For the last couple of years, the Jeep Wrangler has been fogging up the proverbial glass with its jealous breath as droves of 4×4 lovers flocked to buy the resurrected Ford Bronco. Even now, as the Bronco orders stack up for a nearly two-year waiting list, people still are trying to figure out slick ways of jumping the line. 

However, maybe there is another option? Internet sleuths have uncovered a Jeep patent showing what looks to be one of the most anticipated features that never made it to the Bronco. Will this new jeep Wrangler feature make Bronco order holders jelly in the new year? 

What are the best jeep Wrangler features? 

If you haven’t guessed it yet, this leaked patent image seems to show a Jeep Wrangler with the coveted donut doors. Donut doors are sort of a flashier, more stylish version of regular tube frame doors that have been available on Wranglers for a long time. 

When Ford mentioned that the new Broncos might be getting the cool off-road lover’s doors, Bronco fans were excited. However, Ford ultimately abandoned the idea, and Jeep picked up the ball and started running the other way. 

According to The Drive, this decision to leave the donut doors off the Bronco might have been made when Ford saw the same patent filing application published two days ago by FCA/Stellantis we see here. According to this published patent, The Wrangler has anticipated donut doors since 2017. 

Will the Jeep Wrangler get donut doors? 

Although this patent was applied over three years ago, it is just now coming into public view. The Drive notes that the patent isn’t a technical one. Not only is the patent’s name is “automobile,” but nowhere in the paperwork does it even mention the word “door.” The only language used to describe the images is “The ornamental design for an automobile, as shown and described.” That is painfully vague. 

Although it may feel like a lifetime ago, Jeep actually presented the new JL-body truck in 2018 with these doors. As we now know, those doors also never saw production. It’s important to note, like the Ford Bronco, the donut doors weren’t shown on a four-door Wrangler, only the two-door configuration. More to the point, those doors we saw in 2018 looked fairly different than what we see in the patent illustrations. 

To be clear, Ford could certainly still make their own version of the donut door, and may still yet. Jeep has clearly designed its own aesthetic factory look. As we know from hundreds of examples in the past, just because we find a patent for something rad like this doesn’t mean that the OEM will ever give us our heart’s desire. 

The donut doors: will they or won’t they

At this point, I just want to see the Donut doors come to pass for one of the OEMs. Even more than I think they are a cool Jeep Wrangler feature, I just want beef squashed. Whether it’s the Jeep Wrangler or the Ford Bronco with the donut doors first, I just want the 4×4 animals to get along.