Do good things come in twos? They do if you’re on the hunt for a couple of Jeepster Commando projects. This pair of tired trucks is located in the nirvana of vintage classics, Washington State, and have more rust than I’ve come to expect from vehicles found in the Pacific Northwest. Still, two decent trucks for $3,000 is a fair deal considering the rust we can see appears to be limited to certain panels and not spread throughout the body. There’s one manual and one automatic, and both can be found here on Facebook Marketplace in Oak Harbor. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Jay B. for the find.
The green truck is a 1971 automatic model with the so-called “even-fire” V6 under the hood. This is the truck that sports some actual rot-through on the rear gate, and surface rust all around the perimeter of the rear quarters where the hard or soft top meets the body. This one comes with the soft top installed, but a spare hard top is included in the sale. The interior looks decent foe what it is, though it’s hard to say whether the seat upholstery can be resuscitated. The console paint suggests the exterior is this Jeepster’s original color. In the gallery photos, the green Commando still sports a set of sweet period driving lamps on the front bumper – it had to have been someone’s toy at one time.
The Commando was intended to compete with the likes of the Scout, Bronco, and FJ40 series Land Cruiser, but my recollection is that it never posed a very real threat to those classic square bodies. These Commando convertibles offered the best of both worlds in terms of coming equipped with a hard top for all-weather usefulness, but transforming into a beach-ready rig with the soft top installed. While I can’t speak to the specific reasons why we don’t celebrate the Commando to quite the same level as a Bronco, the Jeepsters just don’t seem to elicit the same kind of response – almost as if they weren’t jacked up enough from the factory. On presence alone, the Commando loses to those competitors, in my opinion.
The red Commando is a 1968 truck with the manual transmission and “odd-fire” V6, and while the hard top appears to be pretty far gone, the body looks better than on the green one. The green “sheepskin” seat covers belong in the other truck, or more likely the trash, but perhaps they’ve been in place long enough to protect the original upholstery to some degree. Again, we see matching paint inside which suggests these Commandos still wear original colors, and while I suspect each of these trucks could be revived, you can certainly build one very nice one from the two in this sweet package deal. Have you ever driven a Commando?
Personally, no I’ve never gone Commando but it can’t be too much different than driving CJ7…
Being that the moss in the general Seattle area grows on anything that hasn’t moved in 24 hours that might not be all paint on the ‘71! For that matter the seat covers in the ‘68 might be zombie sheepskin after the moss took to life there. I’d be looking very closely at the rust being hidden or held together by it.
Hi Nev, I’ve been thinking of going Commando, have you seen the price of underwear lately?
Actually, the Commando, a glorified Jeepster of yore, is very different than a CJ. It’s lower stance, car-like interior, and automatic was meant to attract a different crowd. Higher gearing made it a bit more road friendly, and while it’s always debateable, I think the 4wd Jeepster was the original SUV. Too bad people still thought Jeep meant CJ, and it never took off. And of course, good ol’ Mr. Rust took it’s toll. I remember most Jeepsters like this. Once the body went south, the guts were pulled for other projects.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jefferysview/12138508375
Yessir-we’re taking it in the shorts to buy briefs!!
So more of an soft top SUV than a utilitarian shortbed truck is what I’m getting from you about the Jeepster. Was it again marketing that sunk it or was it just too radical an idea?
I don’t believe the original ever offered 4wd. My father bought a 2nd generation, new, and couldn’t trade it in fast enough (his was yellow, just like a lemon).
Going Commando, now that’s a little bit risky because there’s always the risk of zipper tracks… But I’ll tell you about a wedding I was the photographer for at a ski slope in Missoula. The maid of honor shouldn’t have gone Commando; my camera managed to get a good look during a stop-action shot of the wedding party doing a leap of faith on the hillside. Anyway, there are quite a number of Commandos (JEEP kind) in the Chinook Belt and they’ve weathered quite well. There’s one outfit that has one from the early 60s with the OHC six in it. They’ve turned down a number of offers to sell it. I wish they would at least fire it up and DRIVE it…
Very revealing story, geomechs!
Insofar as the neighbor firing up & driving the old Jeepster, he’s probably waiting to get ARoundtuit..
I fully agree on the attributes that aimed this at a different buyer than someone looking for a “jeep” Jeep. I knew a couple of people who had Commandos when they were current and had a chance to drive a few. It was a different beast than a CJ, but still had most of the capabilities. They were nice, with somewhat better road manners than a CJ.
The biggest problem, to me, was rust. I’m in Pennsylvania and every one that I was familiar with or the few that I saw come in the shop rusted badly.
The V6, though, was a sweet engine, IMO. I had a late 60s CJ with the V6 and loved it.
Don’t know much about these but hidden rust was a problem. The had a few places in the undercarriage where water could collect. Cool little jeeps but a careful inspection before hand could rule out serious structural problems.
Might need to check these out since there just down the street. I was seriously looking for a Jeepster up until 6 monthes ago and gave up finding the right one. The 71 is the best year with Saginaw steering but it really should get the odd fire and manual from the 68. I’d combine the 2 into one good one if thats even doable.
Russell. Where are you. I just saw at least one jeepster looked straight with either grey paint or primer for sale on Camano. Looked like a hero shop they had several parked. Just driving by did not stop.
Bought a pair few years back 900 bucks. One was parts truck other was a 73. 258 straight six 3 speed on tge floor great rig except when you drove it on the dirt road. Rattled you to death, doors windows back gate all rattled really bad. Maybe some of the rubber seals but not all of it was.
I go back’n forth w/”I like this 1 better” of the 2 jeepsters generations. May B make the 1st a 4 WD (or was it?).
Anyway, I have seen some of the ’66/73 comandos lookin real fine w/a lill lift, low aspect skinny tall tires and some other smoothing mods out a our off rd adventures. Anything’s better’n a cj alto I would own if CJ8 only (scrambler). This’n that – the only ‘heep’ to own.
And sold…
My dad bought a used ’73 Commando-258 straight six & a TurboHydramatic 400 tranny. A few years later I bought it from him. 60-65 MPH was tops & it didn’t ride well with a lot of gear or people in it. It definitely had rust issues.
Right after I bought it, a feller offered to trade he his ’81 J10. I turned him, but should have made the trade. :(
Back somewhere in the 1990s, my favorite go to used car dealer had a 67 Jeepster convertible behind his building. I bought several daily drivers from this lot, and always wanted the Jeepster. It was white with a white top and red interior. He wouldn’t sell it to me. And I’m now kinda glad he didn’t. Even back then it had a lot of rust and probably would have been too big a project for me and my now ex-husband to handle.