After a 26-year hiatus, Jeep has once again decided to make pickup trucks. Competing with Ford, Chevrolet and Toyota, the new 2020 Jeep Gladiator will be the first pickup truck made by Jeep since production ended on the Comanche truck in 1992.
Debuting at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the Gladiator definitely looks like the Jeep we’ve come to know, but with a truck bed for handling a bigger haul. Just like a Jeep Wrangler, there’s a keystone-shaped grille, round headlamps and square tail lamps.
The roof, doors and windshield are all removable, making it the only open-air 4×4 pickup truck on the market.
The Gladiator will feature an optional forward-facing camera that allows the driver to see obstacles ahead, which is especially helpful for navigating trails or off-roading. It can drive through several feet of water and carry up to 1,600 pounds or tow 7,650 pounds.
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The crew cab features a five-foot steel bed with tie-downs so you can be sure whatever you’re hauling is secure. All Gladiators will come standard with a 285-horsepower, 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine and six-speed manual transmission, with an option for an eight-speed automatic.
The interior of the Jeep Gladiator has some nice features for drivers, too, like the Uconnect system, which includes Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and touchscreens with pinch-and-zoom capability — just like on your cell phone or tablet.
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Jeep has not announced how much the Gladiator will cost just yet, but it will be built in Toledo, Ohio, and will appear in Jeep showrooms by the middle of 2019.
Are you excited for the first Jeep pickup truck in 26 years?