Autoblog

Click image for high-res gallery of the Jeep J8

Remember those Jeep Wrangler pickup spy shots? Now we know the details. That vehicle was one of the variants of the new Jeep J8. The J8 is based on the Wrangler Unlimited and has been designed for military and civilian government use. It sports a reinforced frame and upgraded suspension that includes the much-discussed rear leaf springs that were pointed out in the earlier spy photos. Maximum payload is 2,952 lbs. as a result.

It'll be offered as both a four-door that looks mostly like the civilian Wrangler Unlimited and a 2-door pickup. Jeep sneakily showed off the pickup body on the very awesome SEMA-bound JT Concept earlier this year. The J8 is designed to be very flexible, and will be available in a variety of seating/cargo configurations in both left- and right-hand drive (again, this explains the RHD version captured in spy photos).

Power comes from a 158-horsepower / 295 lb-ft 2.8L 4-cylinder turbodiesel mated to a 5-speed automatic and Jeep's Command-Trac 4WD system. The powertrain affords the J8 a maximum towing capacity of 7,716 lbs. Another feature unique to the J8 is its air-intake system, which uses a hood-mounted snorkel that lets it ford bodies of water up to 30 inches deep and operate in sandstorm conditions up to five hours.

For full information on the J8, follow the jump for the official press release from Jeep. The truck made its debut today at the DSEi trade show in London, and it will be produced in Cairo, Egypt at a Chrysler LLC joint-venture facility. It will officially become available next Spring, though only for military and civilian government use. Sorry, no civilian sales will be offered.

[Source: Chrysler]