2019 Easter Jeep Safari, USA - Jeep J6
Described as “all truck, all of the time” the J6 was a more radical custom that took the Gladiator platform and shortened it into a 2-door pickup.
This conversion allowed the tray to be lengthened by a full 12 inches (30cm) to an even 6 feet (1.83m) to maximise cargo space. The upsized load area was protected by a prototype spray-in bedliner matching the body colour, while a sturdy, 2 1/4-inch prototype sport/roll bar fitted to the tray protected the J6’s removable concept hardtop and carried a set of four, 5-inch 4,800 lumen Jeep Performance Parts LED lights.
Also fitted to the tray was a prototype spare tyre carrier to hold the same 37-inch hoops that graced the rest of the J6.
Those 37-inch BFG tyres (Mud Terrain T/A in this instance) were fixed to prototype 17-inch beadlock wheels with a “deep dish” design, silver beadlock ring and the satin-look ‘Brass Monkey’ finish that’s been applied to past Jeep Easter Safari customs.
Working with the aggressive tyre and wheel package was a production 2-inch lift kit from Jeep Performance Parts, a prototype 2-inch steel stinger bar on the standard, winch-equipped Gladiator Rubicon front bumper and rock rails customised with 2-inch steel tubes welded to the standard Gladiator rails.
A quartet of 5-inch Jeep Performance Parts LED lights were mounted to the stinger bar, with another two bolted on the A-pillars, for a total of ten 5-inch LEDs to illuminate the trail ahead.
Retro touches on this concept, created by the Jeep Design Team and inspired by the Jeep Honcho pickup from the late 1970s, included custom Metallic Brilliant Blue paint and old-style Jeep badging on the tailgate and front guards
Less obvious touches included Mopar Satin Black grille inserts and Mopar latches on the bonnet.
The 3.6 V6 gained the Mopar cold-air intake, but not the cat-back exhaust.
Like the other Gladiator-based concepts, the J6 featured Katzkin leather seats and armrests inside, accented in blue stitching to pick up on the exterior. The same thinking was behind the blue dash.
Mopar accessories fitted to the J6 included the bright pedal kit, all-weather floor mats and moulded doorsill guards, with other features including an auxiliary switchbank for the extra lights and a trailer brake control switch, while the finishing touch was a retro Jeep logo on the steering wheel boss.
An interesting detail on the J6 is that its shortened wheelbase was 118.4 inches – exactly the same as the current JL Wrangler 4-door. Does this mean Jeep are considering a 2-door version of the Gladiator in the future?
