OK, now I want a pickup truck...

[HardRockCamaro]

Meet the Jeep Gladiator:





Based on the current Wrangler Unlimited but with proper truck leaf suspension at the back to handle weight, this is a 4x4 pickup truck that will leave all others in its wake.  I think it looks like a truck should as well, and kind of old fashioned, yet modern.

It's actually a concept, shown by Jeep last year, but it was a real hit and people have been badgering Jeep to make it.  Unfortunatley Dodge was somewhat less than pleased so the chance of it making production is 50:50.  One minute I hear it's going ahead, the next I hear Dodge have scuppered it.



"Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne stated in a round table discussion this morning that Jeep will soon be getting a new "mulitpurpose" vehicle, which will have a pickup truck-like bed.

Marchionne recalled the 2005 Gladiator concept, "I like that vehicle. I liked it the first day I saw it. There's a better than 50 percent chance that you'll get one. Regardless of what Ram says. They're totally peeved off at the fact that we're going to have anything that looks like a pickup truck with a Jeep badge on it. I actually think that there's space for it."

According to Marchionne the only thing is that the Jeep "pickup" will not be referred to as a pickup. There's no word when we will actually see this new Jeep."

[FUBAR]

Move the spare wheel from that silly rear-view-mirror blocking location to somewhere symmetrical & that will be fine.

If I lived in the middle of nowhere and had to do my shopping / wood fetching in bulk i'd have one looks 'ard

[EDGE]

thats very cool....

spare wheel placement is a fail of EPIC proportions though....

[F Body]

Like the colour

[Roadkill]

A little more "manly" looking than the original version, at least.

[Big Mouse]

A bit 'schoolboy design' for me, something(s) just not right

[Ponti]

Cool reminds me of the original styling, with the side mounted spare.

 I'd have 1

[HardRockCamaro]

Indeed, the side mounted spare is very old school, I like it.

Granted, if it makes production I can't see that surviving, nor the stainless steel bits (especially annoying as Jeeps powder coating is abysmal).
The bed is a bit special in that there is some sort of slot or something to the rear of the cab where it can extend out iirc?    Cant see that making production either.  up to and including the A pillars is just normal Wrangler so the rear bit isn't a huge stretch as the body on a Wrangler is a tub anyway so you can do what you like.

In reality I can't see Dodge letting this go ahead (I think they should dump the Dodge Dakota and sell this instead), so I suspect what we will see is a 4 dr Wrangler Unlimited with a small bed at the back.

[HardRockCamaro]

This is another Concept Jeep from the same period (called the Nukitzer):



Bigger and arguably meaner, but so far from a production platform that it will never happen.
It's also based on a stretched Military J8 Wrangler (Normal Wrangler with leaf springs to the rear) but the front is a custom carbon fibre job, off-the-shelf rear pickup box (from the AEV Brute conversion kit), it has 38" tyres, expensive Dana 60 diffs with 5.38:1 gearing (ouch for cruising noise!) and ARB lockers, custom axles, custom fuel tank and a 2.8 diesel (as the J8 is sold to international markets only whereas the US is not allowed the diesel due to emissions).