Jeep is about to bring back the pickup truck. Some of us may not remember a Jeep pickup very well. Back in the seventies, it was mostly Chevrolet, GMC, Ford, and Dodge. But there were a couple of other American brands, International and Jeep. Here is a 1978 Jeep J-10 Honcho Pickup for sale here on Craigslist in West Des Moines, Iowa. Thanks to Barnfinds reader Ikey H. for bringing this nice pickup to our attention.
The seller says the truck has little to no rust. There does appear to be some rust around the front wheel opening on the passenger side. It also appears to have possibly had some rust repair (black coloring) around some other wheels. There is also a dent behind the driver’s side front wheel that may extend into the door. The Honcho body side tape striping appears to have some fading but the original paint and the truck, in general, appear to be in good condition. The Honcho package included 119″ wheelbase, chrome front bumper, power steering, and bright door frames among several other features.
The interior looks marvelous. It does have new interior seating and carpeting. American Motors had a popular interior option in some of their vehicles, a Levi’s interior, which was a part of the Honcho package. I thought it only came in blue denim, but apparently, it also came in tan. The dash is in good condition with no cracks. The truck has an aftermarket radio, but other than that it looks like this interior came straight from the factory.
The J-10 Honcho is powered by a 360 V-8 with TH 400 automatic transmission. It also has Quadratrack four-wheel drive, as well as power steering and power front disc brakes. The truck has 115,000 miles. The seller is asking $9,500. If you’ve been looking for a unique classic pickup truck, this may be the one for you.
Nice survivor there……
Price is a bit high, but this truck scratches me were I itch. Always thought Jeep built a good looking tough truck, and it looks great in Orange. Not that it matters, but I believe these got really bad gas mileage, somebody fill me in. These just look right in so many ways .. I would try to lower the price due to the rust and decal condition.
Vance,
The full size Jeeps with Quadra Trac great poor mileage as they are full time for wheel drive. A manual transmission with manual transfer case is better.
Haha. ALL Full Size Jeeps got crap gas mileage. 10mpg city or highway, didn’t matter. They were heavy air plows. Super capable tough off roaders or snow mobiles, but with 10mpg and a pathetic 15 gallon tank, you’ll never pass a gas station.
AMHIK…
Wow, I love this, but that price is too steep. I had a green ’73 J10 that eventually gave up its 360 V8 for my CJ-7. Rust is the enemy on these trucks, but this one looks clean. To bad about the nasty vinyl graphics, though…
The vinyl decals are easy to reproduce, most sign ships could make them. Watch any race on TV, those cars aren’t painted anymore.
Steve R
I’d try Pheonix Graphics. Can’t promise they have them, but they’ve supplied me with some graphics that I thought were unobtainable.
Jeep continued to make trucks after the demise of the J~series on the Cherokee chassis, it was called Comanche. Chrysler nixed that one when they took over because they didn’t want it to compete with the Dakota. Both were great truck. I like this truck, good ones are hard to find because the were used hard. Most rusted badly, especially st the seam where the lower and upper parts of the bed were joined. This price seems high to me also, but in the sellers defense I looked at one of these a couple years ago priced at $4500, but it was a rust bucket and interior was trashed. Compared to that one this seems like a bargain.
The black on the rear fender flares is actually a protective plastic shield to keep the paint from being sandblasted by gravel in that area. Aside from the rust, these were very beefy trucks. Had a friend growing up whose family owned a Jeep dealership. This truck with a 401 was a great one. Being originally from the northeast, all the body rust comments are right on. If you used it on salted winter roads, expect body rust in 2 years!
Thanks Mike for clearing that up for me. I had a 77 Ramcharger that was full-time 4WD as well. It got around 7-8 MPG as well. I should have putt two and two together. I learned something today, never too old to be informed.
The best looking US truck ever made in my opinion, and i like the colour!!
I should buy that truck because it matches the name I once worked under, Mike Honcho
The new Gladiator Jeep. https://www.jeep.com/gladiator.html
Quadra trac was way ahead of it ‘s time using a limited slip spider gear setup in the transfer case to distribute power to the wheels that actually had traction. I had a 79 J10 Golden Eagle that would go anywhere. Later Fords and chevys that i owned were a disappointment after owning the j10. The TH400 was standard on the J10 and to my knowledge not available in 4wd GM trucks. I wish I had room in my garage for this one!
Price isnt too far out of line with A/C and power steering, plus 360 quadra trac, the world is your oyster. Whats gas today compared to 1978 adjusted for inflation? This isnt any more expensive than a nice ATV, carries more, keeps up off road, and you can drive it to the trail head. No need to tote camping gear, just stretch out on that bench seat and run that a/c. Great submission.
No A/C…
Truck I’d consider for my son (turns sixteen this coming summer), but it has no A/C. Considering I’ll be borrowing whatever he gets when he borrows my truck, no A/C is only an option in the middle of winter.