While Ford and General Motors both deserve credit for coming up with some distinct and attractive color options during the muscle car era, Chrysler absolutely deserves the award for best names and most outlandish hues. Color options like Sublime Green, Panther Pink, and HEMI Orange gave Mopar a reputation for being the “wild child” of the Big Three, though no Chrysler color has had the same cultural impact as Plum Crazy.
This purple hue has become a popular nostalgic revival option for the new Fiat-Chrysler, which has regularly offered it on its Dodge Charger and Challenger models. But for the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show, Plum Crazy will make a guest appearance on the 2016 Jeep Wrangler Backcountry as the decidedly less-creative sounding “Xtreme Purple”. This leaves us asking, are there more crossover episodes in the works?
While technically being called “Xtreme Purple” by Jeep’s marketing people, we all know that this is just repurposed Plum Crazy, perhaps leftover from the last time FCA offered it to Charger and Challenger buyers. Building off of the range-topping Sahara models, the Backcountry has been designed with snow and ice in mind, rather than sand dunes and dust storms. The Wrangler Backcountry comes with unique powder coated bumpers, 17-inch “mid-gloss” black wheels, and either Rubicon rock rails or Sahara side steps at no extra cost. A body-color hardtop is also available, though the black hardtop comes standard.
Oh, and those weird decals that are eerily reminiscent of the stickers that adorned damn near everything in the 80s and 90s.
On the inside, the vent rings, door handles, console lid, and armrests all come with Diesel Gray accent stitching, while the vent rings get a Piano Black finish. Leather seat bolsters with black sport mesh inserts and an Alpine nine-speaker sound system joins all-weather slush mats as standard equipment.
No pricing has been announced yet, and if the purple look just isn’t for you, the Wrangler Backcountry can also be had in Hydro Blue, Black, Bright White, and Granite Crystal.
But that’d be Plum Crazy.