Gladiator now owned by Chevy
Afew weeks back we bought you the news that Toyota New Zealand was selling off its extreme one-off Hilux – the Gladiator – that was created as a concept truck to demonstrate the range of accessories available for Hilux at the national Fieldays.
Based on a four-wheel-drive doublecab Hilux SR5 and packing around $65,000 of modifications and accessories, Toyota listed the Gladiator on auction website Trade Me with a $1 reserve.
Now the auction is over, with the Gladiator going for an impressive $81,100 to . . . Chevy. Now that is not the shortened colloquial form of US manufacturer and Toyota competitor Chevrolet, rather the name of the diehard Toyota fan who secured the top bid – Chevy Alexander.
Despite the name given to him by his parents, Alexander says he is a dyed-inthe-wool Toyota man – having owned quite a few over the years – and when Chevy and Michele Alexander saw the Toyota Hilux Gladiator at the Mystery Creek Fieldays in 2017 (they go every year after spending their honeymoon at Fieldays) they couldn’t take their eyes off it and over the course of their four-day trip to Fieldays they say they visited the extreme Gladiator several times.
When they returned home to Taupo, they even went so far as to visit their Toyota dealership to see if they could buy the Gladiator, but were told the concept vehicle wasn’t for sale.
That was, however, until earlier this year, when Toyota had a bit of a clean out and popped the monster ute on Trade Me for $1 reserve. This was the moment
Chevy was waiting for.
‘‘I had just bought a new V8 Landcruiser and then the Gladiator came up for auction,’’ he said.
‘‘I just had to have it. I decided I was going to be the top bidder. I secured the auction with a bid of $81,100 and traded the Landcruiser in for it!’’
The depth of Toyota love in the Alexander family runs strong, with Michele recently swapping her Toyota 86 for a 4WD Hilux, while another 1980s Hilux ‘‘Green Monster’’ with 700,000 kilometres on the clock also taking up space in the garage.
As a result, Michele was completely supportive of the purchase, saying ‘‘the Gladiator is a really different one-off vehicle. It’s so cleverly put together and is a great example of what Toyota is capable of!’’
The Gladiator won’t even be the only extreme modified beast in Chevy’s garage, with a 1952 Fordson Van rat-rod and 1943 hi-boy hot-rod also lurking there.
The Gladiator isn’t going to be a garaged show-pony, however, with Chevy and Michele having big plans for its debut in the family – they will hook up their German-built Commander off-road caravan and head out on a road trip around the South Island with it.
Toyota New Zealand general manager used vehicles Steve Prangnell was delighted the Hilux Gladiator had been bought by Toyota enthusiasts.
‘‘With a $1 reserve we knew the Gladiator was going to attract a lot of interest,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s absolutely brilliant that a Toyota fan like Chevy won the auction.’’