Scrambler name tipped for Jeep Wrangler ute
BY RON HAMMERTON | 23rd Aug 2017
A Jeep fan online forum in the United States, jeepscramblerforum.com, is reporting that “sources” have confirmed the Scrambler name will be applied to the Jeep four-door ute to be based on the next-generation 2018 Wrangler that is expected to be revealed at the Los Angeles motor show late this year.
It also reports that the Scrambler – code-named JT – will sit on a stretched version of the Wrangler ladder chassis and get a third-generation 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine when it arrives in North America late next year.
The ute has been confirmed for Australia, although the name and launch date are still under wraps.
If the Scrambler badge speculation is correct, it would mark a second coming for the name which was applied to cosmetic dress-up package for a long-wheelbase two-door Wrangler pick-up, the CJ-8, made in small numbers in America from 1981 to 1986.
A steel-roof version of the CJ-8 – called the Jeep Overlander – was sold in Australia as a form of van alongside the Wrangler-based CJ-10 pick-up in the 1980s.
Around the same time, FCA lodged an international trademark application for Scrambler, receiving registration approval in Australia in March 1987.
The company applied to renew its hold on the name in 2014, receiving approval in March 2015.
According to the US reports, the Scrambler will be offered with a choice of hard or soft tops.
A series of what are purported to be engineering drawings of Scrambler underpinnings are also published on the forum. These include drawings of the rugged body-on-frame stretched chassis and solid rear axle with a heavy duty differential and rear disc brakes.
Forum writers say that although the diesel V6 appears to have been confirmed via FCA’s dealer portal, other engines such as a Pentastar petrol 3.6-litre V6 and four-cylinder Hurricane 2.0-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder are likely to be added to the list.
The Wrangler-based pick-up was confirmed by FCA executives at the Detroit motor show in January last year.
FCA’s head of RAM and Jeep, Mike Manley, then confirmed at the LA motor show late last year that the vehicle would make it to Australia where it will go up against a plethora of one-tonne utes in one of the most hotly contested market segments in the country.
FCA Australia head of PR and communications Lucy McLellan told GoAuto that she would expect more details about the Wrangler range to emerge within the next six months.
She said FCA Australia had yet to be advised of the name of the new ute or when it would go into local showrooms.
Jeep’s ambitions for a Wrangler-based pick-up surfaced in 2005 when it showed a two-door ute concept called Gladiator.
Latest reports suggest the production version will be four-door only.
