The 2022 Chicago Auto Show is kicking off this weekend and making their in-the-flesh debuts are a small handful of new cars. Actually, when I say “new cars,” what I really mean are new variants, er, sorry, special editions of cars we already know. We got the go-anywhere Ford Bronco Everglades. Ram came out with a new firefighter-themed edition of its special “Built to Serve” trucks. To mark the supercar’s final model year, Ford trotted out yet another Heritage Edition of the GT, this time rocking a livery inspired by Alan Mann Racing. Finally, Nissan isn’t actually selling these, but the Japanese automaker’s got three modified Frontier “concepts” on display at McCormick Place, one of which is rocking those sweet, sweet block wheels from the old Nissan Hardbody pickup.
This small wave of differently-equipped vehicles got us thinking: What’s the best special edition car?
Feel free to interpret the word “best” here however you’d like. If we’re talking about special editions that, in all seriousness, elevate the style of its base model by the most significant amount, I’ve always been partial to the beautifully green Hakone Edition Toyota 86. If, however, your definition of “best” equates to the automotive marketing endeavor that brings the most laughs, ironic or otherwise, I’d like to turn your attention to the Call of Duty-themed Jeep Wranglers.
Remember these?
Possibly the greatest early-’10s example of knowing your audience, Jeep came out with the Wrangler Call of Duty: Black Ops Edition in 2010 and followed it up with the Wrangler Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Edition in 2011, with both coinciding with the release of their respective first-person shooter video games. They were basically Rubicons with some Mopar accessories sprinkled in but, most importantly, featured a lot of Call of Duty branding throughout that made its owner the absolute coolest dude on the planet… until the next CoD game was announced. So, for about eight months.
It really was a weird excerpt of automotive history and to make the early-2010s nostalgia complete, here’s one Saabkyle04 to tell you all about the Modern Warfare 3 Wrangler.
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