We can talk about how bad we all want a Jeep Wrangler pickup, how insane it is to spend $178,000 on something just a few short years ahead of a horse-drawn carriage, or we can bask in the glory of what may be the most beast modern Jeep on Earth.
This particular machine was for sale just a few days ago, and seems to have sold for even more than its substantial initial asking price.
Even with the crappier 3.8 engine and a salvage title, this JK Wrangler Unlimited would have been worth a decent amount of money before the mods. Now that’s it’s been given the ultimate real truck conversion, it’s getting into supercar pricing.
This ain’t no chop-and-slice pickup changeover. The entire frame was stretched to keep the entire Jeep’s cab intact while adding a big ‘ol one-off cargo bed in back.
The rest of the rig’s specs reads like a catalog of every accessory you’ve heard good things about: 3.9 liter Cummins turbo diesel hooked up to an Allison churning an Atlas transfer case to an OX air locker. If that doesn’t mean anything to you, the whole interior’s bedliner’d and that pretty much tells the story of this Jeep’s personality.
I feel obligated to say the only thing it’s missing is a manual gearbox, but it’s gonna be hard enough to drive this without spilling your Big Gulp to deal with another lever.
Is it worth $178,000? (I mean, is anything?) Who knows, but with that earthtone color swatch this thing manages to look a lot more “badass” than “douchecanoe,” even with those sparkly-clean shocks as tall as a child.
The engine swap, carried out by Bruiser, is actually a little more affordable by itself at about $25,000. But if you’re trying to do something on the cheap, you might want to try building, well, anything besides a current-gen Wrangler.
Hat tip to ianlikerally! Images via eBay.
Contact the author at andrew@jalopnik.com.