The Jeep Switchback Concept is the more accessible relative of the Jeep Safari Concept, in that many of the parts are currently available in the MOPAR parts catalog at any Fiat Chrysler Automobiles dealership. Available with many bolt-on parts from the Jeep Performance Parts (JPP) line, the Switchback is a raised, and redesigned look at FCA’s venerable off-road badboy and favorite son of Toledo, Ohio, home of the Jeep factory.

To keep things simple, Jeep started with many of the parts that are available to customers right off-the-shelf. Power comes from a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine that puts out 285 horsepower and 360 lb-ft of torque. It spreads its power to all four wheels via a five speed automatic transmission and Rock-Trac transfer case for part-time 4WD. Lifted four-inches via the JPP 4-inch lift kit with remote reservoir Fox shocks, it has front and rear Dana 44 axles and hits the ground with 37-inch BF Goodrich Mud-Terrain knobbies on 17-inch satin black wheels with machined facings.

It comes complete with a full-array of JPP parts including rock rails, Rubicon winch, winch guard, cold air intakes, custom axle back exhausts, and special cast differential covers, its has nearly everything in the parts catalog other than windows.

That’s right. The Jeep Switchback has no windows.

Not for poseurs, the Switchback has no windows. Instead, it features cutouts in the removable door’s lower bouts, which allow occupants to see what is directly below the perimeter of the jeep for both safety and scenic perspectives. It’s a cool idea that could end up in a production vehicle in the future, but one that will need to be modified to allow the upper panes of glass to slide down. During our recent jaunts around the property at the Perez Art Museum in Downtown Miami, Florida, we were glad the FCA air conditioning units performed so flawlessly. With temperatures hovering right around 98-degrees, it was all the a/c units could do to keep pumping cold air into the open sided cabin.

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