Some of my fondest high school memories involve cruising around in my buddy’s 1979 Jeep Cherokee Golden Eagle, although at 8 miles per gallon we spent half of our time refueling at the local Sunoco station. He babied that truck and it always shined like a new penny. But eventually, he got tired of having to always be in close proximity to a gas station (and being broke) and sold it for a boring new F150. I wonder whatever happened to his Golden Eagle and whether it still survives somewhere? I’m happy to see that this J10 Golden Eagle pickup, for sale here on Craigslist in Hampstead, New Hampshire (by way of Colorado), has survived where it’s seller is asking $15,000.
I agree with the seller who states this truck is rare but the asking price has me scratching my head. A quick internet search yields just a few J10 Golden Eagle edition trucks for sale and prices seem to be all over the place, so it’s hard to determine if $15k is a bit ambitious. Unfortunately, the seller chose an extremely dreary day to photograph his J10 and the dull appearance of the original paint makes this truck look its age. In a weakly disguised sales pitch, the seller mentions it has been clear coated “to preserve the patina.” From what can be seen in the photos the body appears to be solid with just a couple of small dings and I can find only one rust spot visible on the lower rear of the driver side door. The rockers are solid which is very encouraging and it would be nice to see pictures of the tailgate and bed as well, but none are provided. The chrome front bumper looks perfect as does the trim on the nose of the truck and around all of the glass. The factory roll bar (with lights) and brush guard are present and the trademark gold wheels look great with no scratches. Lots of photos are provided of the underside of the truck where new leaf springs and shocks can be seen along with a couple of close-up shots of the frame, appearing solid with only minimal surface rust.
The interior looks a little tired but very clean. Although the dash is warped and there is some sag in the door panels and seat covers, everything appears original and intact. The carpet still looks plush and the door sill plates and rubber weatherstripping look to be in surprisingly excellent condition. The seller claims the AC is “ice cold” and I love the fact that the original factory AM/FM stereo with its preset push-buttons has been preserved (sans the cover for the tuning knob). The seller mentions there is a need for replacement speakers, however. Check out the steering column shift indicator – another cool feature of classic trucks like this J10.
Powered by a 360 V8 the seller claims the truck “runs and drives awesome.” An electronic fuel injection conversion was performed by installing a Howell EFI kit and the ignition was upgraded to an HEI system. The engine bay looks relatively clean and many of the hoses and belts look like they’ve been recently replaced. The truck shows 99,000 miles. If anyone’s counting, that’s an average of just 2,475 miles per year since new. So has this J10 been pampered over the past 40 years? It certainly doesn’t look to have been abused. That $15,000 price tag might be a bit steep but the more I look, the more I like about this truck. And when the sun is out I bet this Golden Eagle shines.
I’m not a supporter of the “drop an LS into everything” crowd, but in this case it would be a nice upgrade for dependability and fuel mileage over that AMC 360.
Bleah. I far prefer the AMC mill over the LS. the 258, 360 and 401 were extremely reliable, the only thing they lack is fuel injection, which is an easy add these days.
That was a pretty good deal for a Golden Eagle J truck. (it’s already gone). The Levis interior isn’t beat to crapp, there didn’t appear to have any major rust issues typical to these…bed seams, flares. Looks to be a carb upgrade and maybe even an HEI or at minimum a Ford TFI upgrade on the distributor end.
The front end wasn’t punched in like a hard working truck. No shots of the tailgate but if it was straight and not rusty, this Jeep truck was in real good shape compared to others. The 79 front bumper was chromed aluminum and never lasted very long. The fact that this one is still nice and shiny is a big plus.
15K plus or minus sold it quick imo
Clear coating to preserve the patina is way cheaper than cutting out rust, welding in new metal, smoothing dents, filling, sanding, guide coating, refilling, primering, two coats, wet sanding…..
Hey, I drove a 1978 Golden Eagle in high school! Small world.
I’ve trolled for these FSJ Trucks for years as am a big fan. This is only the third- ever Golden Eagle I can (quickly) recall seeing. They are indeed a rare to find, even rarer in decent shape. The eagle across the hood is so 70’s! Steep or not, the market does speak for itself.
Great find!
I still have a ‘77 J10 Golden Eagle 401 truck, as well as a ‘79 Cherokee Golden Eagle and a ‘’78 CJ5 Golden Eagle. Obviously I kinda like them :) also have a ‘77 CJ5 Golden Eagle project if anyone needs one :)
I bought a beautiful brown 79 Golden Eagle J10 for $2500 in 1987. I loved that truck in spite of it’s quirks. 360 and quadra-trac made this an unstoppable beast. I have regretted the day I sold it ever since.
Gone!
That was my 79 and I replaced it with a 77 j10 Golden eagle, also with a 401. I also have a 77 cj5, a 79 cj7 and a 79 cherokee, all golden eagles.plus a CJ8 and s Grand wagoneer. You know what they say can’t have just one, but one of each is a jeepthing for me…
Hey Rob ,nice collection! This was my 79 j10. I only sold it to replace it with a a 77 golden eagle 401 j10 truck… I also have a 79 Cherokee Golden eagle, a mint 77 Cj5 golden eagle and I just picked up a 79 cj 7 Golden eagle.! If that’s not enough I also have an 81 cj8 and an an 89 Grand wagoneer. Nice to see another jeepaholic!!
Nice, excellent collection yourself! Yeah, I maaaaay have a few too many… lol
Dan, 1978goldeneagle at gmail dott comm
What’s the last year for the J10 Golden Eagle?
Jason,
1983 was the last year of the golden eagle , j10 and CJ
Dan, I have seen that reported as of late, I think it came from Chrysler. I pretty much lived at the local Jeep dealer through that period, and the Golden Eagles were the thing I wanted most ( I currently own 4, and have owned another 7, and I still own a number of other rare Jeeps from the AMC era. The Laredo was supposed to replace the Golden Eagle in 1980. I have never seen a factory Golden Eagle, brochure or anything after the 1979 model year, though I have seen a number of clones. The Honcho lived on from ’76 through ’83 for sure, and the Renegade from 1970 through ’86. My hypothesis is that dealerships were taking the decals and putting them on non GE Jeeps, as evidenced by lack of options on many of those, etc. Sadly, Chrysler pretty much wrote their own Jeep history after they purchased AMC/Jeep, and have released a bunch of misinformation over the last few years, so that has confused things a lot ( a few looks at their Jeep history website will show you that if you know AMC/Jeep history. If my Jeep salesman (Julian Oxford) from that period were still alive, I’d be able to find out for sure, but I know I talked with him about that particular issue back in ’80 when it was cancelled, and a number of times afterwards, as I was always looking for one. I’d love to see any period literature which showed a GE after ’79 if you know of any.
Rob, I believe you are correct. I’m looking at a 1979 GE and was also wondering if there are any identifiers in the vin that would designate GE? Ty
Rob,
It sounds like you lived the era and got hooked like me.That is interesting about the GE not made after 1980. I agree that the ones I have seen have been repaints and could very likely be clones. All of mine are wearing the original paint and decals,other than the 1977 CJ 5, which I have had since 1982. I kept the original hood when I frame off restored it. It is now a wall hanger in my shop.. My Cherokee is a 79 and that is the latest year I have had, other than this 79 j10.
Yea, every one I have ever seen was the Oak leaf brown ’77 limited edition J10, CJ7 and CJ5, and various color ’78 and ’79 CJ5,CJ7, J10 and Cherokee. There is a very nice white GE ’79 Cherokee for sale right now. I still have a white ’78 CJ5 304 GE (I bugged the original owner for it from the day he brought it home til I finally got it), a Oak Leaf Brown “limited edition” ’77 CJ5 304 GE (sadly rattle canned in camo which needs restoration), a Sable brown ’79 Cherokee 360 GE, and a ’77 “limited edition” GE Oak Leaf Brown J10 with a 401. (and a number of others lol…) I’m in Colorado, so you still see old jeeps here, but most are getting pretty haggared (my J10 I saved from the guy who planned to take it out to Moab and “roll it”…
As I remember the 77 was only available in Oak Leaf Brown and the first year was the only year of the limited edition. 78 there were three colors and 79 had even more colors available.
Rob,
I bought my 79 Cherokee from a woman near Boulder Colorado, small world! It was very well taken care of and has the 360 with the 4 speed stickshift. It is a great driver and gets compliments every time I take it out
Yes, the ’77 was only oak leaf (not the best color imo) and I think they droped the limited so as to not confuse it with the Limited Wagoneer, which was released in ’78. NICE! I did you buy the tan one which was here? Looked like a beautiful truck, and is the ONLY stick GE Cherokee I have ever seen.