubt a very cool car, for those of you who enjoy these kind of cars. But what do you think about a Wrangler pick-up? Sounds even better, don’t you agree? Called JK-8 Independence this specil Wrangler takes its inspiration from the 1980’s, Mopar and features a 50 inches long bed, while the width between wheel wells is 44 inches. In order to create the pick-up style bed for the outside cargo, the Wrangler has been transformed into a two-seater model, with all the interior parts behind the front seats being removed. The JK-8 Independence has been equipped with a Mopar/Dynatrac ProRock 44 front axle and stock Dana 44 rear axle, a 4.5-inch long-arm suspension kit and 37-inch BF Goodrich Mud Terrain KM2 tires. The car is painted in yellow and its design is further distinguished by off-road bumpers for the front and rear, a new fuel door and slush mats. The JK-8 kit also includes bed floor, inner/outer body panels, half hard top (works with Freedom Top panels), and a new bulkhead. UPDATE 07/14/2011: Jeep has announced prices for the 2011 Mopar JK-8 Kit that enables owners to transform their Jeep Wrangler Unlimited into a pickup. With only $5,499, the company will dissemble and reassemble your Jeep. Major components of the Mopar JK-8 kit include a steel bed, inner and outer bedsides, sport bar extensions, Freedom panel assemblies, fiberglass hardtop, and bulkhead. 2011 Jeep Wrangler by Venchurs XPLORE Adventure Series
Off-road tuning company XPLORE Vehicles already has a very strong fleet of modified vehicles from its Venchurs XPLORE Adventure Series. Now, they’re getting ready to introduce the latest members of the family after the company laid out the plans for the Jeep line-up of vehicles. In choosing from four levels of equipment – STAGE 1 to 4 - families can experience the thrill of the outdoors with a feature-heavy Jeep that can cater to a lot of outdoor needs. According to XPLORE, the Stage 1 XPLORE Adventure Series will be made available for all models where as Stages 2, 3, and 4 will only be available for the Jeep Wrangler. Details on STAGE 1, 2, and 3 wasn’t mentioned in the press release with the only exception being the Stage 4 XPLORE H.E.R.O. Jeep Wrangler, which comes with an array of features including OME suspension, rock-rails, locking differentials, IPF lighting, super heavy-duty bumpers, roof-rack, air compressors, and an on-board refrigerator. On top of that, other notable additions to the vehicle as part of the Stage 4 package include a special Katzkin-sourced XPLORE leather and suede interior, a Magnaflow stainless steel performance exhaust system, a set of XPLORE special issue graphite aluminum wheels that comes with BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A® KM2 tires, and warn winch and special edition badges on both the exterior and interior of the car. Press Release after the jump Full story 2011 Jeep Wrangler by Project Kahn
Project Kahn may have a thing for LandRover models, but the British tuner has settled right in with another luxurious SUV: the Jeep Wrangler. They may have only added a cool new black exterior color and some impressive wheels, but the result was top notch nonetheless. The new set of 19" RS wheels was designed by Kahn and truly highlights the Jeep’s beautifully aggressive exterior. The set has been designed to take the original center cap from Jeep and will be available immediately. The price is set at a reasonable £185+vat in silver and £195+vat in black and will be available in limited stock. The tuner recommends the wheels be fit with size 275 x 55 x 20 tires. "We have designed this wheel with the off road enthusiast in mind and we would like this design to compliment a great vehicle and offer the owner the opportunity to have a sense of individuality and break from the norm. There are many wheels currently available but not all of them are suited to the rough terrain and we question whether some of them can sustain the high off road usage that owners of these vehicles expect." Not many tuners have decided to attack the Wrangler with some updates, so Project Kahn’s minimal package looks pretty good in our eyes. Now if we bring to light some of the special editions that have been created out of the off-road vehicle then this package would be meek at best. At the top of our list of special edition Wranglers is the Call of Duty: Black Ops Edition. Now that’s a hooked up Wrangler! 2011 Jeep Wrangler 70th Anniversary Edition
It seems a little odd that a rugged off-road vehicle like a Jeep Wrangler could be dressed up – as far as the interior is concerned – to the nines. But that’s what Jeep was able to do with the Wrangler 70th Anniversary Edition. As part of their 70th anniversary celebration, Jeep has decided to roll out special edition models for five of their SUVs: the Compass, Grand Cherokee, Liberty, Patriot, and Wrangler SUVs. Each of the SUVs will come with their own interior upgrades, despite the fact that no exterior modifications and performance tune-ups were made on these vehicles. Anybody interested in scooping up the special edition Wrangler, and the other variant models, will be glad to know that the brand is set to release the SUVs by the first quarter this year. Color options for all five models will include Bronze Star, Bright Silver, and Black. Details on the Jeep Wrangler 70th Anniversary Edition after the jump Full story 2011 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Mopar Edition
As if there weren’t enough Jeep Wranglers at the 2010 SEMA Auto Show, Chrysler is bringing some more models to the Los Angeles Auto Show. The Jeep Wrangler Sahara Mopar Edition will, of course, be completely Moparized and outfitted to handle any and all situations it may encounter while off-roading. The Wrangler sees a new steel front bumper that includes integrated fog lights to improve visibility and an AEV-designed steel rear bumper that features a tire carrier. The Mopar/AEV hood blocks debris and has a Warn winch prepared to attack any sticky situation one may encounter. Finishing off the Sahara Mopar are a set of 35-inch all-terrain tires that will crush whatever gets in their way. The tires are mounted on AEV wheels. The 2011 Jeep Wrangler Sahara is unmistakable as its red exterior paint job glistens in the sun and meshes well with the mud. Press release after the jump. Full story 2011 Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty: Black Ops EditionA few months ago, the Call of Duty video game franchise introduced its latest incarnation, Call of Duty: Black Ops, much to the delight of the gamers all over the world. And while the release of the game was big news in the gaming world, people in the auto industry had another reason to enjoy the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops. We touched on this before, but we only got a glimpse of the real thing until recently. If you’ve the faintest the idea of what we’re talking about, Activision – the distributors of the video game – collaborated with Jeep to have a Jeep Wrangler featured on the game. Even better than that, that particular Jeep Wrangler that you’ll see in the game also has a real version because Jeep created a limited edition 2011 Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty: Black Ops Edition. Take the game to the real world, so they say. Only this time, leave the guns in the virtual world. Details on the Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty: Black Ops Edition after the jump. Full story Jeep Bringing a Whole Load Of Stuff To SEMA
The SEMA Auto Show doesn’t get going until next week, but we already have a good idea of what will be coming to the show in Las Vegas. Today, Chrysler’s Mopar Underground department has just unveiled three new off-road vehicles for the aftermarket show. The first on offer will be two Jeeps, the J7 Stripper and the NuKaiser 715. The former will be a stripped down Wrangler with a two-inch lift kit and 35-inch Mickey Thompson off road tires. The latter will be based on the Egyptian-built J8 military-spec Jeep. It has a diesel motor and an AEV-sourced pickup bed. That bed is connected to a custom cab. It will also feature a few Mopar toys, such as rock rails, a winch bumper, and 38-inch Mud-Terrain tires. On top of those Wranglers, Jeep will also bring one more, the Sahara Mopar Edition. There are no images of this vehicle as of now, but we do know that it will be lifted and given 35-inch tires with AEV alloy wheels. For playing in the rough stuff, the Sahara will feature steel front and rear bumpers, an integrated rear tire carrier, and a Mopar/AEV hood to add protection. Hit the jump to see what other projects are heading to SEMA, plus a sneak preview video. Full story Texas Gives Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram Awards
Dozens of automotive writers representing the Texas Auto Writers Association have just named the Jeep Grand Cherokee the “SUV of Texas.” Not a bad choice, as we found the new Jeep to be brilliant and a massive step forward for the company. Jeep also managed to get the 2011 Wrangler Unlimited a trophy for being the “Mid-size SUV of Texas”. We’re not sure about this one, but to each their own, especially in the great state of Texas. More than 40 members were given two-days of on- and off-road evaluation time with the Grand Cherokee and the Wrangler, as well as their competitors. Everything was taken into consideration, including exterior style, off-road ability, and the overall value and fuel efficiency. Though it might seem like Chrysler had a big day already, more was yet to come, as the 2011 Dodge Ram Laramie Longhorn was named the “Truck of Texas.” The Ram swept every category it entered, dominating the competition. Well done Chrysler. Texas sure does love you.
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