Jeep rolls out paint, packages for 2024 Wrangler, Gladiator (2024)

Cheekily playing on the darkness forecasted during the solar eclipse, Jeep chose April 8 to announce a new “NightHawk” package for its Gladiator pickup. As with most option groups of this sort, it dips the truck in a pot of inky black paint — but, this being Jeep, an extra skiff of off-road kit is also on tap.

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Set to appear on the Sport S trim, NightHawk trucks will include gloss black wheels wrapped up in all-terrain tires, appended to heavy-duty Dana 44 front and rear axles. The aft quarters also benefit from an anti-spin differential, helping the pickup more easily claw its way out of tough obstacles. Also assisting the latter are a set of rock rails, meaning drivers can crash into the Moab slickrock with wild abandon instead of worrying about bending too much metal.

Other aesthetic components of the Nighthawk package include black bumper accents and a colour-keyed hardtop. It is the latter which helps explain the $8,195 price tag of this option group. By itself, that feature adds $1,200 on other trims further up the food chain, such as the Rubicon.

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All trucks equipped with the Nighthawk bundle are equipped with the V6 engine making about 300 horsepower, mated to an automatic transmission. The slushbox costs roughly $2,500 all on its own, further justifying the Nighthawk’s suggested price.

Also adding to the festival of colour at Jeep is the return of a popular paint option called “Tuscadero” on the 2024 Wrangler. Showing itself as a deep and intense chromatic magenta, this vivid hue first debuted three years ago, and promptly became one of the brand’s most sought-after selections.

This year, it’ll cost an extra $695, and is available on every trim, from base Sport to top-run Rubicon 392. It’s described as a special-run paint, though specific production numbers weren’t given.

Those of us aged a certain number of years will recall a television program called Happy Days, on which The Fonz had a beau named Pinky Tuscadero. In a nod to this, Jeep kicked off the press release stating that “happy days are here again,” proving that dad jokes are alive and well. Fine by us.

The 2024 Jeep Gladiator NightHawk starts at $67,435 ($65,140 Canadian MSRP, plus additional fees) and is limited to 2,000 units for the U.S. and Canadian markets.