Auto-show media days allow journalists to poke, prod, touch, feel, and inspect new cars. But we aren’t supposed to tear them apart.
According to Car Revz Daily, Jeep busted the owner or owners of an Instagram account, The Middle Lanes, tearing up the interior of a Recon at the 2025 Los Angeles Auto Show. The post of them pulling the interior of Recon apart has apparently been deleted.
Engineers crawling over new models from rival brands has long been an issue at auto shows, but usually they just measure things. Apparently, the Instagrammers were taking pieces off of the interior.
Not only is taking apart a car that doesn’t belong you to deeply uncool, these things are also hand built. So if you’re trying to claim that build quality is poor, well, you’re working with a way-too-easy target. Save that for production builds.
Jeep did put out a statement:
The actions taken to disassemble the all-new Jeep Recon on display at the LA Auto Show were both destructive and unprofessional. The vehicle in question is a pre‑production show car, built exclusively for reveals and events to highlight the Design inspiration for the final product. These prototype units are typically hand-built and not intended to demonstrate final production, durability, quality, or integrity of materials. The final production version will embody the uncompromising capability and authenticity Jeep owners expect and love.’
Those little scamps will hopefully learn their lesson.
[Image: Jeep]
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