The all-new Jeep Wrangler isn’t due out until 2018, but a hood sent to a customer earlier this month could a give us a better idea of what the new Jeep will look like.
JL Wrangler Forums user Redrockjk ordered a 2014 Rubicon Hard Rock hood from a recycler near Detroit. When he finally received the hood and went to install it, he found that it was nearly two inches longer than the stock hood. He wrote:
There are no VIN stickers or Mopar stamped part numbers on this hood (which is not the norm for Jeep/Mopar). The place I purchased from is near Chelsea proving grounds and the guy there thinks there “might have been a mix up”. If you’ve read any info at all on the new JL you’ll see that they are messing around with the cowl/windshield/A pillar area so.......
This hood came as you see it, painted, stickered and outfitted, out of Detroit from a recycler and that recycler told me there location is close to the Chelsea proving grounds and they receive vehicles to part out from FCA.
JL Wrangler prototypes spotted in the past have had seemingly longer hoods.
From the photos, this looks almost certainly like it could be the new Wrangler’s hood. The quality is there, it doesn’t look shitty and it would be a very strange mishap if it was a manufacturing mistake.
On top of that, JL Wrangler Forums says that the recycler has since bought the hood back and Redrockjk says that it’s going back to the FCA.
We’ve reached out to Jeep and will update if we hear back.
UPDATE: Jeep responded with no comment on the matter.