Eighty years after Willys-Overland pointed its military-proven MB at the farm-gate market and called the result the CJ-2A, Jeep has built a Wrangler to mark the occasion. The 2027 Jeep Wrangler JL-2A is the 11th drop in the brand’s Twelve 4 Twelve series, priced as a $4,995 package on top of the Wrangler Rubicon and positioned as $115 more than a comparably equipped Rubicon. Orders open in October.
The CJ-2A that launched in July 1945 was the Willys MB stripped of its battlefield austerity and fitted with a tailgate, rear power takeoff, larger headlights, and the seven-slot grille that defines every Jeep built since. Willys dressed it in combinations like Harvest Tan with Sunset Red wheels and Pasture Green with Autumn Yellow wheels, bold color pairings for a purpose-built workhorse that was headed to fields and factory yards rather than European roads. The JL-2A leans on those choices deliberately.
Exterior color leads with Gobi on the two-door, a shade Jeep traces directly to the original Harvest Tan. Four-door buyers get ’41 as the featured color, with Bright White, Sting Gray, Ghost, and Joose rounding out the available palette. The 17-inch retro wheels are painted Joose, a nod to those Sunset Red originals, and paired with standard 33-inch BFGoodrich KO2 All-Terrain tires. Orange tow hooks front and rear carry that same warmth into the bodywork. Dark Metallic Grey grille accents update the seven-slot graphic without softening it, and body-color fender flares with a three-piece hardtop keep the silhouette clean.
Inside is where the JL-2A does its most specific work. Jeep describes the interior as a first-ever Wrangler color and material combination, and the specification supports that claim: Nappa Heritage Tan leather covers the seats, the instrument-panel mid-bolster uses Nappa PUR, and Bison Brown finishes the door panels, lower instrument panel, and center console. Desert Orange accent stitching ties the cabin to the Joose wheels outside. Two exclusive details anchor the Willys-Overland connection. A satin chrome shifter medallion carries the Willys name, and the HVAC vent graphics alternate between the seven-slot grille on one side and a Willys vehicle silhouette on the other. The rear swing gate gets a plaque recreating the original CJ-2A dashboard data plate, complete with farm and factory scenes from the vehicle’s working life.
Standard equipment adds the Convenience Group, which brings remote start, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, and a universal garage door opener, along with a front TrailCam with an integrated washer. The Rubicon platform underneath provides the Trail Rated hardware: front and rear locking differentials, disconnecting front sway bar, and the rock-crawling geometry buyers already know from standard Rubicon spec.
Canadian buyers pay CAD $6,995 through Jeep Canada dealers, tracking the same package structure Jeep is running in the U.S.
The JL-2A lands as the Twelve 4 Twelve series approaches its final quarter. The 11th drop pulling on the CJ-2A is not a coincidence. Willys built the CJ-2A to prove the Jeep could exist outside the military, and everything the brand has done since traces back to that vehicle. Anchoring the penultimate special edition on that origin puts the founding story back in the showroom, at $4,995 above Rubicon. That leaves one drop remaining in the series. The JL-2A just made the case that Jeep still knows where it came from.
Source: Jeep. Images courtesy of Jeep.
