Hennessey has unveiled their Jeep Gladiator upgrade package with a Hellcat engine and 1,000 screaming horsepower.
We knew this was coming. Once FCA announced that the Hellcat motor “fit like a glove” inside the Gladiator’s engine bay it was just a matter of time before tuners around the country started making their own Hellcat-swapped Gladiators. One California-based garage got there first with their custom 2-door Hellcat build, but Hennessey wasn’t too far behind with this monstrous upgrade.
They call it the MAXIMUS 1000, spelled in call caps as though the car’s name itself cannot be said without screaming at the top of your lungs. It’s also a Gladiator joke since Maximus is Latin for “greatest” and ancient Roman gladiators spoke Latin. It’s surprisingly high-brow for Hennessey, barring the capitalized letters of course.
As expected, the MAXIMUS starts with a base Gladiator, tosses out the 3.6-L V6 and swaps it for a supercharged 6.2-L V8 Hellcat crate engine. Then they add a whole bunch of new wiring, a new ECU, new stainless steel exhaust, new fuel pumps, and a new radiator. Before you know it, what started as a 707 horsepower motor now suddenly puts out 1,000 horses and 933 lb-ft of torque.
In addition, the MAXIMUS gets new front and rear bumpers, unique Hennessey wheels wrapped in BF Goodrich KD Off-Road tires, a roof-mounted LED light bar, and suspension upgrades with a 6-inch lift.
“We wanted to create the ultimate Jeep Gladiator,” says company founder and--*checks press release*--’chief horsepower evangelist’ John Hennessey. “MAXIMUS 1000 – the name says exactly what it is: Badassery on 4-wheels.”
Those looking to get behind the wheel of their own MAXIMUS will need to act fast. Hennessey is limiting this upgrade to just 24 units, with production starting this July and two units to be made every 4 months. Each one will cost $200,000, but that includes the cost of the base Gladiator.
Hennessey certainly knows how to give the crowd what they want, as they used to see in the arena.