You don't need to follow an orange sphere this spring in order to participate in a bracket challenge...
April 6 Update: Congrats to Crew Chief 715 for winning this year's Concept Tournament, as well as for everyone who voted and commented during each match. All winners below will soon receive their Quadratec Gift Cards.
And here we go.
With March upon us and tournament season beginning, we have selected the top 32 Jeep concept vehicles from over the years and matched them up to see who can outlast the field. Your 'likes' on our social channels over the next few weeks will determine this year's Concept Champion, and your comment will possibly get you a Quadratec Gift Card in the process.
Each 'Game Day', starting today (March 18) through April 5, we will select one random comment from all our game posts and send out a $25 Quadratec Gift Card. Then, each semi-final game on April 2 will see one random comment win a $50 Quadratec Gift Card. Finally, on championship day April 5, we'll randomly pick one comment to receive a $100 Quadratec Gift Card.
No purchase necessary. Nothing to send in or registration form to fill out. Just hit like for your vehicle choice on any Facebook game day post and comment, and/or vote on our Instagram page. We'll stop counting those likes and votes at the end of each day (EST), in order to pick a winner.
It's that simple.
Quadratec's 2021 Concept Tournament runs March 18-April 5. Head to our Facebook and/or Instagram page to participate.
Day 1 Recap:
The inaugural day of our 2021 Concept Tournament pretty much went as expected, however two of the matches were quite a bit closer than predicted. Crew Chief 715 slipped behind Comanche on Facebook voting, but Instagram participants more than made up the difference as defending champ Crew Chief eased to a 2,818-1,375 win. Sandstorm struggled a bit more with Wayout, as the two evenly-divided concepts slugged it out for much of the day, before a late run on Instagram powered Sandstorm to a 1,846-1,707 victory. Finally, the day's closest match saw Quicksand fend off a stout challenge by Safari. While Quicksand prevailed pretty easily on Facebook, Safari tried to charge back with a slightly stronger Instagram vote. However, in the end, Quicksand tallied just enough to sneak past Safari 1,709-1,689.
Day 2 Recap:
Our second tournament day saw two blowouts and the first upset of this year's concept battle. Trailcat was a strong contender in our previous competition, as served notice it would be a force again this year as it powered past Dakar 3,098-646. The same could be said about CJ66, as this concept dominated voting across both platforms en route to a solid 3,073-755 first-round win. The last match of the day contained our first upset, as Farout pushed past favored JT Scrambler thanks to a good run with Instagram voting. JT Scrambler dominated the Facebook tallies, but could not connect with the Instagram crowd and lost that side of the voting by over 700. Final on this one was 2,262-1,733.
Day 3 Recap:
Day 3 of our 2021 Concept Tournament saw both favorites easily overtake their opposition en route to the second round. Mighty FC summoned the power and force of its vehicle counterpart and took out Lower 40 1,949-1,391. Lower 40 tried to make a game of it for some of the day, and stayed close during Facebook voting, but the Instagram side pushed Mighty FC way over the edge and ended this year's chances for Lower 40. The day's second match was an even bigger voting gap as Five Quarter easily took down Wrangler Africa 2,511-1,136. Five Quarter took control of the match early and never let up throughout the day as voters, once again, showed their love for this 2019 EJS concept.
Day 4 Recap:
The 2021 Concept Tournament ran out two strong favorites during Day 4, and both did not disappoint. J6, looking to be a top contender, steamrolled Cherokee Canyon 2,902-280 in the tournament's easiest win so far. J6 took control early on both social platforms and simply did not look back on its way to the second round. That formula was almost the same for Shortcut against Gravity. Shortcut may have a small frame, but it has a big fan base and they all came out on Facebook and Instagram to push Shortcut to a 2,363-1,109 victory. Remember both of these concepts in a few days though, as J6 vs. Shortcut will be a huge second round contest.
Day 5 Recap:
Another tournament day, another two easy wins. However, one of those was a pretty substantial upset that took out one of the tourney's top favorites. That's right, the older truck concept Gladiator fell to Switchback pretty handily 2,344-1,591. Gladiator actually opened a 200 vote lead on Facebook, before Switchback roared back on Instagram, surpassing 2,000 votes there en route to the upset win. For the day's other match, Staff Car put away Trailstorm 2,454-1,204 on its way to the second round. Staff Car let both platforms all day and simply never let Trailstorm close at all.
Day 6 Recap:
Cherokee Chief came out firing today during its first round match against Grand Cherokee Overlander in our 2021 Concept Tournament. Chief built an early lead and simply would not let Overlander find any way to mount a comeback. As a result, Chief will move on to the second round. Our second matchup saw Willys take on Flatbill in a contest that was surprising closer than anticipated. Flatbill tried to keep it close with an afternoon surge, but Willys kept counterattacking every time Flatbill made a run. So we'll see Willys in the tournament's second round. Finally, FC 150 met Luminator hoping to become the second forward control truck to reach the second round. And reach it the vehicle did thanks to a dominate early performance that was enough to outlast a late Luminator charge.
Day 7 Recap:
Our final first round match for our 2021 Concept Tournament had Jeepster facing off against Nacho. And while Jeepster may have been the favorite, Nacho simply would not go away and evenly battled Jeepster all day. A late run spelled the end for Jeepster this year as Nacho took home a slight win to move on. The day's second matchup began our second round as defending champ Crew Chief 715 took on Sandstorm. Unfortunately for Sandstorm, Crew Chief came out fighting and easily won this one to move on to the final eight. Finally, the last match today brought out Quicksand against Trailcat. This one was a fight all the way as Quicksand jumped out in front early, before Trailcat battled back. Either concept had a chance to win this one, and when the dust settled, Trailcat emerged standing with a very tight margin.
Day 8 Recap:
Our tournament's second round matchups continued today as scrappy CJ66 faced off against Gladiator-based Farout. And while it was not exactly David vs. Goliath in size, CJ66 proved that you don't need a truck bed to be popular. The vehicle took off in voting early and buried Farout by the early afternoon as it cruised into the third round. Next, Mighty FC squared off against Five Quarter, hoping to get a forward control into the third round. However, the newer Five Quarter truck seemed to resonate with the audience more when it counted as it eventually pulled away from Mighty FC to reach the third round.
Day 9 Recap:
Many around the country have been looking forward to today's second round matchup between J6 and Shortcut. Both are super popular concept vehicles and always seem to turn heads. This one had a championship feel all day as neither concept was able to take a substantial lead. By early afternoon Shortcut bounced to a small advantage, but again J6 raced back to retake the lead. Still too close to call near the end, J6 somehow found the will to win as it narrowly overcame Shortcut in the tournament's tightest match yet. The day's second contest seemed like a let down after the previous battle. Staff Car raced out to a substantial morning lead over Switchback, and only increased that advantage as the day wore on before closing with an avalanche of support to bury Switchback and advance.
Day 10 Recap:
Today we conclude our 2021 Concept Tournament's second round and begin the third. Finishing up in the second round we have Chief taking Willys in a battle we thought would be just a bit closer. However, Chief saw itself secure a quick lead and always managed to stay an arms length ahead of Willys all day in a comfortable win for the blue Cherokee. Our final second round matchup saw FC 150 taking on Nacho, which upset the Jeepster concept in the tournament's first round. This time, though, there would be no magic for Nacho as the forward control truck easily struck down Nacho to rocket into the third round. Speaking of that third round, we begin with Crew Chief squaring off against Trailcat. We thought this was going to be a straight-up dogfight, but Crew Chief again showed why it is the odds-on favorite as it easily handled the powerful Trailcat in a surprising blowout win, thus securing the first final-four spot.
Day 11 Recap:
Three more third round contests are on the docket today, and we begin with CJ66 up against Five Quarter. This was every bit the battle we hoped as both concepts gave everything they had to reach the final four. We had to stay all the way to the end just to find out which of these machines would advance, and as the horn sounded, Five Quarter managed a last small push to edge CJ66 in the best fight so far this tournament. Next, J6 found itself squaring off against Staff Car and this one was pretty much over as it started. J6 raced out to a quick lead and never looked back to secure its final four spot. Finally, Chief versus FC150 is the last of the third round contests. And with Mighty FC going down earlier, it is also the last hope of the forward control vehicles to reach the finals. FC 150 gave maximum effort and matched Chief stride for stride during most of the day, but the Chief proved too strong as the afternoon and evening wore on — amassing a comfortable lead en route to the win and our last final spot.
Day 12 Recap:
Our 2021 Concept Tournament Semi-Finals provided all the drama we thought, as both matches were outstanding battles. In the opener, Crew Chief 715 and Five Quarter both proved why they made it this far as neither was able to take any kind of lead as the day wore on. This all-truck semi-final wasn't decided until the very end when Crew Chief somehow found the audience it needed to secure the final few votes and ensure its second-straight finals appearance. Our other semi-final was a stunner, as Cherokee Chief found a way to overcome J6. We thought for sure that J6 was destined for the finals, but the classic styling of Chief proved to be popular with so many old school Jeep fans. The battle raged for most of the day, but as time wore on, Chief kept extending its lead until J6 simply couldn't answer the bell.
Championship Recap:
There is just something about a Jeep truck concept. Especially a well-done Jeep truck concept. And for many, the 2016 EJS concept Crew Chief 715 simply rises above all others. While there may be concepts through the years that are revered by the Jeep community, Crew Chief 715 stands alone.
As a champion. Once again.
Crew Chief 715 on Monday rode a wave of that support to take a start-to-finish victory over Cherokee Chief in our 2021 Concept Tournament finale. In reality, Cherokee Chief seemed to be in the match only at the start as it attempted to stay close in early voting. However, following this initial surge, Cherokee's deficit only grew larger throughout the day as Crew Chief fans overwhelmed Cherokee by an almost two-to-one margin.
The victory was Crew Chief's second-straight tournament title, both over Cherokee Chief, and the support for this salute to Jeep military vehicles of the past proves that fans today still love that classic Jeep truck design.
$25 Gift Card Winners:
March 18: Dylan V.
March 19: Dave A.
March 22: Pete S.
March 23: MIke D.
March 24: Tara F.
March 25: Wes R.
March 26: Kevin A.
March 29: Jimmy P.
March 30: Erica B.
April 1: Colton Z.
April 2: David F.
$50 Gift Card Winners:
April 3: Todd B.
April 3: Ellery B.
$100 Gift Card Winner:
April 5 (championship): Colin R.
