http://www.autoblog.com/2005/01/09/detroit-auto-show-jeep-gladiator-concept/

So I know this concept has been around a while now (same year as the Patriot and Compass concepts I believe). I think it's one of the best looking trucks out there and I would love to get my hands on one if it goes into production. For all you diesel lovers out there, this concept had the CRD engine in it :D

Has anyone heard any rumors about the Gladiator?

The interior photos I've seen look like it's a pretty functional concept -- which usually means that it'll be going into production. It also looks like it uses a lot of parts from the new JK. Comments from other forums have been pretty much all positives. I think Jeep would be insane to not produce this.

The last thing I read on the Gladiator, was that it was going to be based on the Dodge Dakota platform. It has been several months since I have read anything else on the concept. I know others say it is going to be based on the new Wrangler Unlimited platform. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I'm not a pickup truck person, but I would seriously consider the Gladiator.

I'm not a pickup person, either. But for some reason this really appealed to me. Everything about it looks like it'll be based on the Wrangler Unlimited platform, but that's just making the assumption because the whole front end looks identical to the new Wrangler (Except for the funky chrome plated bumper).

I remember reading somewhere that it will have a removable top. I also read on some website that Chrysler got a patent last May for the bed extending concept to covert it from a 4 passenger to a 2 passenger truck.

I am a truck person. Been a truck person longer than I knew it.

There are a lot of truck people out here, too. There's a good reason why that style of vehicle has remained one of the best selling styles consistanly for decades.

I wouldn't have sold the Grand Cherokee for a competition's truck a few years back if Jeep was still in the market of making a truck! Especially if it was a dependable, versatile truck.

I buy most things because they will do a job I need them to do... not because they look pretty. I want a 4x4 which can haul my and stuff around. I got in trouble a couple times after hauling fregrant crab pots back from the coast in the back of that ZJ. I need an open-air bed. Same goes for hauling yard debris, gravel, bark dust, etc... I don't need the open bed every day, but enough days per month to make towing a trailer more hassle than it's worth.

When hunting season comes around you need an open-air bed that can be easily hosed out.

The rumors continue to fly about whether or not the Gladiator will ever see production, (I hope it does!) I don't think we can say that it will be on the Wrangler platform just because it looks like a Wrangler; afterall, this concept was the precursor to the new JK. The Gladiator was basically the new Wrangler design hidden in plain sight.

That said, it would seem most economical for a production Gladiator to share the Wrangler UL frame.