It’s not often you find a survivor Jeep, especially one this nice! Folks tend to use Jeeps of all types off the road, and they get beaten up over time as you might expect. This one has obviously been coddled its entire life, and now the seller is going to pass it on, hopefully to another person that appreciates originality this much. It’s listed for auction here on eBay, where bidding is currently just over $1,000 but as you might guess, there’s a reserve. This great Cherokee is located in Quincy, Washington.
Yes, this is original paint and decals! You can see some cracking in the decals when you look closely (nice pictures in the auction, by the way) and there are a few spots where polishing has worn through the top layer of paint, but this is a really, really nice original Jeep! There is a small spot of rust in front of the rear wheel well visible on the driver’s side and a small crease caused by the front bumper on the driver’s side, but gosh, I like it!
Apart from the newer Ford in the background, this shot wouldn’t be out of place in the 1976 Jeep Cherokee Chief S brochure. Even the whitewalls fit, somehow, and the factory aluminum wheels look great.
If anyone actually carried anything back here, they must have wrapped it in blankets!
Aside from some dash warpage over time, the interior looks mint as well. Certainly nothing to be embarrassed about, and a nice place to spend your time. Just don’t look at it as a practical hauler, though, because you’re not going to want to get this one too dirty, I think.
The factory AMC 360 V8 is still under the hood, and needless to say, although I’m not an expert, pretty much everything under here looks original to me, although I’m wondering about the copper colored box on the far side. Anyone know if that’s ignition-related, and is it stock? Not that it really matters–I’d still love to have this great early SUV in my garage! What about you?
Is the copper colored box part of the ignition system. I seem to remember something similar on Chrysler’s of that era?
Yeah, I’m not sure what the copper box is exactly but I do think it is stock. I just looked through my collection of past sales of mid 70s Cherokees and have pics of at least 3 with the 360 v8 showing the same box. same location, and one 401 equipped Cherokee with the same box mounted on the driver’s side.
Ok, here it is on ebay — ignition control module:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ignition-Control-Module-fits-1975-1977-Jeep-J20-Cherokee-Cherokee-CJ5-ST-/331903412773?fits=Year%3A1977%7CMake%3AJeep%7CModel%3ACherokee&hash=item4d46fc2a25:g:sf8AAOSwl9BWMLtR&vxp=mtr
Copper colored box looks like a voltage regulator
I had a Cherokee very similar to this, only a 4 door, and an I-6. I can say without reservation, it was one of the worst vehicles I ever had, and I’ve had a lot. In all fairness, it could have been the rusty climate I live in ( it is a 4 wheel drive) and many folks had good luck with these. It did go through the snow great, but every day something would break, as evidenced here, rear window, gas gauge, like mine, only the list went on and on. Obviously, this truck has seen little, if any salt, and has a trailer brake control and big hitch, so it pulled a trailer, not that it couldn’t handle it, but gas mileage must have been terrible. Still, quite a nice example here.
This appears to be a very nice Jeep, bidding now over 6K. It certainly has had some cosmetics on the interior, but I wouldn’t hold that against it. I think someone is going to get a great Jeep, but it won’t be a Cheap- Jeep!
Had on similar to this with a 401 Bucket seats and console. what a beast. AMC 401 engines are amazing. Would love to have another.
Love it. Beautiful. Like something I found under the Christmas tree in 1976…but life sized.
These may have been thirsty and haphazardly assembled but they have such presence. This one particularly with its slot wheels, stripes and red paint. Fantastic as a two door without all the bogus wood that would come later. It’s just my opinion,but these big Jeeps really hit their stride in these years. And to think they all looked about like this one once upon a time!
Annie Wilkes, your ride is here!
had one in grey in ct worst vech I ever owned always breaking down when it rained or snowed replaced every thing and the last straw I bought a new matress on the roof broke down and here comes the rain I did like the looks even the limted wagon butso many problems with them
I had one just like this in green , loved it great jeep , my ex got it in the divorce , I also had a Jeep wagoneer ,pulled a 26 foot camper all over the East coast and never had a problem ,after I replaced the clutch fan with a fixed blade fan . I am the guy that drove the snow plow, jeeps never let me down and they got the job done !!
I read a comment somewhere when I started reading car sites regarding “bad cars”. The gist of it was that even though there were lots of problems with a particular model (Gremlin, Vega etc.) the worst of them have been weeded out by now. Ones that makes it this far were either put together right in the first place, or have had the worst of the bugs sorted out by now. You’ll still need to fill’er up often, but it should be fun along the way! Here are some pictures of a rusty example I spotted back in 2011: https://goo.gl/photos/TgrFvD7uCxVLsWAv6
Winning bid, $9,520.00. 31 bids.
for the price difference i think this one might be a better deal than the 74 listed earlier.