The Jeep Wrangler’s seven-slatted grille is one of the most famous car-faces on the road. With a new design on the horizon, we’re all wondering how much Jeep is going to mess with it. New spy shots give us some insight.
JL Wrangler Forums got a whole gallery of this just slightly obscured next-gen Wrangler grille as spotted on a prototype test mule in Death Valley. The vehicle would have been undergoing heat-resilience testing there, which involves figuring out how well air flows through the car’s new face.
As we’ve been speculating, it looks like the design is more evolutionary than revolutionary. Makes sense– Jeep sells something like 200,000 Wranglers a year and it’s not because they’re comfortable or fuel efficient. That “Jeep” face has been a universally loved touchstone for their brand for years, even if they borrowed the original design.
Looking at the new styling in these photos, the only discernible difference I’m seeing is a more pronounced inward kink at the top half of the bars. That would suggest the whole front of the Wrangler is a little more rear-swept, but I tried to overlay the new design on the current face to give us a general idea of what the new Wrangler might look like without camouflage.
The Wrangler YJ of the late 1980's and early 90's (square headlights) actually had a similar vibe, though you may remember that the slats on that Jeep were much skinnier and closer together.
Of course these prototype parts we’re seeing in these spy shots may change before the design is finalized, so in case any of Jeep’s artists are reading the comments– what do you think?