The Wrangler Rewind Concept Zaps the 2025 Easter Jeep Safari Back to the 1980s
Tease that hair, pause your hacky-sack game, drop that Rubik’s Cube and take a ride back to the ’80s. No hot tub time machine needed.
For Easter Jeep Safari 2025, the brand is all-in on Wranglers and Gladiators, building three concepts around military, modern, and retro themes. One glance clearly identifies this 2025 Jeep Rewind as the totally awesome ’80s retrotastic one of the three. Based on a 2.0-liter turbo Wrangler Rubicon two-door, there isn’t an inch of this Jeep that won’t get you break-dancing in parachute pants, leggings, or scrunchies. The decoration is so convincing, we had to rub our eyes to ensure this wasn’t a CJ-7.
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A coterie of Jeep design team members grew up in the ’80s, including Chris Piscitelli who described the Rewind’s design process: “We kind of dipped it in everything sweet from the 80’s.” In a nod to Marty McFly, there’s a set of KC lamps mounted to the front bumper. The Custom-painted 17-inch AEV wheels ape the look of the phone-dial Campagnolo mags worn by every Lamborghini Countach that adorned bedroom-wall posters of the day. The bodywork is painted in Grimace Purple, with period correct graphics to match.
The designers really let loose inside, where the upholstery adorning the front seats and dash, was apparently cut from a period ski suit that channeled the Memphis Milano style of bright colors and geometric shapes. The dash features a Big Phoney style faux car phone, next to which is sitting a Sony Discman (featuring Anti-Skip technology!). The rear seat is removed and there’s a molded plastic floor liner with a custom fera compartment to hold essentials like a boombox.
The rear seat, doors, and top are all ditched in this back-to-basics model, which is lifted to clear 37x12.50R17 BFGoodrich Mud Terrain A/T KM3 tires. AEV steel bumpers and other JPP/Mopar bits protect the Rewind. Tow hooks and grille inserts are accented in gold.
Of all the Easter Jeep Safari 2025 concepts, this one bears the closest scrutiny, revealing more and more Easter eggs everywhere you look. The Trail-Rated medallions are replaced by a highly pixelated one reading “Be Kind, Rewind <<” as all the Blockbuster VHS tapes once admonished. On the tailgate, the vintage “4-Wheel Drive” logo has been remastered in ’80s graphics. There are stickers for MTV, VH1, “Spaceballs, the bumper sticker,” Z100 New York 100.3FM—even an original American Motors sticker. Inside the rear tailgate is a pixelated rendition of the familiar “Jeep Wrangler, Since ’41” signage. There’s even a Domino’s Pizza “Noid” figurine suction-cupped to the windshield.
Most concept vehicles have a clear mission. With Easter Jeep Safari concepts, it’s usually to gauge customer reaction to a new color, shape, feature, or accessory. The Jeep Rewind’s main mission seems to be to turn mood rings violet. Mission accomplished.
I started critiquing cars at age 5 by bumming rides home from church in other parishioners’ new cars. At 16 I started running parts for an Oldsmobile dealership and got hooked on the car biz. Engineering seemed the best way to make a living in it, so with two mechanical engineering degrees I joined Chrysler to work on the Neon, LH cars, and 2nd-gen minivans. Then a friend mentioned an opening for a technical editor at another car magazine, and I did the car-biz equivalent of running off to join the circus. I loved that job too until the phone rang again with what turned out to be an even better opportunity with Motor Trend. It’s nearly impossible to imagine an even better job, but I still answer the phone…
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