Jeep Wagoneer sheds camo in new spy photos

The upcoming Jeep Wagoneer is taking shape, as shown by new spy photos sent to Autoblog Monday. While mules and early prototypes of Jeep’s new three-row SUV have been spotted in the wild multiple times in the past year, this is the first time we’ve seen any demonstrable progress on the new truck’s exterior. 

When Wagoneer prototypes were first spotted on public roads last year, they wore thick, bulky, black camouflage that hid most of the truck’s form. While quite of this remains on this new prototype’s flanks and rear end, the elaborate coverings on the front end and roof have given way to more form-fitting disguises. 

Some of the most prominent changes on this example are the new, sleeker side-view mirrors, which replaced units that appeared to have been lifted right off of a Ram pickup. The roof now sports what appear to be production-style cargo rails, and we can see what appears to be a production-style grille and headlights in the front end now that the extra layer of camo has been removed. 

Elsewhere, not much has changed. The side body panels and doors still appear to be either pre-production placeholders or elaborately disguised production parts. In fact, they don’t appear to have changed at all since the first Wagoneer spotting back in November. 

We’ve heard rumors and now seen a patent drawing of an inline-six engine that is expected to replace the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 in most (or perhaps all) of its current applications. While GM’s full-size SUVs are offered with multiple V8s, crosstown rival Ford has eliminated them from its body-on-frame models, opting instead for variants of its EcoBoost V6.

Last we heard, the production SUV was expected to arrive as a 2021 model. It’s unclear at this point what impact the coronavirus production shutdowns will have on the Wagoneer’s development timeline.