The sale of this ’76 CJ-5 is being handled by a person who recently purchased some hunting land in Ashtabula, Ohio.  The Jeep sits in the ruins of an old barn on the property and if I’ve accurately interpreted the ad here on eBay, it’s owned by a disabled veteran and was not included with the purchase of the land.  The profit from the sale of the Jeep will go directly to the vet and the land buyer is willing to help the winning bidder extract the Jeep from its 25-year resting place if needed.  Bidding is currently at $365 with lots of time left in the auction.

As mentioned, the Jeep has been parked since 1993 and is reported to be a one owner vehicle.  The seller states “the frame is shot [but the] tube is fiberglass so no rust.”  I assume that’s a typo and he meant “tub” which, in that case, makes things pretty interesting.  Considering the cost of a replacement glass tub starts around $2,000 this old Jeep is perhaps worth more than one might have guessed at first glance.  The pictures provided by the seller certainly aren’t great and a closer look is needed, but other than some gouges and chips in the paint, I don’t see any cracks or major issues with the fiberglass.  I like the dark cocoa color accented by the gold pinstriping.  With its tan soft top and a nice set of painted rims, I bet this CJ looked pretty sharp back in the day.

The interior is filled with the usual assortment of junk found in old abandoned Jeeps such as cans, bottles, trash bags, and mouse droppings.  However, considering the roofless old barn provided it with very little protection from the elements over the years, I’m surprised things aren’t a lot worse.  Notice there isn’t any daylight poking through the floor pans like you typically find in steel tub Jeeps?  Yes, the seat cushions are pretty well shot but the canvas top, despite mold issues and a sizeable tear in the seam along the passenger side roofline, might actually be salvageable.  Even the shift boots look like they could be revived with some rubber restorer.  Wait a minute – someone please smack me for being so optimistic!  It’s that same attitude that got me into trouble a couple of years ago when I dragged a hopelessly rusted ’46 CJ-2A out of a barn.  But other than the loss of garage space things didn’t turn out too poorly for me.  I got half of my investment back just by selling the windshield!

Does the ever durable AMC 232 “straight 6” turn freely?  Other than mentioning mileage is at 58,449, the seller fails to offer any information about the motor.   If it is free it might not take much to get it running.  Heck, it sure would be fun to try!  Darn it…there I go again being overly optimistic!  It’s times like this when one must ask oneself: “What would my wife think if I brought this thing home and stuck it in the garage?”  Exactly.   Although the frame is too far gone there are a lot of good salvageable parts here.  I’m not confident trying to guess what this Jeep will end up selling for but I’ve got a number in mind.  It will be fun to see what happens at the end of the auction and for our disabled vet’s sake, I sure hope the winning bid is nice and high.