Last year’s Beijing auto show featured an almost-head-spinning cornucopia of dragon-themed concept and production cars, and Jeep was right there in the thick of the action with a special Wrangler concept. At the time, we assumed that the Jeep—like pretty much every other dragon-tastic ride in Beijing—was created solely to play up the Chinese year of the dragon, and that none would ever see the light of day outside of China. We were wrong, so very, very wrong. Jeep’s dragon tale was only just beginning, and now the brand has announced it is bringing a production version of the Beijing Wrangler concept to customers this fall as a 2014 model.
Jeep claims that after seeing the Beijing show car, customers stateside were clamoring for it. From our perspective, we’re not sure what all the fuss is about. Besides pushing the bounds of what we’d consider to be good taste, the Wrangler Dragon edition also seems somewhat random—after all, while Jeep is no stranger to special-edition models, it distinctly lacks a history of mythical-beast-themed efforts. Anyway, the production Dragon edition arrives on our shores wearing pretty much the same bronze-colored exterior trim pieces—grille slats, wheels, and headlight surrounds—and dragon dress-up gear that adorned the concept.
At its core, the Dragon edition is an uplevel Sahara-spec Wrangler, meaning it’s fairly well equipped. Every single one will be black with a matching black hardtop, and buyers will be able to get it only in four-door Unlimited guise. A bevy of dragon likenesses inside and out guarantee attention from brave medieval warriors bent on saving princesses—so we’d suggest leaving pretty girls at the curb should you find yourself near tall castle towers or in the 14th century. Outside, the dragon motif starts front and center—if you’ve ever wanted a face tattoo but lacked the stones to wear a permanent doodle on your mug, this might just be your ride. A long, sinuous, gray-colored dragon decal slithers over the driver’s side of the hood and onto the front door like a scale version of Mike Tyson’s temple candy. Tramp-stamp lovers aren’t left out, either, as Jeep slaps a similar decal onto the spare tire cover.
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Should you decide to enter the Dragon (edition), the cabin features the same bronze-over-black formula as the exterior. There are black Nappa leather seats with bronze dragon motifs on their backrests, as well as bronze trim on the steering wheel, gauge cluster, and door handles. Like a Bruce Lee fist to your face, more dragons dance along the passenger-side dashboard grab handle and gauge faces, and the seat bolster edges get a scaly, dragonhide-like pattern.
Disappointingly, the Wrangler lacks any fire-spitting or flying abilities, but on the upside, we think it might just be weird enough to snatch the Jeep Blasphemy Award from the newly “soft” Cherokee. Extroverts will be able to bring home the Wrangler Dragon edition this fall for $37,090, but they should act fast, since this will be a limited-production model.
Source: CarAndDriver
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