Just as Pontiac is given credit (most of the time) for starting the muscle car era, I think we can safely say that Willys/Jeep kickstarted the Sports Utility Vehicle craze way back in the mid-1940s. It wasn’t until 1963, however, that they really created the archetypal SUV, the classic Wagoneer: Its styling is almost faultless given its intended purpose. While all Wagoneers are desirable, there’s always something appealing about the earliest of the breed, and this one is a barn-find family heirloom. The seller’s grandfather bought it on Staten Island in 1967 with 12,630 miles on the odometer, and after being used almost exclusively on the “100-acre family property,” it now has only 20,031 miles on it. You can tell by the pictures that it’s a long-dormant rehabilitation project, but it’s well worth the effort. Barn Finder Zappenduster found it here on Marketplace in New Marlborough, Massachusetts, with an asking price of $10,500.
Although it hasn’t run for over 15 years, and it hasn’t been driven for well over 30, the neat and short-lived 230-cubic-inch “Tornado” overhead-cam six spins freely. When running, it produces 140 horsepower and 210 lb.-ft. of torque, and in the case of this Wagoneer, that power is sent to the rear wheels through a Warner Gear T-90 three-speed manual. The transfer case is a Spicer Model 20, and the rear end is a Dana 44 with a standard 4.89:1 axle ratio (!), with 3.73:1 and 4.27:1 optional.
The Jeep’s exterior appears to be a nice dark shade of “Parade Blue,” and the interior is also blue, just as you hoped it would be.
It could certainly use a new mat (or carpet if you want to splurge), and the clutch pedal lying on the floor tells me that you’ll be dealing with the driveline a little bit once you get the engine running.
The Jeep will come with Grandpa’s “handwritten service log,” which covers 1967 to 1976 and mentions that the Wagoneer was driven to Mill River, Massachusetts, almost immediately after it was purchased.
Being a truck from the great New England region, one must inquire about rust; it’s not mentioned at all in the ad, which means that prospective buyers will need to look it over themselves or get an inspection from a third-party. On the other hand, although pictures sometimes lie, those that we can see don’t indicate a rotten Jeep. Therefore, those from the Northeast might want to get their trailers ready, because this looks like a pretty nice original Wagoneer.
Really cool first generation Wagoneer. Looks like the truck was originally purchased in Massapequa, NY which is on Long Island. I wonder if the original Staten Island owner bought it new on Long Island, or was already the second owner.
im now the owner,persistance paid off,yes the story i got from the family was the second owner bought it from the origional owner(his neighbor)who bought it on long island and brought it to where he lived on staten island.sold it to him with 12000 miles on it,he then brought it to his farm in mass. and put 8000 more miles on it until it sat in the garage pictured.since around 1985 im assuming because of the reg.sticker.so its now coming home to where it was origionally bought. i live on long island.
No, not really another SJ bashing, but when I was looking for a vehicle, THIS is what I wanted, and foolishly thought the AMC knockoff would equate. To be blunt, the SJ was, for me, a poor representation of this vehicle,this outstanding in almost every way. The SJ, not so much. The motor needs to be talked about more. It was military grade( 1967-1969) and used in Vietnam. It was unique in that, it was the 1st mass produced OHC motor in the US, a hemi, and utilized one cam to actuate intake and exhaust. Apparently, AMC went with their tried and true pushrod 6, and some say the Tornado was an oil burner and expensive to make. What ever happened to maintenance “logs” like that? Vehicles have gotten to the point, there’s no need for that. Someday ( soon) cars won’t have hood releases, just a warning sticker, “See dealer, you have no business under the hood”,,,and a far cry from a ’64 Wagoneer. What an unbelievable find.
I have a 1964 with 48,000 original miles. No rust. Super rare 2WD, automatic, independent front suspension and a special order rear end. Likely one of one. Lucky find.
Hate to be the barer of bad tidings but whomever told you that the Toronado engine used in this vehicle was ‘military grade’ was really stretching the truth. The I6 in the image above actually began life as Kaiser L head tractor engine built for low end torque. After Kaiser aquired Jeep they tried to squeeze more power out of the design rather than designing a new OHV I6 by grafting an OHC head on the old flat head design and while it worked, the long stroke engine architecture of the fathead six was a poor match for the high flowing hemi head. The Toro lasted in the lineup from 62-65 and even after it disappeared from the option list it was still sold to the military. I’ve worked on on or two and it IS a bit of a pain because it’s soo different from every other I6 out there: the camshaft for example, has only six lobes because each lobe does double duty opening the exhaust And intake valves. Another strange thing with these engines is there is no real flange to the back side of the block for the bell housing to bolt to. There are five bolts that hold the bell housing to the engine block with three of those bolts being behind the flywheel, which is covered on 5 of 6 possible sides by that same bell housing. You have to remove the transmission from the bell housing, unbolt the flywheel and drop it out the bottom of the bell housing, and then you can remove the bell housing from the block. Oh, and the bell housing is 3 inches deeper than a normal bell housing from other engines of the era. That added depth meant the input shaft of the transmission was unusually long and consequently there really aren’t transmission upgrades possible unless it was meant for this engine or one of the Kaiser flathead engines.
There’s a great write up of a kid that built a custom roadster around the Toro I6 along with a lot of info about how the engine experienced a rebirth racing in Argentina in the link below:
https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/a-nice-man-gave-me-a-tornado-or-when-building-a-car-is-really-building-a-car.9462155/?post_id=114954193#post-114954193
Thanks Michael, that was a very good assessment of the motor. Those came and went while I was still a kid, and never had any actual experience with one. I just thought it was a novel idea. The Pontiac OHC 6 wasn’t much better, and another oil burner. For some reason, US car makers missed the boat on OHC motors that the Europeans knew all about.
“it was the 1st mass produced OHC motor in the US”
Don’t forget the Crosley OHC 4-cylinder engine which pre-dated the Kaiser Jeep OHC six by quite a few years (1946-1952). Possibly that’s stretching the phrase “mass production” a bit, but Crosley Motors did manage to sell around 75,000 vehicles during their post-war production run, equipped with this engine.
The Crosley OHC four actually did start out as a military engine, but the original copper-brazed sheet metal block didn’t work out well for automotive use. The engine was redesigned with a cast-iron block for 1949. (That year also saw 4-wheel disc brakes in Crosleys, but that only lasted a year due to corrosion from salted winter roads.)
It’s an interesting engine, no doubt about that. I especially like the further development that the Argentines did with it: they really went whole hog with the design, from recasting the block with a BH pattern to recasting the head to take an actual intake manifold. And the Rambler based coupe that they wound up in isn’t too bad either:
https://petrolicious.com/blogs/articles/these-are-the-ika-renault-torinos-that-dominated-the-nordschleife-in-1969
By all accounts those were pretty amazing cars. The interiors are certainly about as un-Rambler as one could imagine! Too bad AMC couldn’t see their way to importing these to the U.S., but then again it was probably too “foreign” a concept for their customers.
No room in the stable or else this would be mine. Such a great find. This would be so fun to tinker with and get it running to take to cars and coffee. Or maybe out for an afternoon in the vineyard or ice crean.
Based off provided pictures I believe the odometer has rolled over but its still a cool find, I personally think if they posted it here or on another auction site they would get more than their asking price.
not rolled over,i bought this jeep,with full documentation.and if you saw it in person you would see 20000 is believable.no odometer in the 60s were perfectly straight its an old wivestale that if the numbers dont line up it was rolled.i have my grandmothers 63 nova all origional 40000 miles and they dont line up.
Before I was old enough to obtain a New Jersey State driver’s license, two of my friends back in my old home town of Jersey City, New Jersey, Donald Harris and Eddie Panella, well all we talked about was cars even though no of us had a driver’s license. Then in the summer of 1964, Eddies’ older brother James went out and bought a brand new 1964 Jeep Wagoneer with the OHC Inline six and a three speed on the column. Around the same time, someone in the neighborhood bought a brand new 1964 Mustang convertible, a 289, 4 speed car. Well one day I took a ride locally with Eddie and his brother in the Jeep and at some point, we pulled up alongside that 64 Mustang that one of our neighbors was driving. Then in that ‘first’ STOP LIGHT TO STOP LIGHT GRAND PRIX that I ever was in, Eddies Brother put that Jeep in 4 wheel drive and when the light turned green, well let’s just say, he blew that Mustangs doors off as the Jeep pulled away, while the Mustang just went up in tire smoke.
looks like it could be a solid survivor worth looking into if these are your kind of jeep. i know 1 thing you never see them this clean and solid
And the Jeep Wagoneer of today, well equipped, is $100g’s & full of recalls. Go figure.
My Tornado OHC six had the motor mounts bolted directly to the timing cover. A mechanical disaster!! Timing cover bolts kept breaking or stripping, requiring new bolts plus drilling and tapping to a larger size. Plus lots of oil leakage. If that’s the motor mount arrangement on this one, I’d plan on a 350 swap. Or an I6 with the exhaust on the same side
.
Besides maybe a light restoration, all this needs is a period travel camper trailer and it would be great!
Good luck getting a look at it. Wrote the seller 26 minutes after posting and he gave me the run around.
A lot of talk and little in the way of actual info about the vehicle?
i was persistant,looked at his profile googled his name found his place of business and called his number,as i wasnt getting a responce either,turned out hes a really great guy as is the rest of his family and i looked at it last saturday and struck a deal.