On one level Jeep’s new Gladiator looks, feels and goes just like the Wrangler it is based on. On another level you could see value and use in it in ways you never would even the LWB version of the vehicle that spawned it. NZ4WD Editor
Ross MacKay explains.

Hah, some things never change when you jump into any Jeep Wrangler, or Wrangler-based Jeep; case-in-point the still very new here, Gladiator Utility.

Open thve ‘flat-pack-style’ quick removable driver’s door and if it raining, or has recently been, raining, watch as a steady stream of water flows from the vestigial roof guttering just where your right knee is going to be as you alight. 

That’s one common familial trait. Another – unique, I’m assuming, to right-hand-drive versions, is that, because the broad foot brake pedal sits cheek-by-jowl against the transmission tunnel there is not only no room for a typical wedge-style foot brace itself, there is bugger-all room for your left foot period!

Then there is the way the thing steers. If – for instance – you don’t drive a Wrangler every day , like me you might be surprised by the – er – ‘lack of precision’ from the steering box in the straight ahead position.

Obviously you do get used to it, but for the first 100 kms (or day’s) driving you (at least I do anyway) feel more yachtsman than marksman as you tack along, trying more or less to stay within your designated lane. 

Finally – for this little exercise anyway – if you are new to ‘Jeep’ ownership you might also struggle to find the switches for the electric windows (hint they are not on the doors because the doors are actually designed to come off ...)

All this and more, will be waiting for you to discover, of course, if you decide that Jeep’s all-new Wrangler-based Gladiator Ute is for you. Now, the Gladiator – again for those new to the brand and/or pending ownership – is not Jeep’s first Utility vehicle; the honour for that particular milestone goes – way – back to 1947 when original manufacturer Willys-Overland introduced a one-tonne ‘truck’ with 4WD based on the CJ-2A Jeep.

Neither is this the first use of the Gladiator nameplate either – that came first in 1963 for a Wagoneer-style 4x4 but was dropped in 1972.

Only a couple of years ago – OK, OK, it was 2016 – Jeep here imported a batch of broadly similar LWB Wrangler-based utes built by US specialist AEV (American Expedition Vehicles).

Here Jeep importer FCNZ is importing two versions of the new Jeep-made Gladiator, the Overland with an RRP of $89,990, and the Trail-Rated Rubicon with an RRP of $92,200. Serious money though as Jeep here points out you’re getting a hell of a lot of ‘bang for your buck.’

Me? Having missed out an invite to the ‘global launch’ – somewhere in the South Island last December, apparently – and with it the opportunity to really ‘see what this thing can really do’ I am limited to what I can in fact, tell you.

In the short time I got to live with the Rubicon-spec tester I only got to put it into 4WD Low range once – mainly because it did everything it needed to do where I went off-road in 4WD High!

I couldn’t do a tow test (something I wanted to do because the braked limit is only 2721 kg and payload only 620kg) either because the test unit didn’t come with a tow bar!

What it did come with was a clever marketing pitch from FCNZ: to whit, that the new Gladiator, is the one and only ‘convertible lifestyle truck’ available here. And do you know what? They’re right, though I prefer my own way of describing it; as the automotive equivalent of that famous 80s’ haircut, the mullet…

Because, like the mullet, the new Gladiator is all buttoned down business at the front, but paaaarrrrtaaaaah-central at the back.

I say ‘paaaarrrrtaaaaah’ at the back because this is where the Gladiator has it all over even a LWB Wrangler in terms of daily use.

Both can be turned into – very cool – convertibles with a bit of work for instance. But the last time I tried I couldn’t get my MTB (no matter how much I pulled it down) into the back ‘boot’ of the latest JL-spec Wrangler.

There was just too much clutter in terms of roll hoops and soft top bits and bobs to make room. Compare that relative lack of space to put a MTB with the huge open tray expanse offered by the Gladiator and well, you could literally open a shop selling MTBs from the thing.

 The only negative, albeit it is one more in the minds of others, is the sheer length of the thing. When compared to the latest (JL) Wrangler LWB four-door, the Gladiator’s frame is 787mms longer, the wheelbase 492mms longer.

I know, I blew a low whistle when I was checking the side-on photos for the first time, then had to do a lap of my local mall’s car park before I could find a strip of garden to back the tray over so that the nose didn’t stick out into the traffic. 

But really, that’s more than enough intro from me, particularly after such a brief once-over-lightly opportunity to drive the thing. If you are at all interested in a Gladiator, head down to your local Jeep dealer.

Obviously, you don’t have to rock a mullet to get their attention ... though you never know, it might just help.