Truly, no automaker out there is doing it like Jeep. Even among Stellantis’ brands, known for their good colors, Jeep’s specs stand out, especially when it comes to the automaker’s Easter Jeep Safari concepts, which range from near-production-ready to absolutely buckwild. When we’re lucky, those Easter Jeep Safari builds become real cars on dealer lots, and we get something like the new Rewind versions of the Wrangler and Gladiator.
The Rewind started as a 2025 Easter Jeep Safari concept with purple paint, silver and bronze phone-dial wheels, blue and pink graphics, and a fully bowling-alley-style interior to match. Even back then, it looked production-ready, so it’s not a huge surprise we’re now seeing it as a purchasable model. The production model we’re now getting isn’t quite as cool as that, but we still get the purple paint, decals, and silver-and-bronze wheels. It’s just too bad the interior is boring old black with subtle color-matched purple and blue deviated stitching.
Is it re-dated?
Personally, I love the paint, the wheels, and the side decals, especially on the Gladiator, where the side stripes follow the line of the rear fender. Where the Rewind loses me, though, are its hood graphics and its name. The vaporwave, synthwave, retrowave, outrun-style hood graphics definitely speak to a 1980s nostalgia that started waning when “Stranger Things” started shilling New Coke and neon, and they look a bit dated in comparison with the timeless side stripes. The name, too, doesn’t mean much. Rewind? People still rewind things, and Jeeps don’t exactly need to be rewound. Stellantis couldn’t dig through its vault for another heritage name?
Jeep
All in all, though, the Rewind is exactly what we need in cars: It’s fun. Bright, saturated colors, unique graphics, weird wheels; it’s so refreshing to see a car that isn’t just built to be the least-offensive car on the lot. To hell with resale value, with wondering what the next owner will think when you go to sell — the Rewind is a special edition that’ll make you smile every time you see it, and look back at your car every time you park. Can you ask for more from a paint job and some decals than that?
