Jeep honours heritage with Wrangler Unlimited Willys

JEEP Australia has debuted the first of its promised special editions designed to celebrate the brand’s 80^th birthday in the form of the new Wrangler Unlimited Willys.

Limited to just 130 units nationally, the Willys will check into local showrooms next month priced from $61,941 plus on-road costs and uses the recently introduced Wrangler Unlimited Night Eagle as its donor vehicle.

Adorned with exclusive ‘WILLYS’ bonnet decals, unique ‘4 Wheel Drive’ badging at the rear, black radiator grille and riding on black 17-inch five-spoke alloy wheels, the Willys proves to be more than just a dressed up Night Eagle, also coming with a Dana M220 rear axle pinched from the Rubicon which has been bolstered with an ‘anti-slip’ differential.

There are a few extra trinkets inside too including a silver-platinum instrument mid-panel and all-weather slush mats.

From there the rest of its standard equipment lists reads the same as the Night Eagle’s, consisting of LED exterior lighting, keyless entry, fourth-generation UConnect 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, nine-speaker Alpine premium audio system, automatic headlamps, push-button start, 7.0-inch ‘driver information display cluster’, dual-zone climate control and remote start.

Under the bonnet resides the familiar Pentastar 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine developing 206kW/347Nm channelled to all four-wheels via a selectable four-wheel-drive system.

The usual array of Wrangler off-road kit is included too, including underbody skid plates, wash-out interior, Selectable Tyre Fill Alert (STFA) system, Selec-Speed Control and a low-range transfer case.

Jeep Australia brand and product strategy director Guillaume Drelon described the original Jeep Willys Overland CJ-3A is an off-road icon and said the brand was excited to offer a modern equivalent honouring its legacy.

“Jeep owners have been able to experience the adventure, open-air freedom and off-road capability that the Willys has had to offer since 1948, and this is no different in 2021,” he said.

Jeep has sold 278 Wranglers so far this year ending February, marking a 39 per cent sales increase year-on-year and accounting for 1.8 per cent of the sub-$60,000 large SUV market.