2022 Jeep Gladiator: Single-cab ute imagined

Jeep threw its hat into the white-hot Australian ute market in 2020, bringing us the four-wheel-drive Gladiator to much fanfare.

But while it’s standard practice for manufacturers to offer multiple body styles, Jeep is one of the few that offers its Gladiator solely as a dual-cab.

With Ford launching the Bronco sub-brand to compete directly against Jeep, what would happen if the latter decided to return the favour and compete with the recently-launched Ford Maverick pick-up?

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Abimelec Design has created a digital model of what a single-cab Jeep Gladiator could look like if the brand decided to expand its line-up – albeit with some modifications that wouldn’t be out of place at the SEMA motor show.

In place of the Gladiator's petrol V6 is a V8 – but not the engine from the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 392, instead a 7.3-litre ‘Godzilla’ big-block from Ford has been shoehorned in between the struts.

Abimelec has also given the Gladiator a slight lift and fitted the ute with some KMC alloy wheels clad in BFGoodrich rubber.

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While it doesn’t look like a two-door Jeep Gladiator is on the horizon, the company did flirt with the idea back in 2019, building the Gladiator J6 concept as an homage to the Jeep Honcho of the late 1970s.

A single-cab Gladiator might not be arriving into your local dealership anytime soon, but it might inspire someone out there with an angle grinder who wants something unique.

Would you prefer a single-cab Jeep Gladiator over the dual-cab? Let us know in the comments section below.