This looks really fucking cool but after you study it for about 10 seconds you start to wonder what the point is.
Reduced interior human space....check! Reduced to non-existent interior cargo space.....check! Mediocre pickup bed space for exposed and unsecured cargo....check! Drastically reduced exterior cargo space because no where else to put a spare.....check!
There's inspiration, and then there's what people do with them.
All that open air space allows some serious convenience in the field. Historically, that would be a scout/utility vehicle for expedition purposes; not a support vehicle, which is what everyone in the "overland" community wants to build.
The whole point is to be able to hop out, do stuff, toss stuff in, and get moving without dicking around. You've got the support rig for anything else.
Contrast that with the overland lifestyle rigs you see. They make for a good road trip, but they're not maximized utility vehicles.
This is where the hobbyists give way to the professionals; or the general contractors give way to specialists. Nothing wrong with other ways of doing things, but you're shooting yourself in the foot bringing a closed cabin/cargo area into remote, repetitive utility environments.
The benefits do exist in everyday life, in regard to the bed. The doors and windshield don't really do much around town, but it's tradition. Nobody's going to use that drop down windshield like people would use it in the middle of nowhere, and you don't need to jump in and out of the vehicle constantly when going to the grocery store.
There is one more benefit... When you're on a sufficiently long trip involving slower speeds and lots of stopping in hotter environments, there's something to be said for all that airflow. Air conditioning burns fuel, and not a small amount when you're poodling around in fields and deserts at a maximum of 10mph.
The shortest way to explain it is this: Americans use side-by-side utility vehicles for this sort of thing, which is why the Gladiator doesn't seem to make sense. You've got your big truck for hauling, and you've got the SXS for detail work.
In other places, that SXS isn't enough. That's why you see drop-tops all over the world. Someone, at some point, bought them for this purpose. That may not be what it's doing
now, but that was the original intent.
So, who would buy one
knowing all that, if you're paying for features you'll never use?
Well, people like me, who've run things like that all over the place in just those sort of environments. There's a touch of nostalgia, there; cast through lenses of modern comfort and convenience. Moreover, it's a double-cab that isn't the size of a battleship, and it looks cool.
One thing that's important to remember is that "contracted expedition use" is vastly different than what people call overlanding, or even driving on a trail. You're avoiding nasty terrain as much as possible, if it's raining sometimes it's best to pack it up and wait, and you've got a bigger vehicle nearby that handles the heavy lifting.
All comes down to the difference between travel and work in remote areas. At this point, I don't even know what to call it anymore, because the terminology has become warped over time.
Cheers,
Kennith
