Friday, February 20, 2015

Where’s Willys: The 30-Plus Easter Eggs We Found on the Jeep Renegade

When we spend the better part of an hour poking, prodding, and poring over a single car, it's usually to explore a manufacturer's most fantastic engineering feats. This time, however, we glued our eyeballs to a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk in order to count dozens of hidden Easter Eggs—basically, secret design elements—that playful Jeep stylists hid on nearly every surface. They don't serve any technical purpose except to demonstrate that this little Jeep is very happily not a Toyota. Join us on our hunt to find them all. The headlamp units each incorporate an old-school Jeep grille—the iconic seven slats flanked by two round headlamps. Other manufacturers pull the same trick, but the VW logo isn't even half as cool. As recognizable as these Jeep grilles are, we're glad the 2015 Renegade doesn't come with the sealed-beam headlamps they recall. In a nod to Jeep's roots as a World War II stalwart, the square taillamps have Xs on the reflectors to mimic the markings of the gas cans affixed to U.S. Army Jeeps. Look past the X, and what do you see? Another one of the 12 Jeep grilles sprinkled throughout the Renegade. That's no bug on the windshield. It's a side profile of The original Jeep will appear another four times. This one's a joke and also serious. These black plastic side rails are too thin to be running boards, but just in case, Jeep put aircraft-style If you can fit your foot on this, revoke your license immediately. Open the fuel-filler door and a spunky spider greets you in Italian, the native language of the people who build the Renegade alongside the Fiat 500X. While actual spiders can crawl in and wreak havoc in fuel tanks, this arachnid is just here for the ride. Whether you order the power sliding sunroof or the detachable panels, drones and tractor-trailer drivers will be treated to an X print spanning the roof's entire width. Despite its resemblance to a landing pad, we don't recommend anyone hang out on top. The rearview-mirror housing is large enough to serve as a canvas for more Jeep grilles. Consider the mirror a doubleheader—there's a grille on each side. The amount of luxury features on this whippersnapper Jeep would befuddle ol' grandfather Willys, especially the idea of stereo speakers. There's one Jeep grille on every door speaker, so four in total. Oh, you thought the history lesson was over? Here, the Willys Jeep explains how to unlatch the removable front and rear My Sky roof panels. Of course, the original Jeep didn't need no stinkin' roof. The Jeep Renegade redlines at 6500-ish or something rpm. Whatever, this splotch of orange on the tachometer is cool. The redline marking is intended to reflect paintball splatter, a favorite weekend activity for the Renegade's design team. On the top-level Trailhawk model, the loose change cubby has a rubberized lining molded with a trail map in Moab, Utah, a natural habitat for hard-core Jeep owners. And what's that? Yes, there's another Jeep grille for good measure. You can't escape Jeep heritage even when you're ordering coffee to go. Each of the four central cup holders (two in front, two in back) are marked with gas-can Xs. In case you weren't sure where to put that drink, it goes right on the X. Try it, it's super easy. The biggest Jeep grille imprint can be found on the underside of the hatch. Look up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane . . . nah, it's yet another Jeep grille. Order the all-weather rubber floor mats and front passengers will be treated to extra Jeep sightings. Go ahead, put your feet all over it. Jeeps dig playing dirty. On cloth-trimmed Renegades, contemporary black Jeep logos form a subtle pattern underneath the mesh fabric. Order leather and your backside will never rest on these barely visible Jeep logos. You'll find this text on other Jeep models, but it's a worthy reference to the first 1941 Willys MA, a pre-production vehicle designed for the U.S. Army. In July 1941, five months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Army awarded Willys-Overland a contract to build 16,000 MBs, the vehicle that would forever guide Jeep's proud history.

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