With my 8th anniversary at Barn Finds just a couple of days behind me, I thought I’d try to tackle a vehicle I rarely take on: a Jeep CJ. Some of you folks are experts and have owned them for years, so please fill in any missing info that I leave out. However, we always hope that happens in the comments section. This rare 1964 Jeep CJ-5A Tuxedo Park Mark IV edition is posted here on Craigslist in South Burlington, Vermont, and the seller is asking for $5,850. Here is the original listing. Thanks to T.J. for the tip!
The first thing to look for – and kudos to the seller for including this photo of the VIN – is if the first four numbers are 8322, you’ve got yourself a real Tuxedo Park Mark IV CJ-5A. To answer another question, yes, a Tuxedo Park Mark I, II, and III was made from 1961 through 1963. The Mark IV model came out in 1964 and went away after 1968 when it was clear that sales weren’t strong enough to maintain this model. They were also offered on the CJ-6A, but fewer than 500 of those were said to have been made. It’s reported that only around 1,500 of these models were made.
It sure doesn’t look fancy enough to have one of the fanciest combination names maybe of all time, does it? Tuxedo Park, New York, was, and still is home to many captains of industry and other mega-millionaires and billionaires. These rugged Jeeps were popular there for tooling around hundred-acre estates and for hunting and fishing and use at lodges, etc. Kaiser/Willys/Jeep wanted to give a luxury bump to its popular CJ-5, so it created the Tuxedo Park series. By the time the Tuxedo Park Mark IV came out, it was its own model.
I’m a wicked huge (as no Tuxedo Park, NY resident has ever said, other than maybe relating to their bank account) fan of graphics and trim packages, so this Mark IV is super appealing to me, as is the price. But you can see that this one is rugged and will require lots of work. The floors appear to be rusted out, and the interior is in shambles, but the chrome front bumper – one of this model’s “luxury” features – is still there. The dash is as simple as you’d expect, but the gauge needs help, as does everything. Sadly, this is it for interior photos, but parts of the bucket seats in front look great. I wish this one had a half-top; that would be ideal.
This is one of three partial, vertical-format (!) engine photos, but thankfully the seller even included that many. This engine, I believe, is the famous Willys Hurricane, a 134-cu.in. OHV F-head inline-four with 75 horsepower and 114 lb-ft of torque. A Buick-sourced 225 V6 was available, and even a Perkins diesel was available at different times during the run. The seller doesn’t say how it runs or even if this one runs, but most Barn Finds readers could most likely get this rare model on the road again in no time. One of the features of the Tuxedo Park models would have been a “fancy” column-shifted three-speed Borg-Warner T-90 manual, which sends power to a Dana 18 transfer case to all four wheels or just the rear wheels. The front axle is a Dana 25 with a 4.88:1 gear ratio and the rear axle is an offset Dana 44, also with a 4.88:1 gear ratio. Just about every replacement part and piece is available in aftermarket catalogs, and I think this one is worth restoring to its original specs. Hagerty is at $9,900 for a #4 fair-condition example and $23,600 for a #2 excellent example, so if you can do the work yourself, this could be a bargain. Have any of you heard of this model?
Nice research and write-up, Scotty! I’ve never heard of these or considered “Jeep” and “tuxedo” together. Do I remember a ’70s or ’80s magazine ad where a dandy gent and lady valet park their black Wrangler Laredo? at the opera? Column shift: that is fancy. I can see this one fetching $40k on a TV auction then off to the rarified air of Martha’s Vineyard or the Hamptons where it will replace a $15,000 golf cart. Or better yet, why not another addition to Scotty’s Island of Misfit Toys?
Heard of them; never saw one.
Never saw the point, since exterior upgrades were minimal (on Wagoneer/Gladiator) and performance not part of it. AMC did much better a few years later when it introduced the Renegade package – with Levis seats, a blackout treatment on the hood, and a V8.
All that in the future. At this time, a parts dealer named Warn was experimenting with a Buick V6 in the CJ engine bay. It was several years before it would make it onto the Jeep option list.
Column shifter? I didn’t know that was ever done with the CJ-5. That’s an upgrade?
I know, a column shifter sounds absurd, but believe it or not, a column shifter was actually deemed more modern and safer than a floor shift. The “point” of all the gee-gaws, was additional sales.
Just because something is rare doesn’t mean it’s valuable. The body on this jeep is beyond hope. The cost to rebuild it will be far greater than what it will be worth. I just did a 76 CJ7 and have well over 25 grand in it and the body on it was as close to perfect as you can get in an old CJ. I wouldn’t touch this thing for $1000 let alone 6.
Nice write-up but I don’t know about the column shifter part. I don’t know of any 4WD CJ5 that had three-on- the -tree.
I had a ’63 Tux Park.
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Friend of mine spotted a flat fender with Three on tree be used as yard car at a salvage yard
With all the body rust I’d be real concerned about the frame. Frame repair sections are available but they aren’t cheap and welding is required.
Yep…he’s a Jeep collector and is turning this one out….maybe Dennis Collins needs one…..
When I was in college in Toledo I delivered pizzas for a pizzeria that had a fleet of Jeeps outfitted with warming ovens. The boss had a Tuxedo Park model that none of us delivery guys could touch and I’m pretty sure it had a column shift. The rest of the fleet was one CJ5 and a number of two wheel drive DJ models.
That’s interesting.
Anyone remember Chicken Delight? “Don’t cook tonite – call Chicken Delight!” Kind of like a Chester Fried layout with delivery.
VW Beetles. This was the early-late 1960s – about nine years, they were popular. They’d have a plastic chicken mounted on the roof, and all the Beetles painted gold. The peak of Beetlemania hadn’t yet hit, and this was tremendous advertising. For Beetles as well as Chicken Delight.
Delivering pizza by Jeep, would be almost as effective. You know when the pizza is coming, even to someone else…when you saw one of those pre-Renegade-mania CJs.
This is rust bucket it needs a new tub at the very least it is also a Willis cj 5 which is not any where near the amc cj5 from several standpoints some one would have to want this because of the rarity to pay asking price as far as something to use you could buy a amc cj5in working order under 10000 and have a lot more it will take at least double the asking price to make anything out of this heap sorry.
I own a 1964 CJ5a (Tuxedo Park Mark IV). His price is about $4,000 to high. He’d be much better off parting the Tux specialty parts and selling them on Ebay. My running and driving Tux set me back $2,000 and the floors are solid.