The 2026 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon is a bit of an outlier – hard to pin into any traditional category.

While it is an off-road dual-cab 4×4 ute, it’s not necessarily the go-to for those who want a vehicle with the practicality of a five-seater, the cargo capacity of a tub, and something that has four-wheel drive credentials. For a decade, Aussies have turned to the Toyota HiLux,Ford Ranger, and, to a lesser extent, the Isuzu D-Max.

But drive any of those models back-to-back with the Gladiator, and the Jeep comes across as an entirely different species. And not just because it’s a targa-top.

I’ve had a chequered history with the Gladiator. The first one I drove, many years ago, went into limp-home mode about an hour after leaving the city. But another I had was a delight, with fond memories of getting ice cream with the roof off, performing flawlessly over those summer holidays.

Jeep’s taken a knife to the Gladiator lineup in Australia, reducing the updated model to a single variant – the previously range-topping Rubicon – while adding equipment and dropping its price. But that still means the cost of entry into a Gladiator has risen, with the entry-level Night Eagle now axed.

WATCH: Paul’s video review of the 2021 Jeep Gladiator

Despite a revised front-end, you’d be hard-pressed to pick the updated Gladiator out over the previous version. Other minor changes include the aerial being deleted (it’s now embedded in the windscreen), colour-coded fender flares, and new 17-inch alloy wheels.

The biggest change is inside, where – as with the related Wrangler – the 8.4-inch infotainment touchscreen has now been swapped for a bigger 12.3-inch unit, complete with the company’s latest operating system.

Jeep also says improvements have been made under the skin to reduce NVH – industry speak for noise, vibration, and harshness.

Hopes of Australians having access to either the plug-in hybrid or V8 engine in the updated Gladiator have been dashed, with CarExpert recently reporting neither powertrain will be engineered for right-hand drive markets. Then, mere days later, Jeep confirmed it was killing the plug-in hybrid version entirely.