  2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Click image to enlarge |
Review and Photos by Justin Mastine-Frost
Over the decades, few brands have maintained building a vehicle whose primary function is driving off the beaten path as much as Jeep, and in a lot of cases with good reason. The Jeep Wrangler, whose humble roots date clear back to World War II, has been a mainstay for off road enthusiasts wanting trail-ready capability right off the showroom floor, and continues to be the go-to for tough-guys and adventure seekers across the country. My first meeting with the modern Wrangler left me impressed me with its confidence-inspiring trail handling and mildly frustrated at its on-road capability, so when the Jeep folks rang and let me know that their flagship off-road beast, the 10th anniversary Rubicon Edition was heading my way I was excited to see just what kind of trouble I could get myself into out in BC’s wild back country.
Jeep may have gone slightly off the rails when they penned the upcoming 2014 Cherokee, but their designers have been much more timid when it comes to any kind of exterior changes to the Wrangler. I can already hear hardcore Jeep fans screaming at me, but in the grand scheme of things, the exterior styling of the Wrangler has remained grossly unchanged since all the way back in the days of the CJ-7 back in the mid-to-late 70s. Sure, there have been slight changes in proportions, and a change in headlight shape, and a change in materials used in building it all, but when you get right down to it the iconic Porsche 911 has seen more drastic changes in appearance over the years than the tried-and-true Jeep. On the other hand, there’s something really refreshing about seeing a vehicle left standing that hasn’t had to make any concessions to wind tunnel testing. After seeing the sad fate of the Nissan Pathfinder, transform from boxy and rugged SUV to a smooth and curvy urban people-mover, I can appreciate seeing a vehicle stick to its original intended purpose.
  2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Click image to enlarge |
With the move to a four-door body in the Unlimited model, the Jeep has a tendency to look a bit like the big boxy Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon when the hardtop is painted to match the body, but with our Rubicon tester we were presented with the traditional black hard-top. Sadly I didn’t have the opportunity to strip the roof off however I wasn’t completely left out of the “topless experience”. Jeep got a bit clever when building the roof for the Unlimited, installing what they call a Freedom Top which consists of two panels over the front seats that can be removed, much like an old-school targa top without a centre support. When I hit the road leaving my apartment and heading to a new set of trails north of Squamish, I thought it would be a great idea to pop the panels out and see what it would be like to drive with the open roof. For the first 30 minutes or so making my way to the highway I was really impressed with that great open-air feel, but once I was on the highway and creeping up over 80 km/h the noise in the interior was horrendous. I made it about 30 minutes or so before pulling over and throwing the lid back on. Clearly this Freedom Top setup is best saved for in-town cruising, or off-road driving. Thankfully it only takes about five minutes to remove or install the panels.
