Looking crisp and solid, this estate find 1980 Jeep J-10 4×4 short bed pickup looks like a nice example of a pretty desirable truck. I’m trying to pin down the color; it’s either Caramel, Russett, or Alpaca Brown. My money is on Caramel. The seller has it posted here on craigslist in the Eugene, Oregon area, and they’re asking $8,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Barney for the tip!
By this point in Jeep’s pickup history, the Gladiator name had gone away, and they were simply known as a Jeep pickup, or truck, as some brochures say. This J-10 is a 120-inch wheelbase short-bed model, arguably the most desirable for just driving around and light-duty use. Most of us dream about finding a truck or any vehicle this nice at an estate sale.
I love the simple tailgate latch. Is that a color-matched toolbox in the front end of the box/bed? There’s no specific photo of it and no mention of it at all, which is unusual. But, the seller’s description is short: “Jeep J10 short bed has bucket seats, purchased from the original owners estate. This truck is very nice, bed floor is mint. Must see.” They aren’t kidding about the bed floor, here it is! Maybe it was repainted when they did the toolbox? It does look a shade darker than the body color. We don’t know for sure, of course. This truck looks about as nice as I can imagine a 45-year-old vehicle being, and that Townside bed looks almost perfect.
This is the only interior photo, but it shows a good amount of the real estate inside. The driver’s seat is easy to fix, bickety-bam, and you’re done. It’s only money, right? The passenger armrest appears to have something going on. Is that a trim piece sagging? This truck has, I believe, a TorqueFlite automatic with a column selector. I wish we had a photo of the VIN or data plate, or anything.
The engine should be an AMC-sourced 360-cu.in. OHV V8, since it was the only V8 available in 1980. It had just under 200 horsepower and just under 300 lb-ft of torque rolling through the three-speed automatic to all four wheels as needed. The engine looks cleaner than most, and standard power steering and power brakes (with discs on the front) are a very nice touch. I’m not sure why this Jeep is priced so cheaply, or how it can still be for sale. Hagerty is at $19,400 for a #3 good-condition J-10 4WD with a 360 and short bed. That’s over twice what the seller is asking. Is this one going to show up on an auction site in the near future?
Don’t recall seeing very many short box Gladiator trucks. Are they rare ?
I think most of them of this era were short boxes.
These older Jeep pickups are great, I’ve always liked these and the Wagoneer ( and Cherokee) designs. Had a buddy years ago that had a rusty Cherokee from the 70’s with a very nicely built 360 ( AMC) it had Quadra Track and I just remember that thing suprised me when it took off the line.
Thing I didn’t like about quadratrack is you had to lose traction of rear tires to engage 4th. Unless you opened the glove box and engaged The Emergency 4wd which activated all four tires. Don’t ask how I learned
I loved my Wagoneer ! Pulled a 28 ft trailer all over the east coast , never let me down!
That simple tailgate latch is actually a Hornet/Gremlin/Concord/Spirit door handle, which replaced the twin latches at the edges of the tailgate in 1973.
Looks like a very nice survivor. It most likely had a camper shell on it, which would explain the straight and rust free bed floor. Sure looks damp – I can almost smell the wet carpets through my computer screen!
I had a 1980 but it didn’t have the little eyebrow above the windshield. I thought that ended in 1979. Great trucks though!
A great truck at a great price. No fun to replace a, water pump on one of these. I have always liked the body style on these. And if I remember correctly. You can remove this grille and install the older style (which I really like) grille and round headlamps if you happen to have a pair.
Nice truck but not a short bed. This is an 8-foot bed.
I agree, it sure looks like an 8′ bed to me. I have only seen a, couple of these in the past. And all were 8′ beds. I have never even seen a picture of a short bed in this model. And I worked a Jeep dealer for awhile.
I think this is a short bed, in looking at brochures. Page 8 here shows the two different bed sizes, and it sure doesn’t look like the longer one of those two.
https://autocatalogarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Jeep-Truck-1980-USA.pdf
Although the J10 came in both a short wheelbase and long wheelbase model, so maybe what they mean is this is the short wheelbase model, not the J10/J20 long wheelbase model?
Definitely a short wheel base rig, Scotty. You’re right.
looks a lot better than that new piece of crap thing they call a gladiator
I had a jeep just like this for a work truck mine had the 6 cyl and 4 speed , 8 ft box good truck !
definitely a TorqueFlite transmission
Ok, so what length determines it to be a long or short bed? It “USED” to be a 6′ was a short and an 8′ was a long. But imports and different cab options kill the “old” long / short descriptions. This truck looks to me like a long bed. (Approximately same length front and rear of the wheel well.)
So please educate an old retired commercial truck sales professional.
This is a short bed. If it was a long bed, you’d know. They were kinda stretched out looking. Most longbeds were J20s.
Please, please, let it keep its square headlamp, robot face grille. Each era of these really has its own character. The swap to the old Gladiator grille is overdone and almost cliché.
So what was the “official” short/long bed measurements on these?
This is not a Ford, but my 66 F-100 has a 6.5-foot short bed versus an 8-foot long bed which an F-250 also has, and the F-350 may have a 9 foot. Is the Jeep similar?
That surely is a nice bed on this truck. I had a large oak tree removed yesterday in the back and have two loads of limbs to cut up and put into my 66 F-100. I would not want to do that with this one as nice as it is.
I THINK it’s a short bed…it can be tough to tell in pictures taken from an angle. If there was a straight side on pic it would be easy to spot.
Prior to the 2000’s, with very few exceptions short bed pickups were 6.5′ and long beds were 8′.
These things rode like a lumberwagon…..way stiff …and could not pass a gas station…..10mpg on a good day…