AGuyInVancouver posted a couple of shots of this very nice gen2 Jeepster. Now if you’re wondering why I made a point of writing out its full model name in the title, there’s a reason.
There were two versions of the Jeepster Sports Convertible, which appeared in 1966, obviously a re-incarnation of the original Jeepster, fifteen years later. The original was not a success, as a sporty runabout convertible, and it’s hard to imagine why it would be the second time around, except that of course sport utilities were starting to grow in popularity in the mid-late sixties. So this is the Custom version, with the hard boot in the back, for the top when folded down.
Meanwhile, this is the Standard Sports Convertible, without the boot, and with the top sloping back right to the tailgate. Amazing how they got these two models to recreate their poses perfectly with the second Jeepster. This is the version Jim Grey found and wrote up here.
And here’s a good look at the Custom’s tail end. Frankly, these were a bit of an enigma to me when they first appeared. I knew of the original Jeepster, and found it a bit odd that they would re-create it again. And that little shelf butt was also a bit odd.
But the ads were compelling, in more ways than one. Who wouldn’t want to be there, especially if it can get you three cute California girls?
Maybe they had the models hold their poses while they drove one Jeepster out of the picture and the other one in. 🙂
Or hold their poses on the print while the retoucher airbrushed a white triangle onto the roof.
The shelf-butt reminds me of a Brooks Stevens proposal (failed) for a van based on the Forward Control pickup. He got the idea into production this time.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2007/02/22/wayback-with-the-fc-jeep-van/
I like the looks of these but the base model 1969 Jeepster Pops bought his Second Wife wasn’t a very good driver as it turned out .
Thirsty Buick V6 engine too .
-Nate
Spotted one in town, same color, red and white. Oddly cool; topless Jeep but classier than the Wrangler. Don’t see too many, glad I got pictures.
The fact that the 2nd gen Jeepster type vehicle came with 4WD is a plus. And you could get Buick V6 and 3 speed automatic as well, which had to widen the appeal.
Few would want a 2WD JSC. Could use one today (top up). Were finally getting a snow storm in the PDX area, and it’s 28 degrees so it’s nice and fluffy as well.
I wonder if the Custom is a response to the International Scout Sport Top, or vice versa. I don’t know exactly when the Sport Top was added to the Scout offering whether is was from the introduction of the 800 model mid 1965 or added later. It too shares the little trunk lid looking panel but it is not to cover the folded soft top. In fact most of the Scout Sport Tops seem to have been ordered in the Fiberglass version rather than the folding soft version.
International was trying to make the Scout look more like a car and supposedly more upscale with their Sport Top. The ads for it typically showed it with a man and woman dressed up for a night on the town with the man in a tux and the lady in an evening gown. It didn’t go over very well and was discontinued after 1967.
Am I correct in remembering that these started rusting away before they even completed assembling them? They were always a mystery to me. They were heavier, less “go anywhere”, no more comfortable, and not as pretty as a Jeep. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want them, although I confess to not having considered the bikini-babes they apparently attract, so there IS that going for them.
Well having real doors with roll up windows is a significant difference than the CJs of the same era and makes it more suitable for an everyday driver for many people.
Ive always liked Commandos. The little ‘trunk butt’ on these combined with the slope of the top gives them a unique look. Ive always been partial to the halfcab variants. A kind of pre-Scrambler.
While its popular and well regarded, Ive NEVER liked the mutated CJ grille/hood. It looks like a CJ face but swollen from a zillion bee stings or something. The bullnosed variant looked good head on, but the crude way in which the nose is extended looks like hell. The best solution is to swap a regular CJ hood/grille onto it, like it ought to have come originally. They probably wanted to differentiate from the CJ but that wasn’t exactly an upgrade, IMHO.
why did these jeeps and scouts rust so badly They weren’t made with Russian
steel like Alfa Romeos I had a first gen Bronco that was terrible but rust wasn’t
a problem Everything else was!
They didn’t do much in the way of rust proofing from the factory back in that era. I can’t say that my experience is that the early Broncos rusted pretty bad too like virtually all vehicles of the era.
One thing I know that took out a lot of Scouts is that they were popular to use as Snow Plows and in most of the years you could actually order it with it installed and ready to install the blade and go to work. Many of them were used by places like universities and large business complexes. Small enough that they could be used to plow sidewalks and other tight areas. I’ve see many that only did that snow plow use and in the 30 years on the job only racked up a few thousand miles but were rusted beyond repair.
+1 on rustproofing being nearly nonexistent.
You touched on the other side of it in the plowing comments, and Ill add that all of these SWB 4x4s were literally saturated in every form of corrossive nastiness that the world has to offer. These things were often rode hard and put away wet. They dont live the pampered life of todays CUVs which spend their days at the mall or pta meetings. Those old 4x4s were owned by cowboys, landscapers, adventurers etc and those trucks earned their keep repeatedly. That any at all survive is a minor miracle.
One of my co-workers had been a buyer for IH during the Scout era. He said that because they were such a small player they could not buy quality steel near the same price that the big 3 got it for, so they were forced to buy inferior steel sheet.
Beats me how much percentage of truth there is to that.
I’ve been a fan of the Jeepster ever since I briefly owned a 1968 model in 1975. It sure was a tin can, but a very cool one!