Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty Editions: No Xbox Live Subscription Needed

Chrysler could only assume people who enjoy first-person military shooters probably also enjoy off-roading. So the Call of Duty Special Edition Jeep Wranglers that followed the iconic game series must have made all the sense in the world at the time. But a decade later, do these special Wranglers still have the same kind of pull? Let's take a deep dive and find out.

For a bit of background information, the Wrangler was undergoing a bit of a transformation back in the late 2000s and early 2010s. For decades, the Wrangler was a lightweight, capable off-roader first and a commuter vehicle a very distant second. This was especially the case with the previous YJ and TJ Jeep Wranglers in production from 1986 until 2006. But with the newer JK Wrangler, it was clear that proceedings were different.

Firstly, the JK was considerably longer and heavier. Even the base model two-door JK is a full 12 inches (30.5 cm) longer than the outgoing TJ. It was also significantly heavier, with 4,129 pounds (1,873 kg) to lug around to the TJ's 3,832 lbs (1,738 kg). What Jeep, along with other off-roader makers like Land Rover, discovered is that owners of these vehicles seldom take them off-road. As it turned out, lots of Wrangler owners chose to get into the rough in the digital space instead.

And thus, the Call of Duty Special Edition Jeep Wrangler was created to satisfy this very niche. It's a journey that begins in the year 2010 with the 2011 Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty: Black Ops Edition. Sporting a menacing black paint job with matching alloy wheels, it's only upon closer inspection that one begins to notice the subtle differences present in this limited edition Wrangler.

For starters, the CoD: Black Ops special, built with permission from the game's design team Activision, was derived not from the base Wrangler but from the flagship Rubicon. This included a fully revamped, all-black interior that benefits from the 2011 model year's mid-cycle refresh. The Wrangler CoD: Black Ops edition retailed at $30,625 for the two-door model and $33,500 for the four-door (Jeep Wrangler Unlimited) model. Just in case you thought such a collaboration was a silly idea, just listen to what Chrysler management had to say about the deal all those years ago.

"The Jeep brand's partnership with Activision marries the world's most capable and iconic vehicle – the Jeep Wrangler – with one of the world's most popular entertainment experiences," said Mike Manley, then the President and CEO of the Jeep Brand. Some strong words there, especially considering Activision is owned by Microsoft these days. Evidently, enough sales were made to justify another Call of Duty special edition Wrangler the following year.

This time around, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Special Edition (man, that's a mouthful) came with much the same glitz and glamor as the previous year's Black Ops model. The more colorful MW3 logo and accompanying decal sets pop out far more than on the Black Ops edition. This is added with all the extra Mopar trim pieces inside and outside to make for a much more instantly recognizable as a rare and special Wrangler.

Remember, this was before the days when the highest price-point Wranglers came with thumping great HEMI V8s like they do today. The best you could hope for on both the Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3 editions was a 3.6 liter naturally aspirated V6 jetting 285 horsepower and returning a just about acceptable 21 combined miles per gallon fuel economy.

As for the price of the MW3 Special Edition, $36,495 was what you had to throw down for the two-door model and $40,070 for the four-door (Jeep Wrangler Unlimited) variant. Considering a base model two-door Wrangler from the same era ran about $23,000, that's a lot of extra coins to throw down for an off-roader marketed around a game made for 20-somethings but somehow mostly played by squeaky-voiced children aged nine to 17.

As it happens, 2012 was probably the year Call of Duty's cultural influence reached its apex. From then on, year after year of mediocre and rushed releases made a follow-up to the Wrangler CoD MW3 Special Edition pretty much dead in the water. But what are your thoughts?

Are the Call of Duty Wranglers cool and quirky footnotes in the long and illustrious history of the Wrangler? Or were they a shameless cash grab sold to "dude-bro" sugar-free energy drink chugging buffoons for tens of thousands over what it likely cost to build?

Let us know in the comments down below. And please, try to be more civil than the average Modern Warfare Three team deathmatch lobby.

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