Jeep Gladiator Pickup

[fishEH]

The Gladiator also looks really cool, and that is indeed a factor that shouldn't be underestimated. There's also the inevitable aftermarket styling stuff. You'll be able to do whatever the hell you want to the Gladiator, and really personalize it to your own tastes.

Kennith

I would argue that the cool factor cannot be overestimated. There's a reason everyone has a Wrangler. I cannot think of one demographic that I haven't seen driving one. It's not because the Wrangler is fast, or built well, or is luxurious. Its no better in the snow than a Subaru and has less tech than a Civic. The reason people like them is because they are cool looking.

 

[kennith]

I would argue that the cool factor cannot be overestimated. There's a reason everyone has a Wrangler. I cannot think of one demographic that I haven't seen driving one. It's not because the Wrangler is fast, or built well, or is luxurious. Its no better in the snow than a Subaru and has less tech than a Civic. The reason people like them is because they are cool looking.

I think we've both just said the same thing.

I just used "shouldn't" in front of "underestimated" instead of "cannot" in front of "overestimated".

The point is, that cool factor is important, and that's not a problem. If you're spending near fifty grand on something that's not required, it ought to be something you think is cool.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[ukoffroad]

It will sell like crazy, that is for sure.

 

[Lake_Bueller]

I was determined that there wasn't another truck on the market that I want to drive. The Disco's are getting a little long in the tooth for a daily driver. My short list was to look for a low mileage Cadillac CTS wagon or maybe a BMW wagon. The Gladiator has me rethinking that idea. Why...because it's cool as hell!!!

 

[Blue]

What's the mileage rating on that rolling abortion?

 

[Roverlady]

My dad bought one of these new in 1981 and it was our first “off roader” for our farm. I am surprised Jeep didn’t also offer the two door version.

https://goo.gl/images/5Vywus

 

[mgreenspan]

Get ready for a huge onslaught of overpriced Tacomas as all the bros dump them to be the cool kids with the new thing but refuse to acknowledge that they shouldn’t have paid over original sticker price for a 3 year old truck with 40k miles.

 

[fishEH]

Get ready for a huge onslaught of overpriced Tacomas as all the bros dump them to be the cool kids with the new thing but refuse to acknowledge that they shouldn?t have paid over original sticker price for a 3 year old truck with 40k miles.

Maybe that will mean cheap Tacos? Can you say Taco Tuesday!???

 

[Blue]

My dad bought one of these new in 1981 and it was our first ?off roader? for our farm. I am surprised Jeep didn?t also offer the two door version.

https://goo.gl/images/5Vywus

Now THAT is cool as hell.

 

[Blue]

Maybe that will mean cheap Tacos? Can you say Taco Tuesday!???

Hell yeah, I'd buy a near-new used Tacoma. They had a big Tacoma and Tundra outside of Bass Pro Shop the other day. I think it was the beefiest OEM one they sell (like Turd Sport Pro or something). My buddy has a manual Sport and it's a sweet truck.

 

[proper4wd]

kennith what the hell are you going on about. are you insinuating that "overlanding" is any more than just sitting in the car for 8 hours straight?

that it requires more getting in and out of the car than running errands around town?

you have it completely backwards. if i owned this thing, i would have the doors off and windshield down around town, going to the dump, picking up mulch, filling the back with lumber, going to the brewery. etc.

 

[kennith]

I can totally agree with you here. As a pure utility vehicle the shorty jeep pickup (the blue Brute) is great. The fact that it looks great is a bonus. But as a personal off-roading and camping vehicle I see years of frustration and buyer's remorse. Still, I'd drive the shit out of that thing.

I just clicked on the Cover-Me-In-Baby-Oil-And-Ride-My-Ass-Like-A-Roman-Gladiator link in the original post and the more I look at this thing, the more ungainly and just plain fucking ugly it looks. The stunted rear doors don't look right next to the fronts. Looks like they went from a mentally-challenged make-a-wish foundation intern's construction paper mock-up straight to the production line in 1 step. The transition from cabin to rear window over the bed looks like a red-neck sawzall job. The rear end treatment taillights and tailgate look like afterthoughts. It looks like they went to Pep Boys, bought a box of cheap chiner taillights, and hot-glued those pieces of shit on there. "But boss, these cheap shit taillights don't even come close to fitting on the body!" "Shut the fuck up and keep gluing, we have to get to production." "But they stick out 6 inches and they'll get ripped off at the fucking shopping mall you stupid fucktard!" "You're fired." Fuck me, it looks like they glued the whole goddamn bed onto the body.

Seriously? That's one of your promo pictures? Who's the fucking genius behind this abortion?

When I see one in the wild (meaning asphalt strip mall parking lot), I may have to hop up in the bed and poop.

I was actually going to comment on that last picture. I'm not sure they picked the right person for that shot, as the fellow somehow looks the exact wrong size to be in there. Not saying I'd look any better, but nobody's hiring me for press release modeling, either. :rofl:

You've got some points. I think the tailgate is a bit of a styling misstep, and it looks more like something we should expect out of the Defender, actually. It's a Jeep, though. They'll be everything from webbing to Webers available to replace it.

The lights are a strange story. Doug Demuro's review of the 2018 Unlimited points out that Jeep was unable to find a good place to install the blind spot monitors. According to Jeep, they needed to be extended to get past the fenders, and nowhere else worked right.

I'm not sure I believe they actually put that much effort into it, but regardless, those appear to just be the same lights moved to the new model.

I think the rear doors would be fine without the cab extension, but you wouldn't get the seats in the back without it, which is a little annoying, because the first thing I'd do when I got home is remove them. Hell, my DII has been a two seater since it left warranty. :rofl:

Staring at it, I get the same feeling you do, I think. This is like going into a video game arcade with a dollar's worth of quarters to play Tempest four times, but being distracted by Dragon's Lair. It looks cool, and Don Bluth is the fucking man, but that's a dollar with a short life-span and lots of frustration.

Even so, just like Dragon's Lair, with all it's faults, this damned truck is (at this time, before anyone buys it) ice fucking cold. It would sell it's own mother on the open market for a scoop of ice cream and a slap on the ass.

After people start buying them? We'll see... That's a different story.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[kennith]

kennith what the hell are you going on about. are you insinuating that "overlanding" is any more than just sitting in the car for 8 hours straight?

that it requires more getting in and out of the car than running errands around town?

you have it completely backwards. if i owned this thing, i would have the doors off and windshield down around town, going to the dump, picking up mulch, filling the back with lumber, going to the brewery. etc.

I am, but I suppose it works both ways, when you put it like that.

"Overlanding" is typically about enjoying a journey, or so I am given to assume. It's about the trip, the people, the gear, the food... It's a lifestyle pursuit. There's nothing wrong with that, and I'm sure it's a lot of fun. It looks like fun, anyway.

The other side of that coin; the side that breeds vehicles like this and morons like me, is not about the journey at all. It's about what happens when you reach your destination, or sometimes simply the act of reaching the destination with your caravan or cargo relatively unmolested.

It just comes down to what you're doing, in the end. Grocery-getting isn't such a bad analogy. :rofl:

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[jim-00-4.6]

This is like going into a video game arcade with a dollar's worth of quarters to play Tempest four times, but being distracted by Dragon's Lair.

Even so, just like Dragon's Lair, with all it's faults...
Cheers,

Kennith

Jesus Fucking Christ, you're as old as me.
I worked at a little deli type place when I was about 17, we had a tabletop Tempest game there.
After closing, we'd use this little metal rod to flip the dip switch to free play.
I had the record on that thing.

Dragon's Lair?
You're talking about the first game that used a video disk, right?
With like Dirk the Daring or something?
You'd get to a decision point, and there'd be this 5 second pause while the disk spun to the next section of the game.
Annoying as fuck, but at the time, it was the shit, boy-o.

hahahhahahhaa

 

[Blue]

I'd say this Jeep Vibriator is less Dragon's Lair and more Joust.

 

[Blue]

The lights are a strange story. Doug Demuro's review of the 2018 Unlimited points out that Jeep was unable to find a good place to install the blind spot monitors. According to Jeep, they needed to be extended to get past the fenders, and nowhere else worked right.

I just thought they were following Toyota and putting the lights as far out as possible so that they break and new ones must continuously be purchased at killer markups. Now that you hint at the possibility that it is due to blind spot monitors I realize it's even worse than I first assumed. A supposedly utilitarian truck with removable doors needs blind spot monitors? I suppose it also shuts down a couple cylinders for a few seconds at a time and it also shuts down completely at stop lights. Fucking wonderful.

 

[kennith]

Jesus Fucking Christ, you're as old as me.
I worked at a little deli type place when I was about 17, we had a tabletop Tempest game there.
After closing, we'd use this little metal rod to flip the dip switch to free play.
I had the record on that thing.

Dragon's Lair?
You're talking about the first game that used a video disk, right?
With like Dirk the Daring or something?
You'd get to a decision point, and there'd be this 5 second pause while the disk spun to the next section of the game.
Annoying as fuck, but at the time, it was the shit, boy-o.

hahahhahahhaa

Yeah, the video disc one. Basically, it was an entire game based on what we now call "Quicktime events"; timed decision points that require canned controls and animations. Incredibly frustrating, but that eye-candy was just too attractive to ignore.

It was done by the same Don Bluth responsible for The Secret of Nimh and a bunch of other animated movies.

Bluth actually explained that once. He didn't quite understand what a game was supposed to be, and thought most of the fun would be seeing all the silly ways Dirk the Daring could die like a screaming ponce. :smilelol:

The same engine was later used for his other game, Space Ace. That never really gained the popularity, as I think Dragon's Lair burned everyone out before Space Ace hit the scene.

I'll take a picture of something in my office that you'll find amusing later.

Tempest, though... Now THAT was an addicting game. I'm not sure how I'd do now at a cabinet, but I WAS good. I just picked up Tempest 4000 for the Xbox One, as someone was coming over to help me out with stuff and had never even seen the original, and the update is one hell of a trip. They jazzed it up to give challenge to the old guard. It sure kicked my ass.

I think the only game I'm still good at is DOOM. I've kept the skills up on that one. Strange that I can still play with all the nerve damage in my left arm. Can't seem to learn anything new, in that regard, but I suppose some manner of muscle memory is in play.

So far as age, I'm not too far up there, but I'm at the point in life where I'm looking at convertibles, and I fucking hate convertibles... The military example is thinking on occasion: "If I'd just stayed in, I'd be retired! Perhaps not wealthy, but I wouldn't have to do so much shit..." :rofl:

Thankfully, we all get over that one eventually. You're not going to catch my ass running fifteen fucking miles anymore. Hell, I didn't even like it when it was possible. LMAO

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[kennith]

I just thought they were following Toyota and putting the lights as far out as possible so that they break and new ones must continuously be purchased at killer markups. Now that you hint at the possibility that it is due to blind spot monitors I realize it's even worse than I first assumed. A supposedly utilitarian truck with removable doors needs blind spot monitors? I suppose it also shuts down a couple cylinders for a few seconds at a time and it also shuts down completely at stop lights. Fucking wonderful.

Hell, they may be mandated nowadays. I'm not sure what is and isn't anymore. I know backup cameras are, and I can't stand the things. It's just a good way to blind yourself at night.

I do hate that cylinder deactivation, though. It makes sense in big cities and bad commutes, but for driving in more reasonable locations it's stupid. I know you can turn it off in all the new Lincolns (SWEET fucking rides, there) , but I'm not sure about Jeep.

Another question comes down to gas or diesel. Diesel engines aren't what they used to be, and are bordering on being unacceptable for real outdoor use. There's also a relevant concern regarding part availability, as they're changing so much every few years.

You know, I never did like Joust. I just didn't see the appeal, for some reason. Maybe I should try it again. It's not as if I don't have the vintage gear ready to go.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[jim-00-4.6]

Those 2 were just about the last video games I've ever played.

my son has several gaming platforms.
I liked the driving game on the ps1 or 2 or whatever from 15 years ago.
I tried to play a FPS game with him, but I just wasn't down with "press x to duck, y to shoot, z to jerk off, up arrow to go left, down arrow to run, etc, etc".
Simply couldn't develop ANY give a shit for the entire concept.

I guess it's like professional sports.
Adults, yelling about other (chronological) adults, playing a child's game.

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me."

"When I was a child, I played children's games. Then I grew the fuck up."

 

[Blueboy]

sometimes simply the act of reaching the destination with your caravan or cargo relatively unmolested.

That is my feeling traveling with the RRC. Just getting there is an accomplishment in itself.