2020 Jeep Gladiator at USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum, Alameda, California. |
But Jeep went all-out last week for a general public event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing by staging an event on the very aircraft carrier that plucked the Apollo 11 astronauts out of the sea after splashdown and ferried them to dry land with a United States president on board.
The USS Hornet. |
Apollo test module. |
NASA Mobile Quarantine Facility. |
A peek through the window shows our returning heroes weren't exactly living in the lap of luxury:
And right at this spot, on this very ship, the astronauts greeted a VIP---through very thick glass and with the help of a microphone:
The USS Hornet was already assured of its place in history well before we began space exploration. It was the aircraft carrier from which the United States launched its first retaliatory attack upon Japan following the Pearl Harbor bombing. So, there's a fair amount of military history on board as well:
And military history, of course, leads us to Jeep---designed as a go-pretty-much-anywhere people mover for the Army in 1940, the earliest examples are the blueprint for the Jeeps of today:
It was all very amazing and enlightening---but the best part of the three-day event was on the Hornet's flight deck:
It was up top where Jeep set up an obstacle course and a series of tests to demonstrate the agility and ability of a variety of Jeeps, with special emphasis on the new Jeep Gladiator. Professional drivers drove and we rode, and it was purely and simply a blast.
Big thanks to Jeep for the invite---and look for more about the Gladiator in the next few days.