Do you like riding in the rough stuff but not roughing it? If so, the Filson Edition AEV Wrangler may be the thing for you.
It’s the second collaboration between upscale outfitter Filson and Jeep customizer American Expedition Vehicles. Last year, the pair launched a $130,000 luxed-up version of the AEV Brute -- a Wrangler that’s been converted into a pickup. This time around, the unique treatment has been applied to the Wrangler, in both two- and four-door models.
For a starting price of $70,400, nearly twice as much as a top of the line factory Wrangler, it gets a full-body Filson green paint job, leather and twill upholstered interior with Filson and AEV trim, plus a set of matching Filson luggage.
But the fun stuff comes in the form of the AEV mechanical upgrades, which include 35-inch tires on 17-inch wheels, 3 ½-inch lift, vented heat reduction hood, 9,500-pound Warn winch, off-road lighting kit, AEV bumpers and skid plates, skid plates, an electronic calibration tool to accommodate further modifications by the owner, and a rear bumper with a water tank and pump.
The Wrangler’s 3.6-liter V6 is standard equipment, but AEV’s 5.7-liter and 6.4-liter Hemi V8 conversions are available for the full master of the off-road universe effect.
Until Jeep adds an Overland or Summit version of the Wrangler – which, for all we know, is coming with the truck’s 2018 redesign – the Filson-AEV effort is the dressiest Jeep Wrangler you can buy and should fit in better at the country club than that Levi’s CJ-7 you drove in college.
----------