The Jeep Gladiator pickup is here folks, and let's just say that Jeep (and pretty much everybody else) is pretty darn excited about it. In fact, Jeep is so eager to celebrate the bodystyle returning to its lineup that it went ahead and dedicated its entire 2019 Easter Safari line of concepts to trucks. Not a single Wrangler badge was to be found.
There are six Jeep pickup concepts in total, and after checking out the metal in person, we can safely say that we want all of them. This will be the 53rd Moab Easter Jeep Safari, and the concepts only get better as time passes. We drove the seven vehicles that Jeep brought out to Utah last year, and now we have the details on all of the trucks Jeep is bringing out for the 2019 Safari.
Jeep Five-Quarter
Of all the wild creations Jeep and Mopar built this year, one called the Jeep Five-Quarter is the best of the bunch. This truck started out life as a 1968 M-715, which was a military version of the civilian Gladiator truck. Jeep bought this one off Craigslist (they don't know if it ever saw combat) and went hogwild from there. We'll start with the powertrain, because Jeep dropped in a modified Hellcrate engine. That means this old, off-road Jeep has a 6.2-liter supercharged V8 that makes over 700 horsepower. Jeep is using a vintage 8-71 supercharger and mating the engine to a 3-speed automatic transmission.
The truck is using a version of its original frame that has been reinforced and modified. Jeep replaced the leaf springs with a heavy duty coil suspension system. Then it was fitted with Dynatrac Pro-rock 60 front and 80 rear axles. Massive 40-inch tires wrapping 20-inch beadlock wheels look proper on the restomod, too.
All the internals are awesome on this truck, but the appearance might be even more striking. All the sheetmetal up front was removed in favor of fiberglass and carbon fiber. The bodywork gets a brushed metal look that is just spectacular in person. Jeep fabricated a 6-foot aluminum bed with wood slats on the bed floor. Then the roof was chopped to make it 3.5 inches shorter — Jeep added a removable soft-top, too. A barebones interior with a ton of color and exposed aluminum complements the exterior perfectly, and a "Hellcrated" badge is a perfect finishing touch.
The name itself comes from the truck's military nickname. It's a one-and-one-quarter ton truck, or "five quarters." If you can't tell, we love everything about this Jeep.
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