Jeep News
BY: JONATHON RAMSEY
Jeep has dished out a few historic colors for the Wrangler and Gladiator lineups this year, including Chief Blue, Nacho and, most recently, Gecko Green. The brand isn’t finished with the rainbow: Mopar Insiders was paying attention to its Instagram feed yesterday when Stellantis design boss Ralph Gilles posted a picture of a pink Jeep. The caption was, “I am taking credit for the new Jeep Wrangler Tuscadero color code PHP … a sketch I did of a potential next gen Viper circa 1995 LOL.” Gilles deleted the post, replacing it with a shot of the actual next-gen Viper he toyed with in 1995 and a caption that ended with, “Something pinkish this way comes shhhhhh….” But by then, MI had got in touch with its dealer friends to find out that Wrangler shoppers can order a Tuscadero Pink Jeep Wrangler right now.
Jeep forums have been sleuthing the Tuscadero Pearl Coat mystery for a few months. The name is fantastic, if misleading. Carol “Pinky” Tuscadero was a character in “Happy Days” who had a thing for pink outfits and The Fonz, her boyfriend. She could be as fierce as he was cool, her dress and her demeanor conferring a mythical longevity. Pinky was written into just three episodes of a series that ran for 11 seasons, her appearances coming more than 40 years ago. But say the word Tuscadero to people of a certain age, and the first response you’ll get is, “Pinky?” This could lead into the mention of Pinky’s sister, Leather Tuscadero, because, well, it was a wonderful time to be alive.
The new Wrangler color, however, isn’t pink. As with the other limited-edition colors reprised for Jeep’s 80th birthday year, Tuscadero Pink is the return of a color first seen 11 years ago on the Dodge Challenger as Sales Code PHP, which is Furious Fuchsia. Dodge debuted the color in 2010 to commemorate 40 years of the Charger, with a possible nod back to Panther Pink that Chrysler once offered for its muscle cars.
A picture of the dealer announcement indicates the new hue is available on all trims, Mopar Insiders says models with the Dual Door Group are excluded. This won’t last forever, so if you’re ready to “Think Pink!,” as Pinky said on the show, don’t wait to step up.
