It's hard to believe, but we're getting close to the 2023 Easter Jeep Safari at Moab. This will be the 57th running of the event, hosted by the Red Rock 4-Wheelers club. Jeep usually brings a plethora of cool concepts to the off-road meet; this year will be no exception and we're already getting "trail markers" – aka teasers – of what to expect.
You've likely noticed the image at the top of this article, shimmering in green. That's the first teaser, clearly showing the side of a two-door Wrangler. Aside from the color, we can see a fastback-style pillar where we'd expect to find a roll bar. The door opening has no visible hinges or provisions for an actual door, and the fenders are positively massive. However, this isn't an image of the actual vehicle, but rather, a well-done sketch. That means we could see some differences when the real deal is revealed.
For this first round of teasers, Jeep offers a second image and it looks a bit more conventional. Again, we clearly have a Wrangler, this time an Unlimited Rubicon equipped with tube doors and perhaps some kind of utility rack. It's barely visible on the right side of the photo, but it makes sense as we can see the Jeep Performance Parts logo ghosted on the left side of the image. Showcasing available parts is always a Jeep thing at Moab.
These are teaser images so of course, we won't get the full story yet. But Jeep does offer more clues in a short press release announcing its participation in this year's event. We're told that an "entirely new collection" of concept Jeeps will be shown in Moab, built both by Jeep Performance Parts and Jeep proper. We're also told that, of the two concepts teased here, one will be a new 4xe model traversing the off-road trails with "absolute silence."
If we had to guess (and right now, we do), we'd say the green teaser represents this new 4xe spec. However, we're well aware that the other teaser image shows Jeep branding in blue – a trademark color for Jeep's 4xe models.
2022 was a banner year for Jeep at the safari, with no less than seven concepts on hand. Will there be more for 2023? The teaser train has just begun, and if we get two each week until the April 1 kickoff date, that would match or possibly top Jeep's effort last year. Stay tuned, because there's definitely more to come on this.
