I saw the two Unlimiteds at the Chicago Auto Show and am sure they will find people who want them because of their size. Chances are they will not be new Jeep customers but existing Wrangler owners who want more room.

In looking at the vehicle it seems minimal changes would be needed to transform it into a Scrambler. I asked one of the Jeep folks on the floor what their plans were and all he said was "For the moment we have no plans to build one".

I know with the Dodge M80 and Scrambler projects DC management claims they couldn't make a case for a small truck. I'm sure they have a lot of consumer data to back that up but it seems to me this could be another great niche vehicle that Chrysler once thrived on.

I hope there is some truth in the possibility of the new Scrambler not being dead, but unfortunately, Dieter publicly said there was no business case for it. Now it is always possible that management is changing their mind as I’m sure they had a lot of complaints. July is an interesting schedule to release the vehicle as that would be close to when Jeep would begin planning for the 2005 model run.

As many have said before, a pickup truck variant is not that much of a change to the ‘Unlimited’ vehicle. Basically all Jeep would have to do:

1) Remove the back seat and carpeting. Replace with a rubber mat.
2) Replace the bolt-in roll cage. By simply cutting off the extending poles of the current one, you could have a roll bar in the cab where the passengers sit.
3) Provide a half top hard top and soft top to cover the 2 front passengers.
4) As an option, provide bolt-on side wood side rails

Considering the hardtops and softops are manufactured by someone else (I believe Bestop?), Jeep would not have much work on this change.

Now as an even lower cost modification to the Unlimited (and one most of us could do ourselves), Jeep could:

1) Leave the roll bar alone. I suspect some of the issues with safety may have prevented the pickup variant from being released.
2) Provide a half top similar to the one in the Mopar accessories or Bestop Halftop (which already has the Sunrider opening) that has a tonneau cover that fits around the roll bar extensions.
3) Provide an optional rubber mat (to cover the entire bed area), and optional wood side rails.
4) Make this a dual top configuration using the full length hard top.

Jeep could market these as a special limited edition of the Unlimited (The Scrambler edition?). Granted it’s a niche of a niche, but there is little cost and you are still using the basic Unlimited vehicle. This is a real low cost way to sell additional Unlimiteds. Jeep has played this game with the various special editions before (The Willy’s edition for example).

I’m thinking of doing something like this myself if I buy an Unlimited. I’m still waiting for when we can order the Unlimited with a 5-speed manual, so my plans are on hold.

I have tried to see if Bestop is planning on making a version of their Halftop for the Unlimited, but I have never gotten an answer. The guy that makes a similar halftop (www.californiatops.com) seemed interested in the idea.

I was the at the Chicago Auto Show this weekend and got a chance to see the Unlimited in person.
What a cool vehicle with the hardtop. You actually have room in the back now! Fold the rear seat up and even more room. I was worried that the extra room wouldn't make much of a difference but it does.

My first reaction when I saw pics of the Unlimited, was how hard would it be to
make a Scrambler model off of it. Now it seems it might actually happen.
If it does happen the only thing missing from the Wrangler line would be the Dakar. I am not sure when the next Wrangler platform is due but, if they are
starting to wise up at DC, it would include a Dakar type vehicle.

I want the Dakar. How many times do we (the public) have to tell DC that WE WILL BUY IT?!?!?!

I will be first in line for the Dakar, believe it.

It's sad when a foreign motor company produces a vehicle that can be considered a "direct competitor" with a Jeep product...

Someone is playing follow the leader.

here is my comment What's funny, is that there are people out there that actually think that Hyundai can actually compete with jeep on any level at all!! HA that's funny.