Highway to Hellcat: Rubitrux Hellcat-Swapped Jeep Wrangler

Hey Sports car enthusiasts, let’s be real. Most of the new sport cars & hot-hatches coming out are missing the mark big time.

You may disagree… but look around at what you see on the road broad scope. Are you seeing hot new sports cars at every redlight? Me neither. Fact is – real enthusiasts don’t want ugly, overweight, overpriced sports cars… and we don’t want sissy automatics. We want FUN, engagement, and vibes. T-Tops, targas, manual transmissions, and mid-engines. And it’d be nice to see some colors other than gray, dark gray, or silver. Commies.

But then Ford absolutely knocks it out of the park with the new Bronco…

I haven’t seen the enthusiast nation unanimously get that psych’d over a new model in a looooong time. And guess what… it wasn’t a sports car. The game is about to change in a big & exhilarating way. We all know off-road & overland has been the hot ticket in the aftermarket/enthusiast game over the last few years. And even a large percentage of the sports car culture has been itching to get off-grid & dirty with a 2nd project car. Annnnd who can blame them, the grid is getting to be a pretty restrictive & irritating place these days.

We all know deep in our loins that the Jeep Wrangler reigns supreme…

But now we have the Bronco, an alternative platform on which Ford has the Wrangler directly in their crosshairs. Whether you favor the Wrangler or the Bronco really doesn’t matter much. What matters is: When manufacturers compete… like really compete?? We all win! And we’re about to see some real passionate competition go down in the 4×4 segment. I think we’re absolutely about to hit a renaissance period with fun-having, sensory indulging, off-road rigs. Real purebred 4x4s… where tops & doors come off… and brute style & functionality come in.

Jeep’s been owning the segment, and they’ve always stayed true to their roots…

As an enthusiast (and Jeep owner), I admire & support Jeep for that. Because without Jeep’s success & true-to-form perseverance…. there would be no Bronco resurrection. Ford pulled out; imagine that. And Ford only came back in when they looked over & saw the Wrangler’s huge sales success.

But Jeep also hasn’t had any competition in decades…

Maybe Jeep got a little comfortable & confident. And now somebody’s (Bronco’s) gaining ground & upping the ante. So I think we’re gonna see Jeep turn on the boosters a lil bit. It’s gonna be fun.

This particular Jeep, built by Rubitrux, is just an example & head-start of things we might see coming in the near future directly from Mopar. Because this one has the 6.2 supercharged Hellcat engine swap… even 1-upping the 392 directly from Mopar with the N/A 6.4 Wrangler

This Jeep is real life – not a concept or computer rendering. It plays no games, it’s built to handle & harness the power. But I’m guessing… it still gets real squirrely real quick when you light it up lol.

This is the kind of innovation & excitement I hope we’re gonna see from Jeep directly, in response to the Bronco…

That is… if Stellantis doesn’t screw up the muscle show… (a merger that happened shortly after we published this article in Issue 55). Hopefully we can expect more power, and expect the segment to get overall more exciting & more colorful. I’m 100% here for the new Bronco. But I also urge you all as automotive enthusiasts, to look beyond whatever stigma you might think the Jeep Wrangler has. Don’t confuse ‘iconic’ for overplayed. I personally never understood the disloyalty to a brand that has been nothing but loyal & devoted to embracing car culture. Because with most manufacturers grossly diluting model heritage these days, the Jeep Wrangler has always kept to its True North… even with no competition. Maybe now with the new Bronco coming out, more of you guys will start looking at slightly used Jeeps in a different light.

Text by Wooley Photos by Caleb Forbes