Jeep broke their silence this week at the Detroit Auto Show and announced that the company will be producing a pickup based on the next generation Wrangler. Pictured above is a 2013 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited that’s been converted to a pickup using Jeep’s JK-8 body conversion kit.Jeep finally put the rumors to rest and confirmed at the Detroit Auto Show this week that a Jeep pickup is on the way.
Tuesday’s announcement is hardly surprising considering Jeep’s recent concept vehicles and its JK-8 pickup conversion kit offered for the Wrangler Unlimited.
Jeep CEO Mike Manley tells The Detroit News that the new Jeep pickup, expected for delivery in 2018, will be based on the next generation Wrangler.
The pickup will be built alongside Wranglers at Jeep’s factory in Toldeo, Ohio, according to Fiat Chyrsler CEO Sergio Marchionne.
The last Jeep pickup, the 1992 Jeep Comanche, was produced for eight years beginning with model year 1985.
Mopar’s JK-8 pickup conversion kit for the Wrangler Unlimited, which sells for around $7,500, involves serious labor. A body shop that recorded a conversion on YouTube reports that it took the shop over 200 hours to transform a 2013 4-door Wrangler Unlimited into a pickup for a local Chrysler dealership.
Jeep’s concept pickup, Gladiator, debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in 2005.Jeep turned heads in 2012 with its concept pickup, the J-12. The truck featured a V-6 Pentastar 3.6-liter engine. Jeep’s Gladiator concept pickup also garnered headlines when it debuted at the Detroit Auto Show in 2005. The prototype came with a 2.8-literturbo diesel engine. No word yet, however, on the power-plant for Jeep’s new pickup.
Though there have not been any formal announcements, The Detriot News reports that more information on Jeep’s new truck will be coming up this month when the company presents a 2016 earnings report.
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Posted below is a video detailing a JK-8 pickup conversion on a 2013 Jeep Wrangler unlimited.
