Is This Dealership’s 707-HP, Hellcat-Swapped 2020 Jeep Gladiator Really Worth $148K?
The first rule of modifying a vehicle is, “Never expect to get back all the cash you poured into it.”
Phoenix, Arizona dealership Mark Mitsubishi has a different sort of modified vehicle than the Evos you'd expect on its used lot right now. It's a 707-horsepower, Hellcat V8-swapped Jeep Gladiator Rubicon, and it's got a whopping $147,992 price tag slapped on the windshield.
No, as far as The Drive can tell, that's not a typo. The same $147,992 figure shows up on the truck's for-sale post to various Facebook groups. That only translates to a suggested monthly payment of $1,694 back on the dealership's website, should you want to chuck nearly $30K down on it.
To their credit, the swap looks professionally done and extra clean, as it was all done by the America's Most Wanted 4X4 shop in Holly, Michigan. (Some Jeep owners may even say "too clean," so I recommend fixing this with a good, muddy drive out into the wilderness.) We've seen this shop's work before making the rounds on the Internet, and that 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat V8 does a damn fine job of turning tires into smoke. Wonderful, rowdy, loud smoke.
The list of Hellcat components that America's Most Wanted 4X4 installed to make this work is quite impressive, as posted by Mark Mitsubishi employee Sterling Stucky in the truck's Facebook ad:
Hellcat Crate Engine
Hellcat Heavy Duty Transmission Package
Hellcat Accessory Drive
Hellcat Air Conditioning w/ Mandrel Bent Lines
Hellcat Rear Sump Oil Pan Conversion Kit
Hellcat Jeep Oil Filter Adapter Kit w/ Oil Cooler
Hellcat Jeep Exhaust Manifold Kit
Hellcat Engine Cradle Kit w/ Motor Mounts
Hellcat Starter
Hellcat Cold Air Intake Kit
Hellcat Power Steering Cooler w/ Fluid Supply Lines
Hellcat Auxiliary Fuel Pump Kit w/ Fuel Lines, Regulator and Fuel Filter
Hellcat Smooth Boost Valve Controller (Boost Adjustability)
Hellcat Aluminum Radiator
Hellcat Supercharger Cooling Stack w/ Intercooler, Bosch High Flow Pump, Coolant Reservoir and fluid supply lines.
Hellcat Stainless Steel 3.5" Complete Exhaust System w/ Federally Compliant Catalytic Converters and Muffler
Hellcat Powertrain Control Module w/ Proprietary Engine Calibration
Security Gateway Bypass Module w/ Complete Body Control Accessibility
Hellcat Windshield Washer Jug w/ Pump Harness
Hellcat Jeep Powertrain Harness
Hellcat Jeep Transfer Case Input Support Housing
They also started off with a nicely optioned Rubicon, too, with leather seats ready to have mud hosed off them when you hopefully use this Jeep as God intended, as well as a tow package to haul more toys. It only has 1,456 miles on it so far and comes riding on Falcon shocks up front, Fox shocks in the rear, a Yeti stabilizer bar, and 22-inch Black Rhino wheels shod with 37-inch Nitto Grappler tires. (The bigger wheels are a bit mall-rated for my taste but to each their own.)
Stucky's post claims that the original Jeep three-year, 36,000-mile warranty is still in effect, but a quick call to Jeep confirmed that they don't typically warranty aftermarket parts and work, so there may not be much left that's covered there. Fortunately, America's Most Wanted 4x4 does appear to advertise a warranty of some sort on its site advertising various Gladiator swap kits. (The Drive called the shop to confirm the specifics and will update the post when we hear back.)
But let's be honest here: you could get a brand new Cayenne Turbo with a decent list of infamously pricey Porsche options for less than this modified Jeep, and that's a fancy luxo-truck with active aerodynamics. This swapped Gladiator's asking price also appears to violate the number one rule of modifying your vehicle, which is to say that you should never, ever expect to get all the money you paid for your aftermarket parts and labor back when you sell it. Even for desirable swaps into one of the year's hottest new vehicles, it's still sitting on the used lot of a Mitsubishi dealership, and some depreciation is to be expected from that alone.
New Jeep Gladiator Rubicons start at $43,545 new, and America's Most Wanted 4x4's Hellcat swap kit starts at $58,850. Even if you add in the extra off-road-ready parts and the labor of having the shop install them all, there seems to be a pretty premium in this ad for getting a gently used, turn-key, Hellcat-swapped Gladiator.
Ultimately, though, things are worth what people want to pay for them. Stucky claims to be one of the only authorized dealers out west to sell such conversions, and if you just don't want to herd all of the cats involved in arranging this swap yourself, maybe it's worth parting with the extra cash to you. It's not like Jeep dealerships haven't already been marking up the price of brand new Gladiators, either, and there's no doubt that these swaps absolutely rip. So, let's hear it: would you pay nearly $148K for a tire-shredding 707-horsepower Gladiator?
If you're really interested in this one, you can check out the dealership's ad here, or the Facebook ad here.
