It was only after the violently orange 2020 Jeep Gladiator flowed effortlessly down a very steep, grassy, knobby hill near the Appalachian Trail that I finally understood.
I'd never been much into off-roading. What, I reasoned, was the excitement in going 5 mph when you could instead do many times that at a racetrack? Who wouldn't want leaps of acceleration so furious they make you feel like you're falling horizontally?
Off-roading is different. Even in my one-hour sampling of it — and a very light sampling at that; I won't presume to know anything more than a filthy casual — I could immediately see the charm. When you off-road, you can drive in an environment that would absolutely strand and destroy a sports car or supercar.
But you, with your lift kit, flexible suspension, and big tires, can stand atop a boulder, above it all. You can look out across a rocky valley, pick out a point, and get there, as long as you take a reasonable route. There's a power in that knowledge, in the ability to make the journey in a car.
For nearly 30 years, Jeep and pickup-truck aficionados have waited for something like the Jeep Gladiator to return: a rugged, off-road-capable pickup but with all the Jeep charm. And now it's finally here.
The Gladiator launched at the end of 2018 and hit the market during the second half of 2019, thus marking the end of a hiatus put into play once the last Jeep pickup, the beloved Comanche, departed in 1992.
Business Insider reviewed a very orange Gladiator recently — which you can read about here — and found that it is a hero at off-roading but suboptimal for highway cruising. Powered by a 285-horsepower V6, you can tell right away the truck is the happiest when splashing around in the mud or climbing grassy hills, not while holding to a steady 65 mph on New York Interstate 87.
But if you've more of an affinity for visuals than words, we've got you covered, too. Keep scrolling for a full gallery of the 2020 Gladiator Rubicon.