If you have battery anxiety, then powering through the wilderness in an electric off-roader probably isn’t your kind of romance. Thankfully, Jeep, the granddaddy of all things knobby-tired and mud-soaked, still keeps a few fossil-fuel warhorses around. The Gladiator is one of them. But as a person of taste, you’re not here for the regular Gladiator. You want the 2026 Jeep Gladiator Rugged Willys ‘41 Buzz Model, the one dripping with military attitude like it just clocked out from convoy duty.
This special edition is a salute to the Kaiser Jeep M715 military truck, except this time you get air-conditioning and Bluetooth instead of a draft and PTSD. Jeep took the Gladiator, slapped on utilitarian swagger, and told every other pickup: “Watch and learn.”
You get 17-inch Olive Drab wheels, a Mojave hood with a retro decal that screams “classified file,” steel bumpers you can probably use as gym equipment, and a Mopar triple-hoop grille guard that looks ready for wildlife or traffic cones, whichever comes first. Inside, Willys ‘41 tan seat inserts and Mantis Green mid-bolsters complete the “government-issued but comfy” vibe.
Under the hood lives the good old 3.6-liter V6 with 285 horses and 260 lb-ft, paired with an eight-speed auto. Capability? It tows up to 7,700 pounds (3,493 kg), hauls 1,720 pounds (780 kg), crawls with a max ratio of 77:1, clears 11.6 inches (295 mm), and splashes through 31.5 inches (800 mm) of water. Approach angle sits at 44.7 degrees, departure at 26, breakover at 20.9. In short, it still does Gladiator things.
And now, thanks to an upgraded hinge system, the doors come off quicker, too, letting you enjoy open-air chaos with less effort.
Price: US$47,840 (excluding US$1,995 destination).
Images: Jeep.
