In most instances, we would pass on using a news slot for the announcement of a simple paint color. But in an era where our roads are inundated with approximately four trillion shades of grey, the introduction of an eye-popping hue is worth the attention.
Readers will recognize the Tuscadero color as (re)appearing on the Wrangler earlier this year after a hiatus. Apparently, the selection was extremely popular and Jeep was fielding plenty of requests for its return, leading stylists to check back rooms and basements for a few pots of the stuff socked away as leftovers. Ok, that’s not how any of this works but the image of Stellantis employees rummaging through dusty corners and looking behind old dealership posters for Neons and New Yorkers is too amusing not to mention.
Apparently, some 30,000 customers placed orders for Tuscadero when it debuted in 2021 on the Wrangler, making it an all-star in the lineup of Jeep’s limited-edition colors which include entertaining names like Gobi, Gecko, Chief, and Nacho. This pink shade debuted on the SUV last month and will arrive in dealerships this summer. On the Gladiator, it will be a $895 option and available to order through the end of this year – initially on Sport, Mojave, and Rubicon with other trims joining the fray later.
The name is a direct reference to the Happy Days television show in which the character of Fonzie had a love interest named Pinky Tuscadero. If there’s any doubt about the association, last month’s press release announcing the return of this color started by saying ‘happy days are here again’. Doesn’t get much more clear than that, folks.
As for the Gladiator itself, the open-air pickup truck found 12,989 buyers through the first quarter of 2024, a performance that is about flat from the same time frame last year. Compare those numbers to 54,455 Grand Cherokees, 38,308 Wranglers, and 13,131 Wagoneer SUVs. As a whole, the Jeep brand had 157,039 deliveries in the first three months of this year.
[Images: Jeep]
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