2020 Jeep(R) Gladiator – Heritage Feature

Brandt Rosenbusch, Manager – Historical Services, talks about the heritage behind the Jeep(R) Gladiator.

Transcript from Video

chief has a long history with trucks it’s almost as long as the CJ series goes back first trucks were introduced in 1947 and up until 1987 there was a
continuous line of at least one model of
Jeep being produced the most I kind of
cheap truck was probably the gladiator
from the early 1960s it’s got that round
or oval rhinoceros grille that they
called it it was just a tough strong
looking vehicle the gladiator and the J
Series were built from 1963 up until
1987 so I think that’s what people are
most familiar with the G pick up those
built from 1947 to 1965 they really
stood out because it looked like the
willies wagon it looked like the other
jeeps that were being built at the time
with the flat fenders it really fit with
the line of cheap so being produced and
I think a lot of people you know
remember those and it’s kind of a
nostalgic vehicle willys-overland
expanded beyond the CGA series in the
trucks because they knew that there was
a market for them there was work
vehicles there was a Willie wagon that
they had so they really want to expand
all along their product lineup and they
did a really good job bringing out the
47 pickup truck it was available in
two-wheel drive four-wheel drive a steak
truck or you get at camp chassis so it
was really a dedicated work truck they
didn’t really name it
they call it the 463 when it came out
but it was just known as the jeep truck
and it had the same reputation that
could go anywhere do anything like the
rest of the cheap models
I think the new gladiator it really
harkens back to those jeep trucks you
know it’s a jeep when you see it like
all the other trucks and obviously it
has the workload the work ethic that
all the other jeep vehicles had so I
think it’s something we could be really
proud of calling the gladiator name
again