Jeep Gladiator

July 7th, 2007 by shenron

An old classic, the Jeep Gladiator was introduced in 1962 with a sleek design of the time and a unique grill that gave it a look more suited to be on a high priced car. Jeep Gladiators had a make up of a front mounted engine that provided rear wheel and all wheel power, along with independent front suspension with optional dual rear wheels. The Jeep Gladiator was also used by the military and served until 1971 when it was replaced by its direct descendant, the Jeep Honcho. It would seem this old classic was destined to never be revived after nearly forty years in moth balls. The performance of the Jeep Gladiator was very close - if not the same as - the Jeep Wagoneer. It had its choice of engines between the AMC V8 and the Buick Dauntless V8, along with some V6 engines. The Buick Dauntless 350 was a magnificent engine that gave the Gladiator a powerful stroked engine (having the longest stroke of all the GM engines) which in turn lent itself to having much more torque and an impressive 195 horses. The AMC 401 was able to produce much more power, having a peak at 330 horses before the new restrictions in the mid 70s, and afterwards around 255 (but easily modified to reach 330 again).

Just when you thought the saga was over - jeep cam out with a concept vehicle in 2004 called the Jeep Gladiator, and it was indeed a truck and based on the original of the same namesake. This gladiator has a nice 2.8 liter engine that is a turbo diesel with four strokes at a comfortable (but not as impressive) 163 horsepower with about 300 pounds of torque per foot. It has a much larger transmission with six speeds in manual and is the same kind of front engine rear wheel drive or four wheel drive as its ancestor. It has a 1,500 capacity payload and it also looks pretty darn sleek. However this will not enter production as far as I know, but points to what jeep may be releasing in the future.

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