If speculation is correct, we are about to learn that Jeep thinks the Moab ranks higher than the Rubicon.

According to the eagle-eyed readers at JLWranglerForums.com, there will soon be a new range-topping Wrangler. Called Moab, it’ll be positioned higher – much higher – on the Wrangler totem pole than the former top dog Rubicon.

Sources who got a glimpse of the 2018 dealer order guide report the Moab Edition will be an option package available only on the 4-door Sahara. It will apparently add (are you sitting down?) $10,905 to the price of that model. This will bring its MSRP to a heady $51,200 before the inevitable $1495 destination fee.

Gulp.

It should be noted that price is a full $8200 north of the price of a Rubicon with the eight speed automatic.

Functional components of the Moab are said to be the expected 3.6L V6 with the eight-speed automatic, along with Jeep’s 2.72:1  Selec-Trac full-time transfer case. There will be a limited slip diff out back, joined by Mopar-branded rock rails along the side and a steel front bumper. Jeep spotters will easily identify the Moab thanks to its hood decal, which somehow looks larger than a Rubicon’s thanks to containing four block letters instead of seven. Aluminum wheels sized 17×7.5 will wear LT255/75/R17 tires of indeterminate origin.

Moab customers will find typical Sahara-level comforts inside, with a leather interior group and banging 9-speaker sound system. The Sky One-Touch power top remains an option, as is the Dual Top Group and neatly named Trail Rail Management system. With add-ons like that, it’s easy to see the Moab Wrangler’s sticker creep towards $60,000, especially if a buyer dives into the Mopar Accessory catalog and its 200+ components.

Available information pins this Jeep as a 2018 and your author has no reason to doubt its veracity. However, it is very late in the calendar year for Jeep to drop such a new model – even if it is technically an option package and not a wholly new trim. Perhaps the Moab is actually a 2019. We won’t know until someone gets a look at the VIN.

Be sure to check out some images of the Moab, along with a few more details, at the JLWrangler Forum.