Urban Off-Roader
Gladiator: An armed combatant who often met their death clashing with other fighters and beasts all for the sake of entertaining citizens of the Roman empire. American Gladiator: A game show in which muscle-bound competitors beat each other with inflatable rods. Jeep Gladiator: More than a Wrangler with a truck bed.
The ‘Gladiator’ name badge is pulled from Jeep’s catalog. Some of you might remember the Jeep J-series of yesteryear. When it first came out in 1962, it was initially known as the Gladiator. Why it dropped such a cool name for a clinical one is beyond me. But I digress. It’s appropriate the Gladiator pull its name from the archives. Because despite some modern amenities and comforts, the Gladiator feels old school. It drives and feels like a simpler machine. But that doesn’t mean the engineering underneath is. Pickup trucks have to function before anything else. And while many trucks and Jeep Wranglers will likely never see a surface beyond asphalt, for the few that do, it’s probably pretty important that they actually work. Without getting into great engineering detail, Jeep enlisted some help from the team at RAM Trucks to re-engineer the Wrangler’s framework to accommodate.
Ever seen the meme ‘It’s a Jeep thing, you wouldn’t understand.’ Well I haven’t. But I kind of get it because at first, I didn’t understand this car. I drove a Wrangler Willys once and being in the Gladiator brought those memories back. This thing feels so similar. It’s soft, bouncy, loud and tends to wander a bit at speed. This truck doesn’t know the meaning of the word aerodynamic. These vehicles come bearing Jeep’s ‘Trail Rated’ badge – meaning they’ve passed testing criteria by the Nevada Automotive Test Centre for factors like off-road traction, water fording, ground clearance and maneuverability. And that’s certainly all well and good. But I would surmise the majority of buyers will never take them off road. So why buy an off-road vehicle to only drive it on-road? Well…it looks cool. That’s more than enough of a good reason. Not every purchasing decision has to be so clinical. We are creatures of emotion after all, and for some of us, the way a car makes you feel and the image it presents is far more important than any other value, practical and otherwise.
Like the Wrangler, the Gladiator also features that fun party trick where you can take off the roof panels and the doors. It was in the middle of a deep freeze in mid-winter, but that’s okay. You can’t be in a Wrangler/Gladiator and not try it. It’s not exactly like a convertible where the roof just easily pops out. It does take a bit of work and honestly, I wasn’t sure where to put the roof panels so they wouldn’t be sliding around the trunk bed. So my poor back seat passenger had to keep them company. At least it’s roomy enough back there for them.
For such a rugged vehicle, the Gladiator is surprisingly plush inside. Our Rubicon trim level included some plush leather appointed heated seats, heated steering wheel, power mirrors and a very easy to use infotainment system. You may be drowning in wind noise, but at least you’ll be comfortable. Though I can’t help but wonder what some muddy trail driving with the doors off would do to an interior like that. Our tester rang in at just a hair over $68,000. So at least you can probably afford a deep clean and detail if you can afford this truck. Even the base model isn’t what you’d call affordable, starting at just over $52,000. But this is far more than just a lifestyle image. This is a capable, practical truck. It’s not cheap, but the engineering behind all of it is what your money gets you. If you buy a Wrangler or a Gladiator, you really owe it to yourself and your bank account to take advantage of that. It’s a blast.
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