Anniversary Wrangler Jeep celebrates 20 years of the Rubicon in fi ne style

In 2002, Jeep launched a vehicle that was to become its fl agship off-roader. The Rubicon is a Wrangler and then some – and this one is a Wrangler Rubicon and then some more

Elsewhere in this issue, we’ve taken a look back at some stories from the fi rst ever edition of Total Off Road – the magazine which, years later, was to rescue 4x4 from oblivion and make it what it is today.

We’ve chosen this issue because it’s the 20th anniversary of TOR’s arrival in the world. But however big a deal this was, we have to confess that it wasn’t 2002’s only big debut in the off-road world.

Over on the far side of the Atlantic, Jeep was up to something. The much-loved XJ-generation Cherokee had been replaced by the KJ ‘Liberty’ model, with its independent front suspension – and the die-hards weren’t happy. Maybe the company had second-guessed the reaction its new model was going to get among its most loyal (and critical) fans, however – because it was already working on a vehicle that would turn the off-road market on its head.

No, not the Patriot.

In 2002, the TJ Wrangler was halfway through its model life. Having done such a fi ne job of converting America’s off-road masses to coil springs, it was already a hit of monster proportions. But America’s off-road masses had for years, nay decades, been showing their love of modifying – and Jeep tapped into that with a Wrangler that came modifi ed as standard.

This was the start of something very, very big. It was the world’s fi rst glimpse of a model which, since then, has been synonymous with the Wrangler’s championing of traditional off-road values. It was the dawning of the age of the Rubicon.

Named after the legendary off-road trail in the Sierra Nevada, the Rubicon was an out-of-the-box Wrangler for customers who had until then needed to build their own super-Jeeps. It came with Dana 44 axles, front and rear lockers, a disconnecting sway bar, rock rails and 31” mud-terrain tyres, and nothing else in production could match it off-road.

It’s been a Jeep icon ever since. The Rubicon only came to the UK when the TJ model was replaced by the JK in 2007, but even by then it stood for the ultimate in factory-fresh off-road ability. And that’s how it’s been ever since. In the company’s own words, it continues to be ‘a proof of concept for the Jeep brand, where lessons learned in off-road meccas like Moab and feedback gleaned from enthusiasts and brand loyalists continue to push the brand and the entire Jeep line-up forward.’

Hence the Rubicon 20th Anniversary concept. Whereas the original TJ Rubicon was a 2-door, this is a long-wheelbase 4-door model. And it’s special even by the Rubicon’s own elevated standards – because it’s based on the Rubicon 392, the 6.4-litre V8-engined animal at the pinnacle of the range that makes even the everyday Rubicon look ordinary. As well as 470bhp and 470lbf.ft, full-time four-wheel drive and a 4.5-second 0-60 time, it has a strengthened chassis, 33” tyres and

The Rubicon 20th Anniversary might be grey on the outside, but its read leather interior is definitely the stuff of a concept vehicle. So too, once, would Jeep’s 6.4-litre V8 engine have been – but this is now available in a production model, in the shape of the Rubicon 392

+2” suspension featuring Fox shocks. It’s not just better than a standard Rubicon at being a fast car – it’s better at being a Rubicon, too.

And the 20th Anniversary version is better still. It’s on Jeep Performance Parts suspension, 17” Mopar rims and 37” mud-terrains – and it’s protected by steel bumpers, the one up front supporting a Warn winch, plus a heavy-duty belly pan.

Perhaps rather surprisingly, given that the Wrangler line-up in the US market includes a variety of eye-catching colours, the Rubicon 20th Anniversary is grey. More surprisingly still, when that colour line-up includes enough shades of grey to make you fear for the safety your nether regions, it’s wrapped. Truth to tell, even with gold recovery hooks, matching badges and a lurid air scoop in its bonnet, it looks a little understated.

Not that there’s anything anonymous about a vehicle with a button on the dash to switch its active dual-mode performance exhaust between notes which Jeep describes as ‘wild’ and ‘outrageous.’ It has the one-touch full-length power top previously seen on the 80th Anniversary Wrangler, too. And on the inside, red leather seats definitely make up for the muted tones of the bodywork.

Nonetheless, as a celebration of the Rubicon’s second decade in existence, we can’t help but feel that while this vehicle certainly does build very effectively on an already sky-high standard spec list, it could have done with shouting louder about what it’s got going on. Jeep has created plenty of unbelievably spectacular concepts down the years, so it certainly doesn’t have anything to prove at that level, but if you were to put the Rubicon 20th Anniversary in a line-up with a selection of other Wranglers from Easter Safaris past, it would risk blending into the background.

One prod of the loud pedal, though, and you’d soon know. And more to the point, with those lockers engaged and a load of air dumped out of its 37” tyres, it could crawl up a sheer rock wall at no more than tickover. Which, in a manner of speaking, is what the Rubicon has always been about. It looks like any other Wrangler, but it can do things that set it a very long way apart. So it’s kind of an off-road sleeper… and this one is more so than ever.

And there’s not a lot than can live with it on the highway, too. It might not talk too much about what it’s got going on – but as with every good off-roader, it’s all about walking the walk.