Mopar’s 1,000-horsepower Hellephant V8 crate engine rules, no matter what you put it in—so why not drop it in one of the coolest pickup trucks on sale right now? That’s what famous Youtube personality TheStradman is doing with his new Jeep Gladiator, a build that’s sure to please the masses and break the internet once everything is said and done.
While we’ve already covered the Hellephant engine and Jeep Gladiator extensively, we’ll give a quick recap of both.
The former is Mopar’s most powerful crate engine ever sporting the aforementioned four-digit horsepower figure as well as 950 pound-feet of torque from 7.0 liters of supercharged displacement. It takes the decades of knowledge from Fiat Chrysler’s in-house tuning arm and applies it to modern-day muscle, resulting in a world-beating power plant that can be ordered and shipped directly to your house or shop.
As for the Gladiator, it’s arguably the most hotly anticipated vehicle of the decade. Go-anywhere capability and pickup practicality headline the Jeep’s key features, and it’s an exceptional platform for aftermarket builders. The one potential downside? Its somewhat anemic 3.6-liter V6 that comes as standard—luckily, that won’t be an issue here.
Stradman will be partnering with America’s Most Wanted 4×4, a shop that already has experience swapping high-horsepower Hemis into the Gladiator. And while there have already been a pair of Hellcat-powered Jeep pickups built for customers, this matte purple example will be the first to boast the almighty 426-cubic-inch Hellephant.
While it’s unclear what other modifications are coming for this particular Gladiator, it already touts a moderate list of performance and aesthetic add-ons. A 6.5-inch Evo Manufacturing suspension lift allows for a good amount of extra ground clearance, as do the 40-inch Pro Comp off-road tires. Like Stradman’s Lamborghini Aventador, the Jeep has been wrapped in a color called Matte Iced Amethyst Titanium.
You’ll be able to follow the Hellephant Gladiator’s build process via Youtube, and we’ll be watching out for the final product once the super-truck’s heart transplant is wrapped up.