Autoblog

UPDATE: Mike Levine at Pickuptruck.com speculates that Jeep may be going after the postal fleet market. These mules are right-hand drive (to reach mailboxes perhaps?) and leaf springs (to handle the heavy load of mail maybe?)

click above image for high-res gallery

Everyone fawned over the Jeep JT Concept when they saw what it could actually do. Jeep fanboys and casual admirers alike all recognized that such a small, light-duty pickup would do wonders for the Jeep brand, and if these spy photos from KGP Photography are anything to by, then it appears Jeep is listening. Read the report from KGP below and check out the gallery of high-res spy shots that confirms Jeep is at least developing a Wrangler-based pickup.

We got up-close and personal with what appears to be a mule for a Wrangler-based pickup truck, right along the lines of the Jeep JT truck concept. The rear doors of a four-door Jeep Wrangler Unlimited have been welded shut, and the black composite roof structure has been extended forward to the B-pillar. The roll-down side glass has been replaced with a solid window.

More after the jump...

[Photos: KGP Photography]

click above image to view 16 high-res pics of the Jeep JT Concept

The Jeep JT Concept is set to "officially" debut at the 2007 SEMA Show, but unlike a lot of the hardware that will be on display in Las Vegas later this year, Jeep's compact pickup is a capable rock crawling machine. Check out the pics in our gallery of the JT Concept descending into and out of a bathtub at the Hell's Revenge trail in Moab, Utah. We thought it would need an airlift to get out, but the JT climbed right up the opposite wall.

We've learned that the JT Concept is built right off of the Wrangler Unlimited's platform and shares its 116-inch wheelbase, though adding a 5-foot-long bed and removable hard top over the cab. Its rock-crawling cred is bolstered by a 3-inch suspension lift from Superlift, 35-inch BF Goodrich Mud Terrain tires, a Ramsey 9500 UT winch and a Mopar rear bumper and rock rails.

We've said it before that the compact pickup market is ripe to grow if only an automaker would offer a decent competitor to the aged Ford Ranger. Perhaps a Jeep JT could fit that bill and sell like Twinkies, though the brand isn't saying whether or not the concept was built for fun or to test the public's reaction (again) to a Jeep pickup.

Check out the gallery below for high-res pics of the Jeep JT Concept.

[Source: Jeep]