CC reader John Kelley sent me these shots of this immaculate Jeep Gladiator parked at Duxbury Beach in Massachusetts just as the sun was slipping away. Not surprisingly, this Glad recently found its way to salty New England from Texas, which rather explains its condition.
There’s a bit of a surprise under the hood.
That’s the historic Powder Point Bridge visible through the windows. The transmission is a manual.
I’m not sure of the year of this Gladiator, as it gets a bit confusing with the various grilles, but I suspect it’s from around 1980 or later. These were made all the way through 1988.
I was rather expecting a V8, but that’s the venerable AMC 258 six there. That’s not the stock air cleaner, and I’m not sure that’s the original carb or not. One of you will know.
One more shot…
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1967 Jeep Gladiator J3000 – The Truck Of The Future
Those air cleaners don’t, they cause a lot of ruined engines .
The carby looks like a Weber , they made them like this for years, you can see how it’s casted to use left or right side fuel inlet .
This truck is gorgeous ! .
-Nate
Looks like a seat in the bed of the truck; very Subaru “BRAT-ish”.
Lets hope there’s seat belts as well!!
Isn’t this a Jeep Comanche, not Gladiator? Gladiator only applies to the modern Wrangler based truck, not this XJ Cherokee based pickup.
Not Comanche, which is XJ based. This is full sized pickup made between early 1960s-1988. It was the original Gladiator. Well, ok, maybe not ‘original’, ask Caesar who the original one was.
Read here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1967-jeep-gladiator-j3000-the-truck-of-the-future/
Dan beat me to the punch while I was looking up the CC article on the Comanche. But to elaborate on what he wrote, the original Gladiator was based on the Wagoneer.
This is a Comanche: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1986-1992-jeep-comanche-it-coulda-been-a-contender/
Yes, it is a seat – here’s a close-up. Great beach vehicle!
So sweeeeet!
The immaculate high lift jack, mounted for maximum decoration
On a nice, old Gladiator this clean and well-preserved? Definitely.
!? How did you get that Image Eric? AI ? Definitely a great beach vehicle! There are miles of beach where I took the above pictures, but unfortunately they are mostly closed during peak summer season nowadays due to the bird zealots.
I meant to post this link before, but didn’t have time. I found an ad for this truck from when it was for sale last year – link is below, and it contains many more pictures. It’s a 1982 J-10.
And great find (and pictures), by the way – thanks for taking these shots!
https://fourbieexchange.com/listing/restored-1982-jeep-j-10-for-sale
Wow! Just wow! my favorite truck in a great color, with great images to show it off!
Whether it was the Hornet hatchback, Gremlin, Sportabout wagon, Matador coupe, Jeep CJ Renegade, etc., a simple bodyside stripe (often in white), lent a large dose of athleticism to the looks of 1970s AMC and Jeep products.
All wrong. It’s a J 10 pickup. Successor to the Gladiator. I had a 1978 J10 with the 360. Was tow vehicle for my sand drag Jeep CJ with AMC 390
The J10, J20 and J30 were the specific model designations for 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton versions.
It’s true that the Gladiator name was not used in ads and such after a certain point, when they just called it the Jeep Pickup. But the whole series is very commonly referred to as the Gladiator.
What was the difference in the j20 and j30 springs? Because the the front and rear axles were the same . Could it be dual rear wheels?
Beautiful vehicle.
And should anyone wind up in Duxbury, I highly recommend the Island Creek Oysters raw bar. About 2 miles down from the Powder Point Bridge.
Like it actually, but wasnt the Gladiator the one with a shield like grille, I saw a nice one of those recently too RHD,
I love the colors on this truck but I can’t imagine that the contrasting white bed is stock.
Cool a manual transmission with the 258 6. Must have been a good drivetrain combination. I don’t know if that was available with any of the cars. That is a good looking truck IMO.
Great truck and beach. Born and raised there for the most part (1952).
Up till about the later part of the 60’s just about anyone could drive out onto the beach. When I was a kid, it was common for the beach driven cars were early 50’s cars (rear drive) with cutout fenders. The extra wide wheels were home made with large airplane tires. Strictly regulated now I suspect. I think if you have a good reason now, some people can drive to Gurnet Point, the end of the peninsula.
Image attached is the beach a few years ago. In the 50’s the dunes were about 30 feet higher. Gurnet Point is off in the distance.
Nice picture! 🙂
30′ higher? Wow.
Oops, sorry, typo… Maximum was 20 feet.
It’s a 1980-1988 Jeep J10. Not a Gladiator period. It’s what was referred to as the Pioneer body. Left the factory with square headlights as well. The Pioneers had subtle changes in refinement over the Gladiators.