From Comanche to Scrambler: The Jeep enters the truck segment again

After years of concept models, the Jeep will finally return to the truck segment with a solid model based on the fourth generation Wrangler. Pre-emptively, it is called Scrambler, the model will debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show and will finish nearly three decades of absence from the pick-up market for the American producer who produced the Comanche in 1985-1992.

While the details remain a mystery, a series of spills and photos of spy photographers gave us a good idea of ​​what to expect. A priori, the last member of the family does not seem to qualify as a package leader in terms of payload or trailer.

Apparently this is not a work-oriented vehicle, but rather an outdoor lifestyle, perhaps focused on people who want machines to transport their toys to natural places. We suspect that your habitat will be a dirt road a few miles from the nearest paved road, not a building being built. For this purpose, it will come exclusively from a cabin with two rows of seats and four doors, as well as with a single level of equipment, in contrast to the main players in the field of medium pickups.

Scrambler lends details on the front, such as round headlights and a Jeep seven-hole grid, inherited from the fourth generation Wrangler. Fans of the brand have published on the JL Wrangler Forums website a representation illustrating the way in which you can see your mobile phone.

Photos taken by a spy camouflaged sample confirm that the FCA subsidiary will offer a model with removable roof panels, making Scrambler a unique specimen on the market.

Made in 1981-1986, the original Scrambler – known as CJ-8 – was as sophisticated in its interior as a John Deere tractor from the 1970s. But times have changed and the Jeep could not overtake the introduction of such a basic model in 2018, although , with sophisticated battle and evidently more prolonged than the one in which it was inspired.

Scrambler will be available with the Uconnect information and entertainment system supported from a touch screen compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. It will offer amenities such as air conditioning and heated seats.

According to the slide filtered in the forums, which was assigned to the dealer's presentation, the model was equipped with electronic roadside aids such as adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring system and collision warning technology. among 15 other unique features in the segment.

Engine options can include a 3.6-liter V6 engine with 285 hp (hp) and a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder 270 hp (hp) engine, with fluid hybrid assistance. It is also speculated that the Jeep will later expand its production to include a unit equipped with a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine.

Six-cylinder blocks will be available with a six-speed manual transmission, while four of them will only be combined with an eight-speed automatic transmission.

After the presentation at a show in California, the Jeep Scrambler will begin appearing in showrooms in early 2019. Prices will not be published until a few weeks before the date of sale, but we expect it to approach $ 35,000, an increase of about 11 percent compared to the four-door Wrangler, which starts at $ 31,445 in the most basic version.

At first glance, the Jeep Scrambler will not have a direct rival, because there are no machines with so high off-road inspiration on the market. In any case, it will be almost inevitable to put it in the same segment of medium-sized trucks Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, Toyota Tacoma and the new Ford Ranger.

Introduced in the early 1980s, Comanche or MJ was essentially a variant of a medium-sized Cherokee SUV with a longer wheelbase. From 1992, he gave his place in the Jeep portfolio to Dodge Dakota.