Next year is a big one for Jeep. It will be their 85th birthday, so naturally, they’re celebrating by stuffing the Hemi back under the hood of the 2026 Jeep Wrangler.
Following the reborn Cherokee, along with the updated Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer, Jeep is giving the Wrangler some love for 2026. There isn’t much in the way of new stuff — the Wrangler’s last update a couple of years ago still feels fresh enough — so these birthday presents are about quality over quantity. Besides, wouldn’t you want a couple of really good gifts instead of a bunch of so-so crap on your birthday?
Jeep is calling its 85th birthday party the Twelve 4 Twelve celebration. It’s just as much a tribute to the brand’s storied history and culture as much as it is a thank-you to the Wrangler’s fiercely loyal, almost cult-like following after selling 7 million of them since what feels like the dawn of time. Jeep will parse out one special-edition Wrangler on the 12th of each month for the next 12 months, starting with this 2026 Wrangler Moab 392.
Depending on how you look at it, the Wrangler Moab 392 either marks the return or the continuation of the Hemi. It’s the same 6.4-litre normally aspirated V8 we know and love, putting out 470 horsepower and 470 pound-feet of torque in this application. It keeps much of the hardware of the series-production Rubicon 392, namely the 17-inch beadlock wheels wrapped in 35s, a 4.56 axle ratio and a 2.72:1 transfer case, and a cold air intake. The limited-edition Wrangler Moab 392 also gets body-coloured fender flares and bumpers, gloss black accents, Nappa leather and an Alpine sound system inside, and an optional power soft-top and an 8,000-pound winch.
Rounding out the rest of the 2026 updates are a handful of new and revived colour options, an optional front winch and steel bumpers on the two-door Willys, and an “enhanced door hinge system.” But as interesting as that sounds, Jeep didn’t elaborate further beyond promising “quicker and easier” door removal. The lesser 2.0L turbo-four and 3.6L Pentastar V6 powertrain options carry over unchanged as well; Jeep hasn’t dished details on the fate of the Wrangler 4xe just yet, but rumours suggest some big updates are on the menu for the plug-in Wrangler as well.
Jeep hasn’t announced Canada-specific details just yet, but the 2026 Wrangler Moab 392 starts at just under US$80,000, and order books are already open in the U.S.
