The Gladiator concept pickup may be dead, but it appears Jeep is taking another approach toward adding a pickup truck to its lineup. According to Chrysler COO Eric Ridenour, the Gladiator was axed because it required its own unique platform. A production Jeep truck, if approved, would have to be a vehicle based on an existing body-on-frame architecture.
And that brings us to the funky Wrangler-based pickup prototype the spies at KGP Photography spotted in Detroit, as it was being transported between two off-site facilities for final assembly work. Daimler Chrysler has taken the cab of a Jeep Wrangler and raised its raised roof with thin safari-inspired window slits, giving this truck a uniquely vintage greenhouse shape. A new hood incorporates a grab handle, elongated blisters and a mesh grille most likely designed to allow heat to escape the engine bay. Makes sense, since there is one 5.7-liter HEMI V8 stuffed inside.
Set for an introduction at the SEMA show in about a week, this new pickup concept reportedly consists of two variations. Sources familiar with the strategy say DaimlerChrysler hopes to produce these pickups in small volumes at the Viper Plant, using mechanicals from the 2007 Wrangler, while aftermarket kits will also be made available to fit previous-generation Wranglers.
While it would seem the ’07-based pickups will be sold through Jeep dealerships, rumor has it the kits will also be available to transform 1997-2006 Wranglers into the pickups you see here. Sources suggested that the kits will cost about $8,000 to $10,000 (assembly not
included), and would require lengthening the frame with parts supplied in the kit.
The truck photographed had a wheelbase extended to approximately 119-inches. Whether the modern DCX-built ’07-based trucks will differ in its proportions, or will have any
unique styling cues is currently unclear, but insiders say the modern-build and kit versions are very much the same in look and feel.
The truck you see here appears to be the resurrection of Jeep’s pickup aspirations. We’ll have to wait until the truck’s official SEMA unveiling to see exactly how everything shakes out.
