(first posted 5/30/2013) In the early sixties, the vast majority of pickups were wimpy, low-riding, six cylinder-powered things; downright effeminate, one might almost say (with a bit of tongue in cheek). It’s a good thing that men were so secure in their manhood back then. What’s a truck without a big V8, four wheel drive, a ton of carrying capacity, a (relatively) tall stance, and most of all, a really big, macho chrome grille? And an intimidating name to go with it. Well, the Jeep Gladiator had all of that and more, way back in 1965 – The truck of the future.
This was as burly and tough as it got back then, except maybe for a tall-boy International 4×4. But tallness actually wasn’t so in back then; looked too old-school. Even the tough Gladiator sat pretty low to the ground compared to today’s blue-collar chariots. And there’s no mistaking the Gladiator’s calling.
As well as predicting the future, up to a point.
Here’s a work-site pickup that’s both ansehlich und ausdaurend. Good looking and durable, as if a translation were necessary. How many Gladiators ever made it to Germany is a good question, but Kaiser was always very export-oriented, and I suppose there wasn’t exactly quite anything like built over there at the time.
The “All New All Jeep” Gladiator arrived in 1962, looking very modern indeed, except for the “classic” grille. How to explain that, as well as the miraculous self-leveling suspension that allows this Gladiator to stand level on that steep hillside? Brooks Stevens, America’s “ego designer” who coined the term “planned obsolescence”, played a major role in the neo-classical revival that was under full swing at the time, or just about to take off. Ironic, that the designer that most played up the benefits of “planned obsolescence” would have his Wagoneer and Gladiator designs become evergreens.
Here’s Mr. Stevens, in his 1964 Excalibur, the first of a long line that eventually degenerated into something unspeakable. Of course, Stevens can’t really get credit for the trend; Virgil Exner does, with his famous 1963 drawings for Esquire magazine. But Stevens acted on it, not surprisingly. A man of considerable design skill, he had done wonders for Studebaker in their final years, including the Gran Turismo and the never-built Sceptre and other proposed next-gen Studebakers.
The Gladiator was of course the pickup brother to Steven’s excellent Wagoneer, which also debuted in the fall of 1962. The Wagoneer lost its butch upright grille several years sooner than the Gladiator, which soldiered on through 1969 with its battle shield.
Nevertheless, finding a Gladiator with the original grille is becoming difficult, never mind a comparable Wagoneer. So this one beckoned me from some distance as we rolled by its Pleasant Hill parking place. And such a well-kept, original one at that. Let’s face it; way too many of these ended up rolled in ditches or such, as a favorite plaything for a sector of the off-roading fraternity. Not surprisingly, of course, given its pedigree and Dana solid axles.
Actually, there was an optional independent front suspension with torsion bars, but only on the half-ton models and the Wagoneer. And they’re really rare. But this is the 3/4 ton, long-wheelbase J3000, with heavy duty everything all-round.
For these very new vehicles, Kaiser spent some bucks trying to breathe new life into its ancient flathead six by crowning it with an alloy Hemi SOHC cylinder head. The 230 cubic inch long-stroke “Tornado” six only lasted for the first two years; it was problematic, and was shipped off to IKA, Kaiser’s Argentinean ops, where it found a new home in the IKA Torino, which was built from the cast-off body of the 1963-1964 AMC Rambler American hardtop coupes. But this was all well before AMC bought Kaiser Jeep (1970).
This Gladiator is powered by the venerable 250 hp AMC 327 V8 (no relation to the Chevy 327) doubly ironic. Kaiser Jeep only used the 327 for three years; in 1968, they switched to Buick for its supply of V8 engines, as well as the “Fireball” V6 (which they bought the whole transfer line and rights to). Of course, after AMC bought Jeep in 1970, the Buick V8 was sent packing, in favor of AMC’s 360 and 401 V8s.
But Jeep also bought the AMC 232 six starting in 1965, and it (as well as its bigger 258 inch version) stayed the course, as if predicting AMC’s future buyout.
This Gladiator has an automatic, and I was somewhat surprised to see in the 1965 brochure that it’s a THM (400). 1965 was only the second year for that august transmission, and apparently Jeep was worthier than GM’s own trucks. Good luck trying to buy a ’65 Chevy truck with anything other than a Powerglide. Go figure…
Truth is, I’m not really sure that this one is actually a ’65. It might be a ’66 or ’67, but I’m not OCD enough to know the difference without spending way too much time on it. The white steering wheel went away at some point, but it might have been after the AMC 327 did. Anybody care?
Here’s what’s called the bed. And it’s in mighty nice shape for the age. I suspect this truck may have had a camper or shell on its back for much of its life, or it must have spent winters under a roof.
It was bought locally, at Neuman-Strong Jeep in Springfield. Now that second name is a good one to have if you’re in the car business, especially a Jeep dealer.
What’s left to say about the Gladiator? It was an evergreen, soldiering on until 1988, only three years less than the Wagoneer. But it was never as popular as the wagon, especially when the Grand Wagoneer version went all upscale with fake wood and leather, and found a new lease on life.
The graphic-splashed Honcho enjoyed some sunshine during the 4×4 wave of the mid-late seventies and into the early eighties, but was soon eclipsed by more modern and comfortable offerings from the Big Three. But a 25 year production run is nothing to sneeze at, and the Gladiator has become an icon in its own right.
No wonder Jeep is trying to keep the name alive, but whether its perpetual cock-teasing will ever amount to anything is a good question.
In the meantime (or forever), we’ll have to content ourselves with the likely eternal presence of the original. At the rate this one is aging, that will be a long time, if not forever. The truck of the future – still.
Wow that is very well preserved doesn’t look like it has worked a day of it’s life. OK maybe it carried a six pack home a few times but it does not appear to have ever carried a real load in it’s bed based on the condition of the paint on the floor. I’m doubting the theory that it had a camper shell (canopy for you young’ns) because it lacks the tell tail hole drilled in the rail to hold it down and for some reason no one thought to use clamps for that purpose until this truck would have been old enough to at least vote if not drink. Maybe it had a full on camper with the frame mount tie downs and someone placed a rubber mat on the floor to prevent the inevitable abrasion to the paint on the top of the ribs. Then again for some reason putting a rubber mat in the bed was something that wasn’t thought up until this truck had been around for a while.
I really like the old school wrap around diamond plate bumper, with the rubber welting still intact, that is recessed in the middle so that the tailgate can be dropped past 90 degrees.
If it had the Buick V8 in front of the TH400 I might even consider owning one of these.
Men drove these. Men with jobs that didn’t require diplomas. Men who smoked. These trucks were driven by men who worked outdoors. These vehicles were often driven miles into wilderness areas by park rangers, loggers, construction workers, utility guys and by surveyors.
So, the interior needed to be able to handle sweaty jeans, hard hats, cigarette burns, dirty boots, and lunch buckets. Where these trucks were often found, radio wasn’t, so a lot of them don’t have AM radio, but do have a CB radio or some kind of short wave communications radio bracket where a radio would be found in a girl’s car.
These are work trucks for working men. In today’s world it shouldn’t be a surprise that we can look at them nostalgically. We remember them as no nonsense guy trucks. They promised nothing fancy, they kept on the job longer and harder than the average ride, they only had what was necessary to get a job done.
We don’t have that anymore.
I didn’t say that these trucks in general didn’t work nor work hard, I’m saying that this particular example does not appear to have ever done an honest days work by the standards of it’s time that, yes, were exactly as you describe.
I thought your observations were good.
I was attempting to expand a bit off of it, not contradict it.
These were masculine trucks not because of something in a brochure, or a photo layout, or a commercial, or an ad campaign. These are masculine trucks because of who drove them to work and because they reflected the work, lifestyle and abilities of those who drove them. You can’t buy that image. Today we have trucks that strive to display their masculinity and do so in a cartoonish, buffoonish way. These Jeeps didn’t have to play that game, because they are as honest, simple and masculine as a trough urinal in a football locker room.
Today’s trucks try too damn hard to straddle a masculine image and a family friendly image. They are oversized and mug tough trains or tractor-trailer big rigs, but inside they are as rough as Martha Steward’s feather pillows. This Jeep doesn’t play that game. After thirty years of IKEA style metro-trucks, this Jeep looks damn good to anyone who need to be occassionally reminded to groom before thrilling his lady. This is a guy’s truck.
Drat! You scooped me – I found a similar vintage J2000 on a recent trip to northern Ohio, not far from its Toledo birthplace. No matter, I am quite sure I would not have made the “truck of the future” connection – quite good.
It was also the truck of the future in that it was a little smaller than the big boys from the other makers. Sort of like the much later Dodge Dakota. Perhaps the Dakota was one of the reasons Chrysler did not keep the Glad around longer. The AMC purchase was done in 87, and Chrysler apparently dropped the Gladiator immediately.
The pizza shop I worked at in college used one of these to plow parking lots. It was a red one (weren’t they all?) from the 70s. I rode in it once, and it seemed much cruder than other pickups of the era. I do recall kind of liking it.
“I rode in it once, and it seemed much cruder than other pickups of the era. I do recall kind of liking it.” In a way that is what is lacking in the trucks of these days. A truck back then was for hauling stuff and you bought a truck to put it to work. It was not refined but you knew at the end of the day it would take all you threw at it and would happily take you back home. These current crop of trucks are just overpriced luxury cars with a high stance and a bed. All gussied up. I was at the local Chevy dealer last year for a part for a family member’s car and there was a top of the line Chevy pickup on the show room floor that out the door after taxes and tags, would run you almost $60,000 for it. I don’t know about you but if I had a $60,000 pickup truck, I would never let it out of the driveway let alone use it for working.
The big Jeep pickup competed with the Ram(formerly known as D and B series). The Comanche competed with the Dakota. As much as I am not a big Dodge fan, the Ram and Dakota were better in at least one respect, you could get a extended cab or a crew cab on that generation of Ram and an extended cab on that generation of Dakota. You could not get that on a Jeep pickup or a Comanche
I am another guy from Oregon that has found a beloved Gladiator. This truck grew up on a farm in Hood River. It now resides in Redmond, (Central Oregon) it currently has almost 67K miles on it. I will try to post some pictures. I wish I could add several! This one is a J3000 with a 327 Vigilante and 4 speed manual transmission.
I remind everyone that this is the go-to vehicle if you happen to be Fred Ward or Kevin Bacon, battling Graboids out in the desert. ‘Nuff said.
As I recall, there was a military derivant as well, if the civvy version wasn’t hard core enough for you. I was but a wee sprog during the Gladiator’s heyday, so I had to make do with the Matchbox version, one of my favorites.
The Wrangler-based update certainly looks the part; wish they’d just make the thing already, Flareside box with the side-mounted spare, please.
The military version is a beast. Classified as a 5/4 ton (aren’t they all?). Came with the stepside bed and a grille guard, plus other utilitarian features. Also it did not have a bench seat but rather buckets, I believe it had a battery box in the middle? They replaced the old Dodge Power Wagons, and were not very popular with the troops. Only lasted a few years. The son of a friend has one with the original drivetrain, nothing you’d want as a daily driver.
The military version was the M715 5/4-ton truck. These were still in the inventory when I went on active duty in 1976. I don’t know if the military version was derived from the civilian version or if it was the other way around.
The military version was a pain to drive – geared low, slow and miserable to shift. Actually, most GIs preferred the older M37 3/4-ton truck built by Dodge. The M715 didn’t have a full metal cab – the roof and back were canvas and the front windshield folded down for a “tactical” configuration.
The M715 was replaced by the M880 series 5/4-ton trucks based on mid-70s Dodge 1-ton pickups. The M880 series was much closer to a civilian truck than the M715.
Tonka also made a toy out of these, in metal, as was the custom of the day. Mine was red, and featured a tailgate that raised and lowered. It was one of my go-to outside toys for years.
My Tonka jeep was white, we of course had to modify it put huge tires all the way around it, I think originally it was made as a tow truck
I’ve always loved those trucks! That’s a real pickup, and I think that if anything is effeminate, it’s the newer trucks that get more luxurious every year. They are like tall BMW’s nowadays, with giant grilles to look manly. Cost about as much, too. I miss when a car was a car and a truck was a truck. Vehicles, as well as the society they transport, are getting very mixed up!
I haven’t seen one of these in years. Matchbox offered a miniature diecast version of this truck – right down to this truck’s color – in the 1960s.
I’m confused, I always thought the 327 was a Chevrolet design that they licensed to AMC. Are the bore & stroke and valvetrain design the same?
The AMC and Chevrolet V-8s were completely different engines that just had the same displacement.
Studebaker did use Chevrolet engines after the South Bend plant was closed in late 1963, and all production was centered at the company’s Canadian plant. Studebaker used the Chevrolet I-6 and 283 V-8.
As for Stude, I believe that they used Stude engines through the rest of model-year 1964, whether South Bend or Canadian built. They must have had an inventory of engines. Its not like they needed all that many, with the kind of sales they were racking up. The Chevy power took over for the 1965 model year. Studes continued to use the BW Flight O Matic transmission, not the PowerGlide.
You’re correct and I was wrong…Studebaker V-8s were used for the remainder of the 1964 model year.
Studebakers were hardly flying off the lots before the announcement in December 1963, and sales probably dropped even more after the announcement that production would cease in South Bend.
They were using South Bend engines because the foundry was under a different UAW contract, one that expired a year later than the main assembly plant’s contract.
That was what pushed it for Studebaker management. Contract expired at SB; and a few months later, with rumors of strike in the air…they just said to hell with it and closed up. I think the big reason Hamilton was kept open was because no one had thought that far ahead; and Hamilton at least looked like it could break even. I don’t think they had a plan beyond a vague wish to get out of automobiles.
But yeah. They made their engines for one year and shipped them to Canada for installation. Once the contract was up, the men were out.
The decision to shut down South Bend was based only on the further decline of sales and orders in fall 1963. The BoD refreshed its cars for 1964 and saw unacceptable sales continue to fall. After a couple of months, the BoD pulled the plug at South Bend.
Totally unrelated to the SBC or the true AMC (290, 304, 360, 401) engines.
And the AMC 360 was unrelated to the Mopar 360, which is sometimes forgotten given the eventual transition to Chrysler ownership.
I’d love to have a Wagoneer with the “rhino” grille. (They can be retrofitted–just swap out the clips. :))
And the 304 is unrelated to International’s 304 despite the fact that IH used the 232 and 258 6 cyls for a few years and the 401 for about a year and a half.
Many people don’t realize that Chrysler kept the AMC 360 in production for the Grand Wagoneer to the end in 1991.
Yeah, they can.
I bumped into a guy two years ago…he had one of the last Grand Wagoneers, one without the crating on the side….but he’d taken off the last-generation grille and put on a rhino grille, roundel ‘Jeep’ badge, vintage parking lights and round headlights. The only way I spotted it for a retro was the side markers and the taillights.
But yeah, you can play mix-n-match with all those years’ grills on the J/SJ models.
The upper section of the distributor (cap, rotor, points, vac/mech advance) on the 327 was a GM design. Good thing for those of us who have one today.
AMC made their own engines, with very few exceptions. The 250/287/327 was designed, I believe, by Dave Potter, who also designed the later “thin wall casting” V-8s from 290 to 401 c.i. The only thing the 327 has in common with a Chevy engine is its displacement.
I believe that the AMC V8 made it into the 1956 Nashes and replaced the Packard-built V8 that had been used in the big Nash and Hudson in 1955.
Packard V8s still used in early-1956 Nashes and Hudsons. I wonder if they would have remained in production longer if AMC hadn’t found a source for in-house V8s as early as it did (originally intended for Kaiser).
The Potter history is correct – with an interesting wrinkle. Potter was an engineer hired by Kaiser-Frazer, to design a V8; and was dismissed when Kaiser’s fortunes were changing and the decision was made to exit the passenger-car market.
He was hired by newly-created American Motors – and had “their” “new” V8, which the 327 was based on, ready in record time. Only question was, did he work from memory?…or did he bring some drawings and spec sheets out under his tee-shirt?
A better title for the article might have been “Do you like movies about gladiators?”.
2012 Jeep J12
http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Jeep-J12.jpg
love these and wagoneers and especially the cherokee chief. it’s pretty lame that the only thing available from jeep now is this over-priced half-assed kit:
http://blog.jeep.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/JeepMoparJK8PU001-1-494×329.jpg
That thing is SEXY!!!
I have to admit, last time I found myself at a Chryodgejiat dealership, waiting for the parts guy to find my parts, I found myself gazing longingly at the J12 kit in the Wrangler “accessory” brochure for what seemed like a half hour. I have no idea what it costs but if I were in the market for a Wrangler(I’m not) I’d be mighty tempted.
Maybe it is just me but thanks to that grill and light set up, it makes the truck look a bit awkward looking. That grill looks better on something from the 1920’s rather then the 1960’s. If I was in the market for a pickup truck in the 1960’s, I would have looked at Ford or Chevy mainly due to that odd looking grill. In fact I think the only vehicle that had a more bizarre looking grill during the same time period was the 1962 Dodge dart My favorite years of the first generation Jeep Gladiator/Jeep Pickup Truck were 1970 and 1971 where it got a conventional looking grill. But the rest of the truck looks nice
Well, no doubt you are not alone but for me, the front grill is a piece of art. I appreciate my 71′ C20 Chevy, and other toys for sheer looks the front end of my 67′ Gladiator can’t be beat!
Those were my favorite truck as a kid in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Had the Matchbox as a young’en as well. Too bad the n.e. Ohio tinworm ate them up fast…
Wow? they made these until 1988? I though they stopped making them around 85-86, I don’t recall ever seeing one after the early 80’s
Love these, though I’ve never seen one of the “formal grille” versions in person. These looked so much more modern than their Ford and Chevy contemporaries.
Matchbox made one of these–in orange, no less. I have one in my vintage diecast collection.
And in a reverse-CC effect, I saw an early ’80s Grand Wagoneer after work today. It was burnt orange and complete with scraggly vinyl woodgrain and a ladder on the roof. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a pic.
My uncle replaced his ’53 Jeep pickup with a ’63 similar to the one in this article. I thought it was a step down. I’m pretty sure that he jammed in a Plymouth 318, as he had on his ’53, as I recall that he said that a 383 was too wide. The thing was a bile green that he never worked up the energy to paint his school bus yellow. Like every other truck that he had had, it had about 3/8″ (10 mm) of dried mud perpetually covering the floor, along with about 25 lbs of rusty tow chain. Radio? None of his trucks ever had a radio. He rarely drove the thing more than a half a mile to work. In the summers we would drive down to the Mississippi, about 15 mi, to check on the moorings of his 26 foot Chris Craft cruiser. I doubt if we ever went over 45 mph. Those checks invariably led to a cruise on the Mississippi as the sun set, sucking down down beers, going nowhere. I loved listening to the radio traffic, as far south as New Orleans. The Mississippi was and is far more romantic than any friggin pickup truck.
I LOVE these trucks. I would agree that the early 70’s more contemporary grill is a bit more handsome, but the best looking part of the truck is the lip of the roof hanging over the windshield; a beauty mark that carried on through the late 70’s. Having owned a 72 Wagoneer that was gutted and rusted, I was fortunate to experience first hand the rough ride and outright ruggedness that translated into a fantastic off road machine in complete stock form.
That sort of visor styling detail is cool. It is strange that they spent the money on the tooling to make that detail different than on the Wagoneer.
If you compare it to the Wagoneer, it’s apparent that they were going after a taller roof, so the visor was pretty much necessary in order to make that look integrated. Why the taller roof? Hard hats? FWIW, that roof stamping obviously wasn’t going to get shared with the long Wagoneer’s roof stamping, so maybe they just figured the extra height would be advantageous for a truck.
Yes they couldn’t use the entire stamping from the Wagoneer. They could have used the basic die for the Wagoneer roof and loaded a shorter piece of stock into it and then create another die to cut the rough edge off the back. Instead they created a new die for an entirely different profile and the one to make the visor extension. A fair amount of money to create that taller roof. So the question is why they thought the higher roofline was worth that extra money.
If I recall correctly, the added roof height didn’t carry into the interior – it was a double-walled roof. Later, AMC cut the visor off to give at least the visual of a more aerodynamic profile.
It may have been to allow room for wiring for light racks and gumballs – remember, this was to be a work vehicle. Or it may have tied in with the military chassis – which used many of the same stampings. The ambulance had a steel roof and a flat, upright windshield. Not exactly the same structure, but they were experimenting back then. Perhaps the plan was for a military or utility version to have the upright windshield and the angled slope of the roof come to meet it.
The family farm truck when I was growing up was a burnt orange ’80 J20 with a 360. That thing took all kinds of abuse for 17 years and asked no quarter from anyone. Probably was my father’s favorite truck. It’s just too bad they weren’t protected better from rust – for the last few years you could watch the road going by below your feet but it still did everything he needed.
He’s been driving a Ram 2500 since 1997 and it’s been okay but I’m never going to forget that Jeep.
Our farm truck was a yellow ’68, lasted until around ’86-87, and yes, by that time I remember watching the road through the holes in the floorboard too!
Was also the first road vehicle I convinced my dad to let me drive at around 10 (had been running the tractor with a bush-hog for a year or so at that point). It was out in the field at planting time and told him what harm could I do out there? Then promptly popped the clutch, floored the gas and ran through a fence lodging the barb-wire in the hood latch. If you’re listening up there, sorry Dad! And thanks for the memories.
Man…a blast from the past. Back when Jeep was ‘Jeep’ and Kaiser was in the driver’s seat.
Back before onerous regulation (merits of which we can debate elsewhere) parts-bin engineering was the ticket out for the niche or struggling manufacturer. Kaiser/Willys/Jeep had already been through “downsizing,” having shed all its car lines, its Willow Run plant, Henry’s aspirations of a luxury car, and Joseph Washington Frazer. With the 1960s, they were on a move upward.
The Wagoneer/Gladiator was part of the plan; a key part, but not the whole plan. Meantime, the Buck-and-a-Quarter, the M715 (alluded to) was going to the Army; the DJ was playing Post Office, and Smokey Bear was riding to work in the “Universal” – Kaiser’s name for the CJ series.
And the J-Series, which was Kaiser’s coding for this – It made it all respectable. We had a Wagoneer…to go with our lakefront cabin construction. Funny thing was, it was one of TWO in the extended neighborhood. Gas stations, the more prosperous ones, were replacing 1950s Basket-Weave pickups with Gladiators.
And, dispense with denigrating comments about the parts bins. Kaiser spent an inordinate amount of money on the OHC six; and within a year saw it was futile. Futile, anyway, in the American market, where cars and trucks were expected to take a licking. Kaiser Jeep licked its wounds; made plans to dispose of the unwanted engine, and hastily signed contracts with AMC for the 327 V8 and the 232 six.
Kaiser Jeep and AMC were doing the dance for a long time in those years…except there was another suitor. The General.
Kaiser switched to Buick V8s in 1968; this after first engineering the Buick V6 into the CJ platforms; and then buying the whole line. And then came the Turbo-Hydra-Matic days. Jeep apparently figured they could get one up on Chevrolet that way…didn’t matter to them which automatic transmission went in. The customer was paying – so he could get the top drawer.
Compared to the institutional dull silver used in those years in GM pickups; or the white-painted metal in Fords, the Gladiator dash was positively sporting. No, it was a ten-tenths effort from an aspiring company with no passenger-car distractions.
Alas, economies of scale, made more stark with imposed regulations…spelled the end for the smallest and most scrappy of American independents. Studebaker just played dead until it was no longer an act, but Henry J. still had dreams. Kaiser Industries owned large blocks of AMC stock on Henry’s death in 1967, and I personally think he was trying to engineer a takeover.
I also know that AMC’s bid to buy Jeep was out of the blue and untoward given AMC’s financial situation. That is, until you hypothesize that perhaps Kaiser holdings voted their shares to have AMC buy their little truck company; and then (as they later did) slowly disburse their ownership of AMC in the open market.
My Grandpa used to live in the rural area between Racine and Milwaukee WI and I remember these being common sight around the farms and stuff out there. I think his neighbor may have even had one up until the land was bought out last year.
I’m not much of a truck guy, at least in an aesthetic sense. I can appreciate the utility of one when I occasionally need it but I could never see myself daily driving or fawning over a classic one. Except this. The Gladiator is unequivocally my favorite truck ever.
I don’t believe in “a real man’s truck” because if you need a big truck to feel like a man, well, you may have masculinity issues. Where I live, every dude has to have, at least, a ¾ ton turbo diesel 4 wheel drive. And most of the time, they don’t ever haul anything nor know how to tow. But they feel like these shiny, chrome chariots with heated power leather seats, power windows and locks, thick carpeting, automatic transmission, power steering and brakes and a satellite radio with multi-disc changer makes them the most macho dipstick in the Wal-Mart parking lot.
Don’t get me wrong, I drove a few ¾ and 1 ton trucks when I worked in a machine shop and they were nice with their vinyl seats and rubber floors. But even then, they didn’t come close to the toughness of these old Jeeps. My in-law gave me his later model J-something to haul random crap around in. It was the way a truck should be. I didn’t mind the inline six as it was geared low enough to climb a tree. It had the power needed and no more. The only luxuries in the truck was a see-through bed…I don’t think that was a factory option from AMC. It’s a shame you can’t buy a basic, tough, optionless, straight-six 4 wheel drive anymore. Today’s trucks are poser-mobiles for executives looking to feel rugged.
You are right, and you are wrong.
There is nothing wrong with a man wanting to drive a vehicle that he finds manly. Muscle cars are manly. Hot rods are manly. Restoring cars is manly. Men like to take stuff apart, blow things up and build things – ask any 3 year old boy. It comes with the chromosone. We don’t have masculinity issues.
You like a simple honest truck, and are insulted that so many men drive trucks that are not simple or honest. But those are not family vehicles. A young father cannot convince his pregnant wife to strap their oldest toddler onto a vinyl bench seat in an unair conditioned simple honest truck. The trucks that so offend you are the best they can get as a father and husband.
You have a lot more in common with those men you call dipsticks than you admit. Your simple honest truck is as attractive to them as it is to you. Don’t insult them because they are doing their masculine duties as a father or husband by compromising on the type of truck they can afford to have. They are not stupid, nor are they posers.
They are your brothers and raising the next generation of brothers and truck lovers.
“A young father cannot convince his pregnant wife to strap their oldest toddler onto a vinyl bench seat in an unair conditioned simple honest truck. The trucks that so offend you are the best they can get as a father and husband. ”
I came home from the hospital in 1981 in a ’74 Jeep J-10 pickup. Parents were different 32 years ago, before all the Consumer Reports induced howling about rear facing child seats, etc.
I came home from my birth in a car my dad bought in a junkyard for $50. It had no exhaust and no second gear. My mom told me she could hear him driving to the hospital in it and was embarrassed to be driven home in it since it was so loud and stunk like exhaust fumes. Fortunately it was May and the windows could be rolled down so that no one died on the way home.
I was the second kid my still-minor aged parents had. We lived in my grandma’s house, my father was a laid-off steel worker, and no one was hiring for another six months.
My wife won’t let me drive my kids around in my car until the a/c is fixed. Times have changed!
Amen VanillaDude! We all go through our phases. When I turned mid 30’s I moved with my wife and four kids from the farm to the corporate life, from the country to the city. Through the moves from state to state I sold many possessions because life didn’t have room for it all. I sold a new model super cab but that was nothing compared to the loss old my cherished CJ8 which I will buy back if I ever find it. I’m 50 now, and on the weekends I enjoy driving my 67′ Jeep Gladiator with my dog next to me. To infrequently I get to ride with my younger children in my 71′ C20. I’m not trying to pose. Perhaps just recapturing moments. Remembering my dad and the smell of his pipe as he had me sit in his lap and steer his GMC, remembering my son as he sat in my lap learning to drive my pickup. We’re all trying to get through life holding on to the best parts of it. Let’s give each other a break that we’re all in different places but doing what we can and what we need to do. Thanks for your support brother.
What? here’s mine………1978 J20
No wishin,. no remembering….she’s still a work truck without fuel injection or computers to fail me.
Yep… I sell real estate out our mine…
Separates the flakes and nuts from the real folks quite rapidly!
No a/c but I did sneak a Wagoneer set of buckets in her…
Wow!! Nice (and unique) truck!! I see a bunch of little mods…what’s the full story on this?
Australian here, I drove a J-200 for many years. It had the 6-cylinder Tornado engine. These were sold in Australia (right hand drive if course) only in cab-chassis form and usually had a simple flat tray body at the back which was more practical than a pickup backend for farmers. I wish I still had it. I drive a TJ Wrangler today. My dad drove a Wagoneer of the same vintage.
That’s a REAL truck, and I’d take it over anything new on the road.
My ’65 Jeep Gladiator J-200. 230 OHC I-6, T-90 3 speed manual.
I purchased it in Feb. 2008. It had been used originally to travel the country with a truck-bed-camper in it. After which it was sold to a farmer in the 80’s. They used it to plow snow for about 10 years, then from around 1990-onward, two brothers who also owned a farm purchased it to pull a hay wagon, and general farm use. When I emailed them about the ad, they told me “it’s really low-geared; it will only go about 45 topped-out.” So I make the trip with trailer in tow up to Jasper Indiana to check it out. When I arrived, the engine was setting cock-eyed in the truck, resulting from two broken engine mounts, and a broken trans mount. It had a half-tank of diesel in it, and the reason it was so “low-geared” was the transfer-case shifter was broken–in LOW-RANGE. 45 mph in low-range? Lets calculate… that is… well over 4800 rpm. They had been driving it on the street like that! An engine barely held in the truck, running off diesel, in 4-wheel-low, turning over 4k+ rpms with half-full black oil; also with a dead miss on #6 cylinder. It didn’t seem to mind all that much somehow, when I fired it up and drove it on the trailer.
Since then I have went through the fuel and brake systems, put tires on it, cured the miss-fire by adding some ring-seal, and done other various things to it. I drive it on the street now. It leaks from every crevice, with various howls and whines coming from every gearbox, but it still gets the job done. Additionally, the odometer has rolled over once already, plus is currently showing 88k, and stopped working in the 90s. Who knows how many miles and work-hours it has put in. It is used for moderate off-roading and general transportation around town, now.
Gladiators were not coined “Un-stoppable” for no reason.
I love that Gladiator! I don’t think they were sole here in Australia and I have not seen one if they did. We did get Wagoneers though and I have always liked them. Great looking things and there should be more of them!
Yes they were sold in Australia, I have a few of them in Queensland and know of others around and in N.S.W. and Vic. check out local Jeep events and I’m sure you will see some.
These go back to the days of smaller companies having individual distributors in each state. Some states missed out – that wouldn’t happen today!
good god i love the way these work and look. also had the red matchbox version. it was the first matchbox i ever got and i was a bit weepy when the door fell off. then i figured out how to put it back on and all was good. i imagine the real ones went through a lot of that. break this, find a way to fix it, repeat as necessary.
@VanillaDude: You’ve got a unique grasp of the language and an intriguing point of view – are you otherwise a writer, of do you confine your musings to the automotive realm?
Check out the ad copy for the 1928 Jordan Playboy, which David Ogilvy of the advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather required that his recruits memorize – think you’ll dig it.
Thank you.
The Jordan ad copy is powerful sexy poetry. I want to master that car and that girl.
Papa Hemmingway showed us that we can be men who celebrate our masculinity and be poets too. Clint Eastwood is a poet, a musician and a man who understands how he feels to be a man and project all of that before a camera.
I tell my son to celebrate his masculinity with as much pride as his sisters celebrate their femininity. Our gender differences are even more beautiful when we celebrate equally.
It is good to be a man. If a vehicle reminds you of this, it is good to acknowledge it. This is more than an intellectual exercise – it is a recognition of that we need primal exercise too.
In Turkey, they made their own version of this Jeep truck with the familiar front end but with a different flat windshield and side windows. I don’t think they had 4 wheel drive. They also had their version of a Dodge truck they called a Fargo or Desoto , a boxy looking truck with no style at all.
It makes me happy to see that others are enjoying the disappearing Gladiator pickup line. I enjoy driving my 1964 more than any of my other vehicles. It is not stock, and so I cannot compare the operation of mine to some of the other owners, but she sure do make me smile!!! Here is a pic of mine.
Oh yeah, for those who are curious
powered by a 350 CI chevy ~ 375HP
and backed with a TH350
This is the inside View
This is a older picture and I redid the gauges
since this shot was made. I will try to remember to give a picture of the new gauge set up.
Drove by this 67′ for two years hoping it would come up for sale. Almost knocked on the door to make an offer. Was thrilled when my son called when I was traveling out of state and said “Dad… It’s for sale”. I asked him to go buy it. It’s a kidney buster but fun to drive.
Love this truck. I have a 65. Always looking for info on parts contacts
Four wheeler had one of these as a project truck. They somehow got hold of a trans for a M35 deuce and a half and shoehorned it in there. It was repowered with a small block Chevy and yes, someone makes an adapter to mate a deuce and a half trans to a small block Chevy. Roger Mears raced one of these in the late 70’s. My uncle had the model.
I am restoring a 1968 j 2000 gladiator with the 327.I do need a good white steering wheel and also the right mirrors. if any one has them for sale let me know.jensenjoe270@yahoo.com
I had a J3000 for a few years back in the late 70’s. Good looking truck with the 327, 4WD and 3 on the tree, nice green metallic with the narrow upright grill and small rear window. It would go anywhere, seemingly places I couldn’t walk.
But talk about light duty. Had it weighed one time, IIRC it was about 4400 pounds with a 5000 GVWW. A 600 pound payload? I tried a moderate load of sand in it one time. Not only did the bump stops hit, but the driveshaft started rubbing on the frame. I had to jack it up and put blocks under the bump stops to go uphill. Nice easy entry low ride, but the gas tank hung two inches under the frame rails and was the first thing to drag if you high centered it. I had it out to weld it up several times. The T89 transmission was seemingly a close ratio one, first was relatively high, but third was on the short side. Easy to stall it out trying to start out on a hill with a load. 327 engine with 250HP? I know HP ratings were optimistic in those days, but it was probably about 150HP net. Maybe. Top speed of 85MPH, which in truth was more than I needed to go but confirmation on the power.
I love seeing them on the road today, like I said, they’re a good looking truck, and a nice hobby or collectors item, but the early ones at least weren’t much of a truck. Sorry guys, just my experience.
I owned a 67 jeep pickup, with the 6 cylinder. Had the lockout on the front hubs. Found out the hard way they were not Quadratrack having it stuck a couple of times
Having owned a J4000 for nearly 25 years (bought in Virginia,after I graduated college,then relocated to Illinois-towing my 60 Falcon, tough winters and tough times to be a contractor-to Arizona with a GS Suzuki in the bed under a flip-up cover and towing a 1948 Airstream, and persisted in the desert another ten years) and never left me stranded but once…my own fault, in the snow when taking a “short-cut” and bellied out in a drift (took three hours the next day to dig it out). Day before yesterday got a view of an Arizona (no rust) J3000 from 65 with a blown head gasket 232 Tornado. Why am I capitulating? My former 66 with the Rambler 327 was a rock star, but the inline six has less- than- mixed revues. What the hell, there is enough space behind that glorious grill for a 454 and a Tesla unit….kinda like that idea… Do I spend the wad it would take to get it roadworthy again,can parts be had, would it be sacrosanct to put on power steering (not nearly as spry), but can’t get it out of my head. What I don’t need is another project, but this, possibly, should be reckoned as reducing my carbon footprint (really?). It is,at least, a tribute to a time, a lifestyle, an aesthetic, a remembrance of decades of not-getting-any-younger. I might need to do this.
‘ It might be a ’66 or ’67, but I’m not OCD enough to know the difference without spending way too much time on it.’
I think you were in a funny mood when you wrote this article.
Such a difference between these and todays trucks. virtually no plastics, lots of stout metal. Love that grill.
A breath of the golden past.
What’s cool is that the basic “tombstone” sheetmetal lived behind all of the future front-end revisions right up to the end.
Would I be correct in assuming that a tombstone 4×4 panel delivery would be some sort of Holy Grail for Jeep fans?
Could be. This is the basis for the late ’70’s Jeep Cherokee. My late uncle had a ’76 Cherokee.
Yes and no ~ AMC made many low production models for the military, in the late 1990’s I was in a junkyard just North of San Diego and discovered one of these in 4X4 with no side windows and a factory roof rack ~ the build plate said it was a ‘Camera Car’ nd it was still in full military trim, sadly the local salty ocean air has rusted the damn thing paper thin .
Like the WWII radio Jeeps (MB’s or CJ2-A’s IIRC) that had a PTO in the middle that ran a V-Belt up to power and APU, you’ll look long and hard to find one, incredibly rare but apparently worthless ….
-Nate
“Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?”
There’s been speculation that a new, high-end Wagoneer (if it even happens) will have a retro-tombstone front end. I’m not really feeling it, but it’s nice to dream.
Why was ‘Jeep’ in quotes back then?
A nice example.
Their ad agency mistakenly thought that quotation marks are used for emphasis?
Or maybe because the word “jeep” had become a generic term for any off-road vehicle, and the quotes were meant to imply that this is actual Jeep brand.
I’m going to guess that, back then, it was understood that when someone said ‘jeep’, they were referring specifically to the CJ series. So, when the brand-new SJ Wagoneer and Gladiator arrived, they got the word ‘jeep’ in quotes as sort of a way to differentiate it from the CJ, at least in those first years.
I’m not sure what I enjoyed more in this thread- Paul’s posting or the replies.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKn5K5V7tRo&w=560&h=315%5D
All this talk of the tonka and matchbox versions – I have a red tonka with cement mixer body!
Of all the faces worn by that ’63-’91 series of Jeeps, this original was and is the best.
I agree but, for the life of me, I can’t explain why the front end looks good. It really shouldn’t, with what I can only surmise are those two oddball round cooling vents between the headlights and the main grille. It seems like they should be turn-signals or bezels for a quad headlight set-up.
In fact, maybe the intent was, at some point, there would be an upscale, quad headlight version, but it was ultimately decided not to go that route.
The only quad-lamp system legal in the US at the time would’ve been four same-size ø5-3/4″ units. Replacing the blankoff plates with lamps would look better, yes, but replacing the outer ø7″ lamps with the smaller ones? Yetch, no. OTOH, leaving the large outer lamps alone as the headlamps and putting fog lamps inboard in the smaller size would do nicely.
Does anyone know what Buick v8 engines were used
The Buick 350 (5.7L) V8.
Levis
Tobacco
Single Malt
Whiskers
Tools
And this truck.
Wow. Like looking into my own past. I owned a ’63 with the Tornado 230. Great design on paper, but in my experience, the engine was a lemon. But overall…the truck was a beast. Tough as nails, and the most convoluted transfer linkage ever made! 🙂
Loved my last off the line rhino grill 1970 J-3000 BW 4 speed and Dauntless/Buick 350. Basic no frills white knob interior. 2nd owner for 14 years. Reluctantly sold it 5 years ago because the offer was one I couldn’t refuse. Paid for itself many times over then paid me back quadruple. Only let it go because i acquired a late 67 J-3000 Dauntless 350 TH400 with The Super Wagoneer interior. Far as I know, 1 of 2 ever made. After all, even the passenger side sun visor was an option, most had them though. Problem now. Getting out of a parking lot convenience store or gas station in under 10 minuets. Seems like Everybody’s got a Jeep story to tell or questions to ask. Should probably get a more bland daily driver. It does what’s expected 5 days a week. Just enjoy “in my humble opinion” the best, most reliable truck ever made. Sometimes things go wrong and there goes 50 bucks and 30 minuets. Parts for the late 60’s / early 70’s are pretty easy and cheap when you learn the cross reference curve. I think Chrysler Fiat would like us to forget these ever existed. No Mopar parts here.
Here is my 65 J2000. Love this truck. Have trouble finding some parts. Door seals, window seals and glass is difficult. Let me know if you have any contacts for early FSJ parts.
I am a J truck collector and have accumulated 17 of them including an M715, and ranging from 65 up to 88. I have 4 of the Vigilante 327s including a factory 4 barrel intake (not sure of the production numbers on that but pretty sure it’s rare), 2 of the Tornado 6cyls, and many 360s and 3 401s. The last one I got is a late 68 with the Buick 350 (this motor was used from mid 68 til 72). I also have several Wagoneers, Cherokees (one is narrow, 401, and factory 3spd manual), CJs, Eagles (2 wagons, 1 sedan, and 1 SX4), and Gremlins. I occasionally sell some parts so if anyone needs any Kaiser/Jeep/AMC parts or just wants to chat about these vehicles, feel free to contact me. My Email is jeeptruckguy85@gmail.com and my phone # is 540-250-3627. Jeep on folks.
Hi
I was left my brother Jeep and trying to get more info on
Its has the tag on the door Kaiser Jeep with a Jeep Gladiator trade mark sticker next to it.
has badges
custom Cab
Jeep V8 327
J 3000 4 wheel drive
motor has V8 Vigilante on it
not seeing a 17 digit vin
but a sn of 3406W 100297
I have looked to find more info and if someone can point me to the right web site or has some info to share
Thanks
Old cars and trucks didn’t have the 17 digit VIN. The serial number is it.
You’re going to want to find Gladiator SJ (or FSJ) forums for detailed advice and such. Here’s on, but there are probably others:
https://fsjnetwork.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=12
2nd photo
The 3406W stands for:
34 J3000
06 cab and chassis
W 5000 GVW
100297 means V8 (327 or 304, in your case the 327)
It is pre 1970, as from 1970 the 34 was a J4000.
The J3000 is a 126″ wheelbase.
Link to VIN decoder
https://www.allpar.com/threads/jeep-vin-decoding-1962-1992.229959/#post-1085224057
Here is my J3000 1965. Took an friend of mine and myself about 8 months to finish. Not professional mechanics, panel beaters or anything, but we managed.
Damn…that is a sweet truck! Don’t know where you are, but by the absence of a steering wheel on the left side, of the truck; the olde-tyme left-traffic sealed beam headlamp; the corner of a licence plate visible on the Bimmer, and your use of “panel beater”, I’m guessing Australia.
Hallo Daniel. Well, yes and no. I am currently in Australia, we moved here last year July. The jeep is still in South Africa, from where we moved. I am still in the process of arranging to get it in Australia. They seem to be very scarce over here. Where are you?
Ah, see, I’d’ve guessed South Africa if your truck still had the white front-facing reflectors the RSA (and only the RSA) required on all vehicles for many years. Guess they migrated off the truck during the resto.
Be prepared to contend with Australia’s very stringent vehicle import rules with regard to asbestos. It’s flatly not allowed in—not in the brake linings, not in the clutch, not in the engine and exhaust gaskets, not in the muffler, not anywhere.
You’ll also have some difficulty with the parking lights (front sidelights), which Australia requires to be white rather than amber, and the rear indicators; RSA specs permitted red ones when this truck was made, while Australia began requiring amber in ’59/’60—with the “get out of jail” card being that Australia also permitted reversing lamps to be amber, so the two functions could be doubled up in one amber lamp per side—still allowed on vehicles manufactured before…I think 1997 or thenabouts. Hookup instructions are here.
Me, I’m in Vancouver, Canada!
Hallo Daniel,
Yes there were white reflectors in the front which were removed with the new paint job. All the break linings were replaced with new ones, so I hope they are asbestos free. The gaskets might be an issue yes. One idea is to import it without the engine and throw in a “new” cummins V8 here in Aus. But then I am not sure how the vehicle will be loaded and offloaded if it cannot drive on its own.
I would love to exchange info so we could share info in private (email, whatsapp or something), but not sure how to get the info to you in a privately manner. If you would like to in any case. Would love to share more photos etc with you.
I have a J3000 327 amc that was my father in laws daily until about 15 years ago. Driven sparingly since. In good rust free condition. In Victoria Australia. Thinking of selling. If interested get in touch. Steve.Bowmaker@gmail.com
I just realized that the rear bumper was probably a Fisher “Step-n-Tow” part, made in Maine by the original Fisher Snow Plow people. Ideal for a working truck because of the aforementioned 180 degree (straight down) tailgate position option so the truck could be backed up to a loading dock or loaded more easily with a fork lift. As to the description of early pickups as wimpy, effeminate 6 cylinder vehicles (many were, and 4 wheel driver pickups were quite scarce) your point is well taken unless you included real farm trucks. Often these were at least three quarter, and frequently one ton, trucks (think F350 or Chevy 3800 series) with factory flatbeds or stake bodies, or sometimes a 9 foot stepside pickup bed, with granny-low four speeds, torquey big six engines, and 17″, 19″ or 20″ tires (in the case of Dodges and Fords on Budd style rims.) International Harvesters could be had with a “big truck” 5 speed transmission, and/or four wheel drive, too. Nothing very effeminate about real farm truck in the days of my youth. These trucks often had high sideboards and could haul grain, and the same side sideboards could contain a couple of cows or beef cattle headed to the auction. Few half-tonners of any era would have sufficed for that! Now, trucks aren’t made for real work, and I just read that single-cab 8’bed pickups are essentially extinct, and no domestic light truck can be had with a standard transmission. What have we come to????………
Interesting, the turn signal lights weren’t placed inboard of the headlights. And made slightly smaller. Cordoba-style. Eliminating the need for the rectangular turn signal lights, which almost look aftermarket/added on. Simplifying the iconic nose, for the better.
All the original body badges, look fantastic, representing their era. That front fender ‘J-3000’ badge, is especially cool looking. As is the forward front fender ‘V-8 Jeep’ badge.
A *very* nice Survivor, te bed is amazing .
During the brief time I worked for a Jeep dealer (1976) everyone there (personnel, Mechanics. bosses, parts guys, Customers _EVERYONE_ told me the OHC ‘Tornado’ engine was a piece of junk that sent many otherwise good Jeeps to the scrapyard too soon .
No one ever told me _why_ they were so bad though .
The 401 CID V8’s _were_ trash, they had *very* weak bottom end oiling so one could often pick up a cherry Jeep with a bad crank for peanut$ .
Farmers here will instantly recognize that rear bumper ~ it’s specially designed so the tail gate hangs _straight_down_ for easier loading and also doesn’t get bent up .
I’m really enjoying all the comments here by serious truck lovers ~ true farm trucks were usually specced out as cheaply as possible .
As much as I love my GM truck products I’m well aware that these and Dodges followed my Fords were *much* stouter than GM’s wonderful offerings .
I too like and prefer basic work trucks, no larger than needed to do the job .
My little Ranger trucklet fits this, it’s tiny and basic (4 banger 5 speed manual box) but being a modern truck it also has AC, PS, PDB and I’ve added more than a few upgrades from junked Explorers (the 6 DC changer died in a week, now it has a single factory CD player with the upgraded speakers and it simply works) .
Whatever I do becomes Masculine by default .
Oddly enough, my 81 year old Sweet seems to prefer riding in my Ranger than my Mercedes, go figure .
-Nate