A high-quality homebrew build, this Gladiator can only be described as family-sized fun off the beaten path. Owned by Braven's vice president of design Craig Cheney, the pickup truck-based sport utility vehicle is loosely inspired by the Land Rover Defender 110 from the good ol’ days when the Landy wasn't a unibody with computer-controlled air suspension.
The first challenge in converting the Gladiator to a seven-seat SUV was chassis flex. A bit of foam and tolerancing in the roof allowed Craig to make it happen, but the build is far more than meets the eye. Take, for example, the second roll cage that was sourced from a wrecked JL Wrangler Sahara.
Tied to the Gladiator’s frame, the second roll cage has changed the dynamic of the entire vehicle for the better according to the owner. Typical of a caring father, Craig has also used custom-made tempered glass for the rear side windows. Tinted from the factory, tempered glass shatters into very small chunks instead of splintering into jagged shards as annealed glass does.
As for the roof, that’s a Mopar hard top for a four-door Wrangler. It was cut in half and stretched out so that it would fit the bed of the pickup, and the OEM-like attention to detail speaks for itself. Of course, the top is fully removable.
Craig, who stands six feet and four inches tall (make that 193 centimeters in Europe), puts on a great show toward the of the following video. He mentions his smallest kids don’t have a problem climbing over in the rearmost row from the second row of seats, but seeing him do it is laugh-out-loud material.
As for the finishing touches of this one-off build, check out the rubber boots. In addition to massive tires of the all-terrain variety from Falken, the white-painted Gladiator is also rocking beadlock-capable wheels for good measure.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News