RealTruck and Matchbox Team Up to Auction One-Off Gladiator for Charity

RealTruck and Matchbox Jeep Gladiator

For those of us who grew up playing most days with die-cast cars and trucks, it’s not unusual to wonder what it would be like to have your own rig immortalized as a Matchbox. Now is your chance to find out—online automotive parts and accessories retailer RealTruck has teamed up with Mattel to build a one-of-a-kind 2023 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon that is set to be auctioned at this weekend’s Barrett-Jackson event in Scottsdale, Arizona. The RealTruck and Matchbox Gladiator was featured at SEMA 2023 and the LA Auto Show, and 100 percent of the hammer price of this custom Jeep will go directly to benefit the non-profit organization Building Homes for Heroes, devoted to supporting wounded veterans and first responders.

RealTruck x Jeep Gladiator

The kicker is that this one-off JT comes with its own matching 1:64 Matchbox die-cast model for exploring the more remote reaches of your living room floor. Built by Doetsch Off-Road in Chandler, Arizona, the 1:1 Gladiator features premium parts and accessories from RealTruck, including a RealTruck Rugged Ridge Roof Top Tent mounted to the RealTruck GoRack, a RealTruck N-Fab TrailSlider Step System, RealTruck Rugged Ridge Jeep Flush Mount Tail Lights and more. 

Building Homes for Heroes is a national nonprofit that builds and modifies homes for injured veterans and first responders and gifts them mortgage-free. It is on track for its 400th home-gifting milestone this year, and RealTruck has donated over $1 million to the organization since the start of their partnership. “Generosity like this makes it possible for us to continue to support injured veterans and first responders,” said Building Homes for Heroes CEO Andy Pujol. “We are thankful for the RealTruck and Barrett-Jackson partnership, which will uplift the lives of those who have sacrificed so much for our country.”

 

The Jeep will cross the block at the Barrett-Jackson auction at approximately 4:30 pm MST on Saturday, January 27, 2024, with no reserve. For more information on Building Homes for Heroes and details of the auction itself, check out the landing page at barrett-jackson.com

Read more: Jeep Unveils the 2024 Gladiator: A Midsize Truck Redefined for Off-Road Dominance

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RealTruck x Jeep Gladiator1

Stephan Edwards is the Associate Editor of Expedition Portal and Overland Journal. He and his wife, Julie, once bought an old Land Rover sight unseen from strangers on the internet in a country they'd never been to and drove it through half of Africa. After living in Botswana for two years, Stephan now makes camp at the foot of a round mountain in Missoula, Montana. He still drives that Land Rover every day. An anthropologist in his former life and a lover of all things automotive, Stephan is a staunch advocate for public lands and his writing and photography have appeared in Road & Track, The Drive, and Adventure Journal. Contact him at edwards@overlandinternational.com and @venturesomeoverland on Instagram.