The Jeep CJ-5 is arguably the most beloved of all Jeeps. Produced for almost 30 years, it’s as iconic as any Jeep from past or present. Frankly, it’s hard to make a case for anything else being more popular in the 75 year history of the Jeep brand. The CJ-5 was the embodiment of off-roading’s oft-repeated mantra, K. I. S. S. – Keep It Simple, Stupid – and no other Jeep since has come close.
Enter the Jeep Shortcut. For the 2016 Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Jeep grabbed a new two-door Wrangler, lopped off over a foot from the body, threw the doors and soft top on the “we won’t be needing these” pile and poured gallons of bright red paint on it. While they were at it, they added a custom hood, grille, bumpers and tailgate to the mix. The result is a modern remake of the classic CJ.
Not just happy with making the Shortcut look the part, Jeep Performance Parts bolted up Dana 44 axles fore and aft and raised the whole shebang up 2 inches, using Fox suspension bits to keep it all under control. In keeping with CJ tradition, they painted 17-inch steelies in the same red as the body and wrapped them in 35-inch BF-Goodrich Mud-Terrains. The whole thing is propelled down the trail by Jeep’s 3.6 Pentastar V6 married to a 5-speed automatic transmission.
The interior – At least what one might consider an interior on a Jeep with no top and no doors – went full retro with low-back red plaid seats, a no-nonsense four point rollbar, a bunch of bright red bedliner and all-weather floor mats from Mopar. There’s not much else, and that’s what makes this a beautiful thing. Simplicity is what the CJ-5 was all about and that’s exactly what you get with this no-nonsense tribute.
