Autoblog

Are you pining for a production version of the Jeep Gladiator concept? If so, you'll probably wish you could have a crack at the vehicle above, as well.

Tiger Auto of Japan created a special Wrangler pickup for the Tokyo Auto Gallery, and it looks just fine to us. The boys at Tiger took a standard Jeep TJ, stretched the wheelbase 600mm (23.6 in) and then custom-fabricated the rear cab enclosure and the pickup bed. They documented the whole build in a series of photoessays on their website. (Look for the links labeled "Lung Ra" pickup.)

The result is a very well-finished neo-Scrambler whose overall length matches that of a new Commander. A modest 2" lift, custom convertible top, Recaros, and wheel/tire upgrade add the finishing touches. We're big fans of the old-school embossed Jeep logo on the tailgate, too. This one-off by Tiger is much more appealing than the Scrambler concept shown at the 2005 NADA meeting. The NADA Scrambler was oddly-proportioned and pretty strange-looking.

We'd love for DaimlerChrysler to greenlight a production version of the Gladiator, but in lieu of that, we'd happily take Tiger Auto's Wrangler pickup. It may be the best Scrambler on the road today. Pity there's only one of them.

(Rear shot after the jump)

[Source: Tiger Auto via Response.jp]