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Jeep previews Easter Jeep Safari concepts, and one is called Jeepster

Easter is coming up, which is a big deal for both Christians and Jeep fans. The latter of which are excited because the annual Easter Jeep Safari off-road event in Moab is coming, along with Jeep's wild concepts it builds for the event each year. We're getting an sneak peek at two of those Jeeps early, thanks to illustrations the company revealed. The first of them is very obviously a two-door 2018 Wrangler, but with some small changes, and the inspiration is obvious when spotting the badge on the front fender: "Jeepster." This concept pulls from the old Jeepster Commando from the '60s and '70s, a slightly longer Jeep that was a bit more civilized and had an available hardtop that had a distinct slant at the back. The slanted rear roof is very clear on this Wrangler's hardtop, and it has the contrasting color that its inspiration had, too. This Wrangler Jeepster is more off-road ready, though, with big chunky tires, a full-size spare moved inside, and gas cans mounted to the rear cargo door. It's more difficult to tell what sets apart the second Jeep Safari concept. It's obviously based on the 2018 Wrangler. The front fenders have been severely cut down and the front bumper removed to make room for what appear to be enormous tires and lots of suspension travel. It also bears a big hood scoop, maybe indicating a more powerful engine underneath. It also has full front doors, but the rear top has either been removed or lowered. We'll have more details on these and other Jeep Safari concepts in the next couple of weeks around the time of the event. So stay tuned for more wild Jeep news. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Australian Jeep marketing stunt goes awry [w/video]

Jeep fans in Australia are none too happy with the off-road brand following a contest that saw ten new Cherokees sold for just $10,000 Australian (about $9,400), roughly a quarter of the vehicle's price Down Under.
The contest, called the "World's Most Remote Dealership," gave Aussies the chance to snag an ultra-affordable Cherokee Longitude (analogous to the US-spec Latitude trim), provided they could get to a secret dealership in the remote wilderness of western New South Wales, near the border with the state of South Australia.
In order to get the exact location of the dealership, though, potential customers needed to download an app, which would release a phone number 9:00 AM AEST on Thursday (7:00 PM EDT, Wednesday night). The first ten people who could call in and prove they could afford to finance $10,000 and get to the remote dealership, were given the location of the remote dealership.

FCA recalls 1.1 million vehicles worldwide due to confusing shifter

Fiat Chrysler is recalling 1.1 million vehicles worldwide to address the problematic shifter used on cars with eight-speed automatic transmissions. The issue is that the console-mounted shifter acts like a rocker switch and always returns to the middle position after moved. This has been deemed confusing to drivers – confusing enough to cause some to exit their vehicles without first selecting Park and leading to the car rolling away. FCA says 41 injuries are related to the shifter problem, and no evidence of equipment failure has been found. The company will enhance warning chimes and alter the shift strategy, meaning alert messages will be displayed in case the driver door is opened while the engine is running. With the door open, the transmission will prevent the car from moving even if Park is not selected. The affected vehicles are certain model-year 2012–2014 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans, as well as model-year 2014–2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs, an estimated 811,586 US vehicles in total. The recall also affects 52,144 vehicles in Canada, 16,805 in Mexico, and 248,667 vehicles elsewhere. The shifter is used with ZF-designed and ZF-built eight-speed automatic; Audi uses a similar shifter setup in some of its vehicles, including the current-generation, which predated Chrysler's use of it. Chrysler uses a different, a rotating-dial-type shifter on eight-speed-equipped Rams. The company moved away from the problem shifter design in 2015 for the Charger and 300, and the Grand Cherokee's shift lever was modified for 2016. Owners of affected vehicles will be notified of the recall when service is available. Fiat Chrysler urges customers to follow the instructions in the vehicle's owner's manual in the meantime. Related Video: News Source: FCAImage Credit: AOL Recalls Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM Ownership Safety SUV Sedan