Hot Wheels Jeep Scrambler

Here's a look at one awesome Jeep from Hot Wheels that surprisingly revived itself in 2009 and still continues to be made!

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The Jeep for hard-workers

After doing it's hard work serving in World War II, the Jeep became a celebrity, being used from farming, adventure-seekers, mail delivery, utility companies, and the like.  Since then numerous variations have been spun off (with a few that were unique on their own), and one of those variations was abruptly late, but nevertheless came out in the early 1980's: The pickup version called Scrambler.

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Manufactured from 1981-1986 and built by AMC motors, the Scrambler is no relation to the 1968 AMC SCRambler!  Using a CJ-7 body stretched to a CJ-8 moniker, the Scrambler contains a large cargo area on average with short-bed pickups at the time, but incorporated the CJ-7's 4x4 part-time system with front and rear live axles and either an AMC I-6 producing 98 hp and 193 Ib-ft. torque or an AMC V8 producing 125 hp and 218 Ib-ft. torque through a four or five-speed manual or three-speed automatic.  Styling was typical CJ-7 with seven-slot grille and round headlights, but the cab is now enclosed (not open like the CJ-7 and includes standard doors with roll-down windows.  The interior is similar to CJ-7 with central gauges, 3-spoke wheels, and dual shifters for transmission and transfer case.  Jeep continues to make pickup trucks but only for military purposes; Jeep currently under Chrysler is considering a pickup version for the next Wrangler in 2017.

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Hot Wheels variations

Despite the short-life, there's quite a few variations on this casting in two different format's.  The first one has a metal base, horizontal lines in the grille, cross-hair pattern in the headlights and taillights, and the 1980's Real Rider tires except for the 1996 version shown in black wearing basic wheels on tall plastic tires.  The 1996 version in black with red interior and stripes was the last version of the original and the only one I found when I first saw one.  It's an awesome casting with the classic Jeep look and front grille, the hood and door latches, the rear roll bar, and the bed with wood chips, axe, and a toolbox to support the rear rivet mount.  It was sad to see no more of this version for a while because I had one unique Jeep that I was going to cherish for a long time...

...until 2009 when a revised casting was introduced.  The base is now plastic, wheels are the larger 5-spoke off-road tires , the grille only has the seven vertical slots, the headlights and taillights are now smooth, and a long-needed detailing at rear includes tailgate with JEEP stamped on it.  The first version was a sleek brown with blacked-out wheels.  The Scrambler name and stripe are nicely integrated on the sides and taper off at the end in a Hot Wheels flame.  The interesting version is the blue recolor in which this one shown is the Wal-Mart exclusive Redline tires featuring the one and only adaptation of redlines on the off-road 5-spoke wheels: barely any room to stamp the redline and yet it somehow works!

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In 2011 the Scrambler appeared in the Hot Ones series in the same deco as the 1996 version, but with more details including the Scrambler name on the sides of the hood like the 2009 version and large 5-spoke wheels.  Oh, and the metal base makes a return!  In 2013 new blacked-out 6-spoke wheels make an entrance on a red Jeep with wacky graphics.  I gladly passed and waited for this 2014 version in the same read but with more subdued graphics and the Scrambler name returns but is relocated to the lower edges of the doors.

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What a fantastic casting Hot Wheels managed to revive, and I hope Mattel continues to offer more variations of this model in the near future.

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