1974 jeep cj5 factory fiberglass body 1 of 6?
I have a 1974 cj5 that was used at the jeep factory by the engineering dept.there was 6 they used as test jeeps .I found it in a barn where it has been for 20 some years . could this be true ? I can't find anything about it
3 Answers
They changed the frame (and a lot of other stuff) in '75 for the '76 model, so from an engineering standpoint, they MAY have been looking at a glass body for the future. If I were you, I'd try to find any kind of marking on the jeep itself as to a manufacturer of the body. If it was made in-house for research (as anything like that would have been) there wouldn't be any brand name on it. There are a lot of replacement glass bodies on jeeps now. I think maybe the previous owner may have been pulling your leg to add value. IF its a 1 in 6 genuine JEEP fiberglass body on a '74, I don't know if it would add any value. These things aren't show pieces or anything.
No, I got it real cheap .It was in the way and we were renting the farm. I can't find any markings on the body. The man who owned it has been dead for 20 years or more and his brother in law got it for him when he retired. So they could use it to go hunting in. His wife told me they scraped the fiberglass idea because of the cost.that's all I could find out.
These bodies were readily available from aftermarket suppliers in 1974. It MAY have been that they purchased a few to see if they could lower assemblly production costs. by 1974 the CJ7 had been outselling the CJ5 for at least 4 years. The CJ5 was doomed. The only way to verify the claim would be in a press release or signed statement of AMC representative, preferably someone who had a part of that company decision, stating that it was done and maybe a reference to what serial numbers were involved
