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Get These Cars at 0% APR Right NowJeep Trucks Through the Years
We take a look back at all of the Jeep Trucks through the years because the Gladiator has a long history of ancestors.
Gladiator Origins
It’s easy to forget that the new Jeep Gladiator isn’t anywhere near the very first pickup truck from the brand. Before it arrived in 2020 it had been a quarter of a century since there was a bed on a production Jeep. Despite that long break, there’s a rich history of rugged working vehicles with a closed cabin space and a bed out back. Here’s a deeper dive into those vehicles and how they influenced the Gladiator we all know and love today.
Willys Overland Jeep 4×4 Truck
More than 70 years ago, the Willys Overland Jeep 4×4 arrived on the scene in two variations. One was a half-ton panel van, and the other, a one-ton pickup truck. Under the hood was a 63-horsepower L-Head four-cylinder engine. This was known as the “Go-Devil” engine and was notoriously robust in its use during the Second World War. Buyers could also purchase the pickup as a bare chassis, a chassis cab, or a platform stake truck. In 1958, the pickup was improved upon with the addition of the “Hurricane” engine that was slightly smaller but more powerful. A new four-speed manual transmission also became available. More than 200,000 of these trucks were sold before production ended in 1965.
Jeep FC Series
Nine years after the introduction of the Overland 4×4 truck, Willy’s launched the FC or the Forward Control pickup. At that time it used the same Hurricane engine found in the Overland 4×4. With its cab-over design, the FC offered an even more utilitarian attitude for those that needed it. Its short wheelbase made it a solid off-roader, and its versatile layout allowed buyers to choose a flatbed version that could be used for various forms of work. Despite its abilities, it didn’t sell anywhere nearly as well as the original Jeep truck, and over the course of its lifespan, just 30,000 units made their way into customers’ hands.
Jeep Gladiator / J-series
Three years before the FC and the Overland 4×4 left production, in 1962, Jeep launched the original Gladiator pickup. Unlike its predecessors, the Gladiator, which itself was based on the Wagoneer SUV, arrived on the scene with an inline-six-cylinder engine. Over the next few years, the engine was modified to provide better fuel economy before an optional V8 was introduced in 1965. In 1971, Jeep changed the name of the pickup and it became the J-Series with different trim levels like the J2000 and the J4000. Thanks to American Motors Corporation’s acquisition of Jeep, the J-Series received the AMC 401 engine with some 225 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque. Over the course of some 26 years, the biggest changes to the Gladiator/J-Series came in the form of powertrain options. Only when Chrysler bought out AMC in 1987 did the J-Series finally leave production.
Jeepster Commando
Introduced in 1966, the Jeepster Commando looked quite a bit like CJ but featured a convertible top and a pickup truck bed out back. Buyers could specify for their Commando to come with a hardtop that would cover both the cabin and the bed. For the first four years of production, the Jeepster remained largely unchanged but 1971 marked a turning point. Not only did the Jeepster name go away for the simpler Jeep nomenclature, but AMC lengthened the wheelbase and offered larger engines including a six-cylinder and a 5.0-liter V8. No amount of modification seemed to really make the Commando popular though and the brand sold less than 80,000 during the model’s lifespan.
Jeep CJ-8
Once the Commando left production the J-Series was the only Jeep pickup truck until 1981 when the brand introduced the CJ-8. Often called the CJ-8 Scrambler because of an appearance package that included unique wheels and decals, it picked up where the Commando left off. The front end of the CJ-8 wasn’t very dissimilar from the CJ-7 and the back half simply added a small pickup truck bed. Just like the CJ-7, buyers could choose from a four-cylinder, an inline-six, or a V8 engine. Nevertheless, just like the Commando, sales were sparse and the CJ-8 was phased out of production by 1986.
Jeep Comanche
As the CJ-8 left production, the Cherokee XJ-based Comanche was introduced. Unlike previous Jeep pickup trucks, the Comanche was available in a single hard-top two-door body style. It also blended the unibody construction of the Cherokee and traditional body-on-frame pickup architecture into a single vehicle. In 1987, the famous 4.0-liter inline-six engine was introduced to the Comanche and then in 1991, a 190-horsepower version marked its most powerful iteration. By 1992 the Comanche was discontinued due in part to what Chrysler saw as slow sales and due to the fact that the parent company didn’t want Jeep competing with Dodge for pickup truck sales. Despite that, the desire for a Jeep with a pickup truck bed didn’t ever fully go away.
Jeep Gladiator
Twenty-five years after the Comanche left production Jeep finally released the Gladiator into production. In the same way that the Jeepster and the CJ-8 shared front-end components with the mainstream Jeep product of the time, the Gladiator is basically identical to a Wrangler from the cabin forward. Just like the Wrangler, the Gladiator can be equipped with so many different accessories, off-road upgrades, and overland add-ons that we could write an entire article just dedicated to them. Two different engines including a 3.6-liter V6 and a 3.0-liter diesel are available. Buyers can also choose from an eight-speed automatic or a real three-pedal manual transmission. That stick shift makes the Gladiator one of just two trucks that offer such a feature. Today, it stands as one of the brand’s most popular models and the only convertible pickup truck on the market today. It’s unquestionably one of the most capable off-roaders available too. Just don’t ask for it to have a super-comfortable ride quality.
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