J2000 and J3000 trucks have been well-received on Barn Finds in the past, and based on this one’s solid yet sleepy appearance, I think we have another winning find here. It’s located in Salinas, California and is listed for sale here on eBay, where the buy-it-now is $4,000 but lower offers are welcomed.
The “Gladiator” (as the trucks were known) carries Brooks Stevens’ styling that it shared with the Wagoneer. I think the lines have worn well over time. We don’t learn a lot about this truck in the ad listing apart from that it has a 327 cubic inch V8 and a 4-speed transmission. Contrary to what you might think, that is not a Chevrolet engine–this AMC sourced engine came into being several years after the Chevrolet small block V8 and has nothing to do with it; rather it is based on the AMC 250 V8, which was fitted to late 1950’s Ramblers.
The bed side looks remarkably solid as well. That’s a serious looking bumper, too. I hope the inside of the bed looks just as nice; you’ll have to request additional photos or visit the truck to find out for sure. According to this paint chart, it’s Golden Beige metallic (Austin-Healey 3000 fans, take note) and I think might just be original paint.
It would have been nice if a little cleaning had been done before taking this picture, but at least you know what you’re getting into. I can see a trailer brake controller, so you know it’s been used for towing, and per the recent discussion on Barn Finds about painted steering wheels on vintage pickups, the paint has been worn off this one too. We’re told that there’s only been one owner since the 1970’s and that it has 100,000 miles.
Ok, time for the bad news. The Vigilante V8 currently doesn’t run, according to the seller that’s due to an electrical problem. Hopefully that’s not too hard to diagnose! Are you willing to try?
I think the Rambler 327 was around long before the chev 327…….nice looking truck.
You’re right, Dave, I was speaking of the Chevy small block in general. I’ll fix the text to clarify. Thanks!
Right you are, Dave. The one downside to these engines is their weight. Man, are the ever heavy! My twin to this truck was idling in neutral at the top of a very steep driveway when the ratchet on the parking brake popped out. It rolled backward down the (extremely rough) driveway, accross a paved roa, through the air about 40′ and eneded-up tail first in a 60,000 gallon water tank. The tank was empty. We pulled it out of the tank with a big tacklayer crane and set it down on it’s wheels on the road. Just for fun, I got behind the wheel and hit the starter… Vroom! This thing had been completely vertical for about 6 hours and no problem. The only damage to the truck was in the form of a very small horizontal dent just below the tail lights on both fenders. Talk about tough! I used to stand wind turbine towers with it.
Uh-oh. This is located about 100 miles North of me and I might need to take a look. Had one years ago that was an excellent truck.
These were some tough trucks, wish it was close I would take a stab at owning it.
I do know that one of the problems in the Jeeps was the wiring harness connecter body were they went through the fire wall, a two piece plug, they would come loose and burn up, how do I know this, worked on a few jeeps in my day. My Brother-in-law bought a jeep and it had an electrical problem and after tracing all the wires to find it the problem with no luck, I asked a guy at a repair shop he told me to try it and we did and guess what the connector was burned, we replaced it and it ran fine after that.
I had a 74 with the 360 4×4 that belonged to the Pa. Fish and game that was used for a plow truck at the pa. grand canyon park. Talk about a tough truck. It just couldn’t be stopped in any amount of snow or at least what we get around here. If this truck was on the east coast it would be mine. They are hard to find rust free like this one. That’s what I did mine in was the rust, sold it for parts when nobody would put stickers on it anymore.
If the bed seam isn’t rusting, this is a good buy…prices on these have been steadily climbing. Since I sold all of mine of course ;) No bed seam rust means the rest of the truck is probably in good shape (inspection for verification of course) The electrical is one-hand-tied behind your back easy on these early J trucks. Like maybe they had 4 circuits. And the 327 Vigilante had a lot of grunt force. The only downside is the 5 lug Danas are a bit of a weak point plus not easy to do any suspension mods on these without a lot of work
Still one of the great iconic pickup looks out there
I always loved the grills on these Jeeps. I owned a distant relative pick-up…’86 Comanche, a wheezer, but it took a lot of abuse. Gotta get me a Gladiator.
I had a ’66 J3000 Gladiator with the 327 and the 4 speed. Awesome truck. This one looks to have a lot of potential.
And yes, that is original paint, well the color is anyway.
Although looks the same on the exterior as say a 1979 AMC J10/J20 minus the grille and headlights these earlier Kaiser units are quite a different animal.
I like the Rambler 327. She has plenty of torque, not a high winding mill and not truly considered high performance. There are a few believers back in the day. A 327 was installed in an American chassis and drag raced. It even included a blower. Also at some point in 65-66 a Classic was modified for NASCAR by a privateer. Neither were successful due to reliability problems. May have only needed a little more work and understanding. Many good points to these engines.
AMC fazed out the 287/327 engines when they introduced the 290 V8 in mid year 1966 for model year 1967 AMC kept the 4″ bore so they wouldn’t have to change their milling equipment. Kaiser was forced to make a change. Already using the Buick V6 (Kaiser bought the tooling from GM and now owned that design. Later AMC sold it back to GM) They started using overhead valve Buick V8’s.
AMC’s purchase of the Jeep brand from Kaiser in 1970 started refining the trucks now using AMC power from 1972 on. Having bought and purchased many large NOS parts inventories prior to and after the Chrysler purchase of AMC in 1986 what a headache for the poor parts man at the counter. Many different era’s of parts still boxed as Willy’s Kaiser and AMC many for the same item.
Many Jeep dealers were stand alone and were an addition to already established dealerships. When AMC took over this became a problem. The local AMC dealer where I am from sold Rambler and AMC’s. After 1970 the signage was changed to the typical R/W/B A mark design. The Chevy dealer across town owned the Jeep franchise from the Willy’s and Kaiser days. In the mid 70’s Jeeps were hot. The AMC dealer couldn’t sell them but could order parts. The Chevy dealer across town sold them and also sold parts. It sucked if you were an AMC person who had to shop at brand X to buy an AMC Jeep. Both did warranties. Indecently the AMC dealer closed due to the death of the longtime owner in the mid 1980’s. The Chevy dealer was forced to take on Renault. They were one of the last to have a new untitled 1987 Renault GTA on the lot 3 years after the Chrysler buyout in 1987. At that time the Jeep/Renault franchise was moved to the Chrysler/Dodge dealer down the street. Talk about cluster!
This Jeep is a nice example and is great if you know them. If not find a nice AMC version. Parts will be easier to source. The bulk are 360 powered with the optional 401. Also available is the bullet proof 258 six cylinder. Quadratrac and Turbo 400 = unbeatable.
Either way you cannot go wrong. Simply put. Jeep did write the book on Four Wheel Drive :)
I had a 67 j3000.. 6cyl 4 speed.. that thing went wherever I pointed it.. I paid $400 in 2002..
Got a 67 setting in my driveway. 327 with a quadrajet carb, T400, disc brakes on the front, longbed. Gave $500 for it 9 yrs ago. Had been settin for yrs. Engine fired right, brakes were another story that’s why the disc brakes.