Mean, Green and Clean: 1974 Jeep J20 Pickup

The Jeep brand finding its way into the pickup market seemed just as natural as breathing.  With its reputation for off-road capability, bulletproof mechanicals and spartan design, the leap from crawler to hauler was a foregone conclusion.  As often happens in the automotive industry, however, buyers would be the ultimate judge.  Their verdict?  Jeeps should not have a bed. Find this 1974 Jeep J20 Pickup for sale in Sergeant Bluff, IA for $15,900 via craigslist.

There are a handful of survivors of from the Jeep truck era.  Although they were financially viable for three decades, they disappeared from roads quickly once production stopped.  Why?  The tin worm has an insatiable appetite for these delicacies and no vintage seemed to escape it.  This truck should be able to endure anything as long as you don’t drive it in salt, haul bags of salt with it, eat salty foods inside it or talk about salt around it.   

With its narrow, knobby tires, lockouts, and vertically slotted grill, the J20 is unmistakably Jeep.  It is essentially a period Wagoneer with a bed in back.  While Jeep wagons have continued to thrive as ubiquitous SUVs, you will have to find something like this if you want to use a Jeep to haul anything substantial.  

There have been numerous Jeep truck concepts in recent years, but none have reached production. You could even get a pickup conversion kit for the Wrangler for a while.  The Jeep faithful, however, have determined the Jeep’s niche to be that of purpose-built terrain conquerers or SUVs.  Ask an owner why, and he or she might just tell you:  It’s a Jeep thing.  You wouldn’t understand.  

See a better Jeep truck? email us here: tips@dailyturismo.com