I ran across this unusual Jeep at the Hooters car show in Davenport yesterday. At first, I thought it was a CJ with an enclosed cab, but it is much more involved than that.
From the front, it’s easy to think it is a CJ with a custom body, but looking inside tells a different story…
Yes, that is a Chevrolet S10/GMC Jimmy dashboard. The GM alloy wheels should have tipped me off. The hood wasn’t up, but I am pretty sure there is an S10 engine and chassis beneath. The paint job and fit and finish were very well done. Pretty interesting way to customize a Chevy pickup!
Clever body kit. Not exactly “Trail Rated” is it. 😉
Eight slots up front to evade Jeep’s trademark on seven? Sounds silly but Chrysler sued GM when they put seven slots on a Hummer’s face. Ironically (if I’m not mistaken) it was Ford that originated the slots to relieve a WWII production bottleneck.
Willys logo isn’t trademarked anymore? Open season for Jeep clones!
I’m pretty sure trademark owners don’t have much say over what people do with their protected IP, as long as it’s not being done commercially. IOW, I can put a Jeep grille and a Willys tailgate on anything I want, as long as I’m not doing it to sell.
Looks pretty short – maybe on the related SUV Blazer frame?
Seems like a lot of effort to get somewhere rather pointless. Unless you’re just throwing together parts you have on hand to use them up, it seems like there are easier ways to get a Jeep pickup. Are the doors from a production vehicle, or were they custom built?
Since they’re “suicide doors” and given the fixed “vent’ pane, I’d say they were the back doors from something.
Someone had way too much time on their hands. Why spend it on this?
Judging from the decals on the back, my guess is a local body shop did this car to show off their paint and fabrication skills.
They are mostly the rear doors from a first gen S-10 4 door.
Is that J E E P embossed on the door cards? Ew.
What an ugly mishmash of parts. It’s like the rear was built around the tailgate just to use it as a feature.
I’d try to source a Comanche 4×4 with the 4.0 liter Six in decent shape rather than have this thing. Then again, S-10 pickups are probably much more widely available.
Some people just don’t have an eye for design. This thing is a mess, but it looks very well finished. So many customs are like this–bad or no plan and just a pile of parts or making it up as you go.
going to make a wild guess that those are rear doors are from a first gen Isuzu Trooper with the door skin revised to get rid of the rear tire cutout.
It would be a lot more than just the door cutout. The handle is different, there’s none of the creases or sculpting from the Isuzu, and the windowframe is even with the edge of the door, unlike the Trooper where it’s offset slightly. If they started with that door, they had to do a lot of work on it.
An XJ cherokee would have a rear door that is very squared off like that, and it would make sense to use those as they are a Jeep part.
Plausible, but to my eye it looks like the proportions of the fixed window are different. The XJ’s seems to be a bit wider than this one. Hard to say, since we don’t have a clear side shot.
Ever notice how hard it is to find decent pictures online of a vehicle shot straight on from the front , rear, or side? Everybody seems obsessed with the front 3/4 view.
Very good point on the photo angles. I’ve always liked “dead-on” views of vehicles from the front or rear.
I agree with you about the side profile shot, which is why I always include one in my shots. They make for good comparisons.
I used to shoot cars straight from the front and rear, and still do sometimes, but I don’t use them much at all, because unless you can shoot from considerable distance, the typical lens makes it look quite distorted. The 3/4 view is the default because it works best overall. But it certainly has its limitations too.
This makes a better looking Commando than the 72 “Jeepster”. Minus the doors and fixed roof of course.