Jeep Might Give Us A V8-Powered Gladiator After All

Jun. 24, 2021 4:06 PM ET by Michael Butler Rumor / 8 Comments

The demand for the Wrangler Rubicon 392 has been overwhelming!

Jeep has always been America's go-to manufacturer for those looking for extreme off-road performance, and the Jeep Wrangler and its larger truck sibling the Jeep Gladiator are the weapons of choice for many. Jeep, as with the majority of brands, has started making the move to more sustainable powertrains, and the Wrangler 4xe Hybrid is the first to adopt this new vision, but with Ford launching the Bronco SUV and with demand for the V8-powered Wrangler Rubicon 392 at an all-time high, Jeep fans are crying out for a V8 Gladiator. The good news is that the company just recognized the demand. Brandon Grimus, the Gladiator line's senior brand manager recently spoke to Muscle Cars & Trucks. Where he acknowledged the fact that there is a demand for a V8 Gladiator.

2020-2021 Jeep Gladiator Rear-Facing View

"If you scour the forums, there are tons of people that I'm sure would love to buy a V8 Gladiator," affirmed Grimus. Grimus went on to admit that models such as the Wrangler 392, Wrangler EcoDiesel, and Wrangler 4xe were all based on customer demand. "If you look at what we've done with Wrangler lately, it's like we've gone through this wish list from every Jeep fan in America. Whether it's a diesel or V8, or a Jeep pickup, we've just been checking all of these boxes and finally delivering to these customers the products they've been asking for."

2020-2021 Jeep Gladiator Central Control Panel

The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392 is an excellent example of why a V8 Gladiator could work: at $73,500, there has been no shortage of demand for this high-performance Jeep that packs 470 horsepower and sprints to sixty in only 4.5 seconds. "Just to give you an idea of how much demand there is for a V8, there were seven aftermarket companies across the country doing V8 upfits at a really, really high price with no factory warranty or engineering. Most of them have waitlists over a year-plus… we might as well take some of that business," Grimus mused. Currently, the Gladiator is offered with a 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 engine producing 285 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque, but there can be no denying a V8 Jeep pickup truck will always be cooler.