It appears Jeep isn’t quite ready to let the Ford Bronco just hop back on the trail without a little fight.
Fiat Chrysler’s free-spirited brand, ahead of the late Monday debut of three all-new Bronco variants, is throwing down the gauntlet in the off-road space with the V-8-powered Wrangler Rubicon 392 Concept. The concept, released Monday, tops out at 450 hp and 450 pound-feet of torque, and boasts a 0-60 mph time of less than five seconds.
The Wrangler’s predecessor, the CJ, was the last to have a V-8, in 1981. That model, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said, delivered 125 hp and 220 pound-feet of torque.
“Jeep Wrangler enthusiasts have been asking us for a Wrangler V-8 and our new Wrangler Rubicon 392 Concept proves that we have the ability to make that happen,” Jim Morrison, Jeep’s North America head, said in a statement.
