I drove a $62,000 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon to see if the new pickup could steal some shine from midsize-truck rivals Ford and Chevy

Business Insider

• I tested a 2020 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon, a Jeepified pickup truck that costs $62,020.
• The Gladiator is an insanely capable offroad pickup, powered by a 3.6-liter V6 making 285 horsepower.
• The Gladiator I tested was packed with cool features and enjoyed several premium upgrades to the interior.
• Going up against a spate of competition in the midsize segment, the Gladiator might be too robust for customers who would be OK with a pickup from Chevy or Ford.
• The Gladiator more naturally matches up with Chevy's most stout offroad choices for its Colorado pickup, and also the backwoods warriors made by Toyota and wearing the Tacoma nameplate.
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The Jeep Gladiator was the one that got away in 2019.

Normally, we manage to sample just about every new, important vehicle that shows up in a given year, so that we can include the best of the best in our annual Car of the Year award competition.

We had the Jeep Gladiator, a hotly anticipated midsize pickup from the off-roading legend, all lined up. But there was a delay, and unfortunately, we couldn't hold the presses.

But no harm, no foul. We knew the Jeepified pickup would be available in 2020.

Jeep has done pickups before, including a few with the "Gladiator" moniker. The better-known models, however, were the 1980s and 1990s-vintage Scrambler and Comanche.

The midsize-pickup-truck segment, after being sort of abandoned by everybody except Toyota, has come roaring back in the past half-decade. You can now buy as many midsize pickups as full-size ... Wait! With the Gladiator on the scene, you can buy more!