A new ‘Desert Hawk’ limited edition has been added to the Jeep Renegade range.

The new Desert Hawk takes the Renegade Trailhawk’s rugged appearance a step further with exclusive features and functionality inspired by the desert. It will be limited to just 100 examples for the UK.

Available in Alpine White, Anvil, Black or – exclusive to Desert Hawk – Mojave Sand, the special edition features 17-inch Low Gloss Black wheels, exclusive bonnet and rear body panel decals.

Inside, exclusive seats in black leather/fabric feature a Moab desert map logo on the seat base as well as electric lumbar support for the driver. There is also a leather wrapped steering wheel, dual zone climate control, DAB UConnect radio with 6.5-inch touchscreen, Live services, Bluetooth and satnav, 7-inch full-colour thin-film transistor (TFT) cluster display and cruise control.

Jeep unveiled the new Renegade Desert Hawk by towing one of the UK’s top sandboarders through a series of stunts and tricks on Braunton Burrows sand dune, North Devon.

British board-rider and instructor Alex Bird helped mark the launch by becoming the first participant in his sport to be towed by a car in the UK. In extreme conditions, the Desert Hawk helped Alex to reach speeds of 40mph and negotiate several grind rail stunts, jumps and 90-feet sand banks.

“I’ve never done anything like that before,” says Bird, 34. “It took time to get used to being towed at such speeds but I do a lot of wakeboarding and it was principally very similar. The car performed incredibly well on such deep sand; if it wasn’t so good off-road there is no way I could have got up to 40mph and nailed the jumps and stunts.”

‘Best-in-class’ Trail Rated 4x4 capability with standard Jeep Active Drive Low with 20:1 crawl ratio and Selec-Terrain system which includes a Sand mode is joined by an exclusive Rock mode, 8.7-inch ground clearance, skid plates, 8.1-inch wheel articulation, Hill-descent Control and 19-inch water fording. Power comes from the 170 hp 2.0-litre MultiJet diesel engine paired to a nine-speed automatic transmission.

On sale now, prices start at £28,995 OTR.