Save The City, Play Drums, Rock Crawl– Projekt Cars’ ‘Spider-Gwen’ JEEP Gladiator

There is a lot going on with Cindy Halford’s JEEP Gladiator. A few years ago, Cindy entrusted a different vehicle, a JEEP Wrangler, to El Paso-based Projekt Cars for modification. After the team stripped it down and rebuilt it, the Wrangler was displayed in front of the Wheel Hall at SEMA. When Cindy arrived on site, she fully sprinted 500 meters in high heels to see the finished product. The reveal was emotional, to say the least. Why was Cindy so anxious to view the modified JEEP? That’s a story. 

Projekt Cars’ Director of Business Development Carlos Molina is a bit of a prankster. Throughout the demolition stages, Molina sent “update videos” to Halford that were cleverly staged to appear as if the Wrangler was being torn to pieces, with body parts flying off a Sawzall’s reciprocating blade. In reality, nothing was damaged. All of Halford’s OEM parts were carefully removed, stored, and returned to Cindy safely, to use if she ever decides to return the vehicle to stock.

After inspecting every inch of the vehicle, Halford’s relief is apparent in the following quote:

I thought I made the biggest mistake after y’all sent me that video sawing parts off my baby. Glad it was a joke! I was excited, speechless and had happy, happy tears of joy!! My baby turned into a Monster Cool Jeep!

Despite Carlos’ hijinks, the build impressed Cindy. A few years later, when she purchased a Gladiator, the only option was to send it off to Projekt Cars for a superhero-themed makeover into an off-road dueler. This time, she wanted the color pink involved in the build to reflect and celebrate both her strength and femininity. Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy, otherwise known as Ghost-Spider, Spider-Gwen, and Spider-Woman, among other monikers, was a perfect fit for the theme.

Cindy wasn’t concerned with where or how pink would be used in the new build, except that what she called “pig tails” absolutely had to be pink instead of stock red. What Cindy referred to as pig tails were aftermarket springs that Projekt Cars frequently uses in their builds. Pink, you say? Easy enough. The gang sent them off for a pink powder coat, along with several other aftermarket products that would eventually be exposed to the unforgiving Arizona desert sun.

While the bumpers and fenders from Iron Cross went through the powder coat process, a majority of the Jeep’s OEM parts were removed. That includes suspension, interior, and almost all of the exterior components. The first step of the transformation was replacing the cloth seats with a beautiful custom combo of white leather and pink suede. The interior was completed first, to ensure the pristine white seats would not encounter any kind of soiling prior to SEMA.

Performance enhancements came from Gibson exhaust and K&N intakes to properly move the General Tires (37/13.50/20), wrapped over white powder coated Rugged Ridge Wheels, with pink protectors and Schrader TPMS sensors. Oh, and we can’t forget the princess lug nuts. 

The four inch lifted suspension, mostly in pink, was provided by Ready-Lift, receiving some major stabilization through Steer Smarts components. These included the Yeti XD Drag Link with Griffin Attenuator, front adjustable track bar, and side track bar reinforcement bracket (in pink, of course). Oracle lighting provided a fully integrated grill that incorporated a trick light set-up, matched by the DV8 hood with additional pink accents.

The ORACLE Lighting Vector Series Grill is the first full-featured replacement grill with integrated LED light emitters for Low Beam, High Beam, as well as a Dynamic LED DRL. This unique design is equipped with an array of application-specific LED lighting features and has aggressive styling coupled with rugged durability. A bed rack was installed to provide install options for the multitude of HELLA LED cubes and light bars. Cindy will never be without light, regardless of how dark the desert becomes on Phoenix nights, and will be able to get out of any desert obstacle with the Rugged Ridge winch.

The final touch was to incorporate artwork from Tyler Kirkham’s variant cover for Amazing Spider-Man #15, published April 26, 2019. In the issue, Aunt May is in danger, and Spider-Man must come to her aid. Taskmaster and Black Ant make appearances. 

The artwork was emblazoned on MEK Magnet Armor. I’m admittedly not a JEEP expert. I like them well enough, but I am completely unfamiliar with the ins and outs of rock crawling culture. Modular magnetic armor is a new concept for me, but it makes perfect sense. These removable, repositionable magnetic panels are made of ballistic resin that protect the Wrangler’s paint job from dings, scrapes, scratches, and other minor damage that would be easily incurred during rigorous desert shenanigans. They also provide a fully customizable print surface for dynamic imagery and colorways. 

Check out the completed Spider-Gwen Gladiator below!