This Jeep became a movie star …
The movie Jurassic Park was a huge hit in 1993. Its stars were Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and two vehicles used by the park’s staff, Ford’s Explorer and the Jeep Wrangler. Well since I’m such a Jeep geek, this spot is about the Wrangler I saw recently on a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando FL.
All of the Jeeps used in the movie were 1992 models (YJ) with the upscale Sahara trim package, which included fender flares painted body color, side steps, and green interiors. The paint color is factory Sand Beige a one-year-only color. When Jeep handed the vehicles off to the movie people they put their own special touches like the red accent stripes and red aluminum wheels. They rode on BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A tires. Powering them was American Motors’ 4.0 liter “high output” inline-6 cylinder making 190 horsepower and attached with a five-speed manual transmission. I’ve driven these and they are a blast to take off-roading.
RELATED Spot: See another famous AMC vehicle.
There were five different Wranglers used by the park staff, all uniquely numbered and customized in varying degrees. They all had front-mounted electric winch, but only a few had off-road searchlights.
According to the Jurassic Park Wiki page two of the Jeeps arrive to pick up John Hammond’s (Richard Attenborough) party from the helipad after their arrival. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Ellie Sattler (Laura Durn), and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are chauffeured in Jeep 18, Hammond and Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) in Jeep 29. When he steals the dinosaur embryos, Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) takes Jeep 12 and crashes it later to be killed by one of the park’s dinosaurs. Yup, Newman dies.
Ellie and Robert Muldoon ( Bob Peck) use Jeep 10 to rescue Ian Malcolm and make a daring escape from a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Jeep 10 is also later used by Hammond to pick up Grant, Ellie, and his grandchildren Tim and Lex from the visitor’s center to drive them to the helipad.
Gerry Harding (Gerald R. Molen) also uses one of the Jeeps, although it is not seen in the film. Jurassic Park: The Game reveals it is Jeep 14. It is destroyed by a Triceratops.
Although the ultimate fates of Jeeps 10 and 12 are never revealed, Jeeps 18 and 29 are found years later in the visitor’s center garage by Zach and Gray Mitchell. They repair Jeep 29 and use it to drive back to the main area of Jurassic World, although it is not clear where it ends up. Jeep 18 is used by Owen Grady and Claire Dearing to hide behind, and is shoved into a wall by the Indominus Rex while she is chasing them. The Jeep’s fate is unknown.
While I couldn’t find any of the movie Jeeps for sale, there are tons of replicas of the YJ for sale, and not for a ton of cash. In case you can’t get ahold of one of those, mainly because the frame rusted badly, Jeep produced a Jurassic Park package for the Wrangler and Gladiator last year to commemorate the movie’s 30th anniversary. Has it really been that long?
Thanks for stopping by and checking out this week’s spot. I’ve got tons of others on our site so click away. Come back next Friday for another one of my spots along with some of its history. Have a great weekend.
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