Willys2 Concept: Yet Another Teaser from Jeep
They can't keep doing this to us. Every time we hit the Jeep Web site, it seems that they've constructed yet another killer concept that we'd just love to take for a spin to see just how true to the Jeep name it really is. With this latest conception, the Willys2 Concept, they've gotten us once again.
Similar to its concept predecessor, the Willys2 Concept features a one-piece carbon-fiber body on an aluminum frame. A removable, carbon-fiber hardtop comes equipped with a roof rack carrying a fullsize spare tire and an integrated luggage carrier. The body is finished in Action Green metallic paint and features the classic seven-slot grille. The entire vehicle weighs approximately 3,000 pounds, has a 95-inch wheelbase, and a height of 70 inches. An estimated 0-60 mph in about 10 seconds is achieved thanks to its 1.6L supercharged, inline four-cylinder engine, said to deliver 160 hp and 155 lb-ft of torque. A four-speed auto transmission is mated with a shift-on-the-fly, full-time four-wheel-drive system with Low and High ranges. The suspension boasts of an independent short-and-long-arm (SLA) setup with coilover shocks in the front and a multilink solid rear axle design, also equipped with coilover shocks. The tire and wheel package consists of a set of 21x7.5-inch wheels shod with P235/65R21 Goodyear rubber. Of course, no production is slated, but once again, it sure is nice to see that Jeep still has plenty of utilitarian concept ideas left in its brain locker.
Chevy's K5 Blazer Concept: Another Cool Rig we'll Never SeeIt's inevitable (or so it seems) that every good 4x4 ever made will eventually reach the end of its production run and be replaced by something either bigger or better, and in some cases by nothing at all. It happened to the Jeep Cherokee, the Ford Bronco, and the Chevy Blazer, to name a few. And now that even the Blazer's replacement, the two-door Chevy Tahoe, has met its demise, it's any wonder at all that this latest GM creation even made it from the drawing board to reality.
Using the two-door Tahoe as a starting point, the K5 Concept took shape, getting its styling cues from the new Sport Utility Truck craze, namely the Chevy Avalanche. The cab and bed configuration is a 60/40-split rear seatback with an itty-bitty 3-foot bed, which increases to 6 feet with the seatback folded down. It's still not large enough for a full sheet of plywood, but what vehicle is these days? Some of the cooler features of the K5 Concept are, of course, the classic, open-air, rear cargo bed, popularized by the original K5, the reverse-opening suicide rear doors that swing rearward a full 180 degrees, and a nickel-plated grille within a modified front fascia. Hands down, the coolest aspect of the K5 Concept, however, is the all-new, heavily modified Vortec 6.0L V-8 equipped with a wish list of super-fast aftermarket parts. The macho mill kicks out 440 hp at 5,700 rpm and 450 lb-ft of torque at 4,700 rpm. All that whopping horsepower is garnered via CNC-ported, LS1 high-airflow cylinder heads with humongo combustion chambers and 2.02-inch intake and 1.57-inch exhaust valves; titanium valvespring retainers with Comp Cams' valvesprings; forged flat-top pistons with a compression ratio of 10.5:1; and a Lunati dual-pattern hydraulic roller cam with 539-inch intake lift at 209 degrees duration and 0.558-inch exhaust lift at 216 degrees duration. Essentially, it's a screamer. Unfortunately, it's not one that will likely see production. Alas, we'll always have our cherished '75 Blazer. And that's already almost more macho than we can handle.