Car Spot: 69 Kaiser Jeep J-3000 Gladiator Pickup Truck

A time capsule from Toledo

Why fix something that’s not broken? That was Jeep Corporation’s strategy in the 60’s. So many Jeeps were derived from the SJ platform like my spot this week, a 69 Kaiser Jeep J-3000 Gladiator Pickup Truck I discovered at the Chicago Auto Show.

The original Gladiator originated in 1962 as a 1963 Model. It borrowed the front-end styling of the Wagoneer including the “RHINO” grille. There were 99,261 produced between 1962 and 1970, not including Military versions. This truck was one of 100 manufactured in April 1969. It is one of 8,112 Gladiators of all sizes and options made in 1969. It has a longer 126″ wheelbase and a townside bed that measures 84″ long, 64″ wide, and 20″ tall.

RELATED Spot: 86 Jeep Comanche

This truck left the Toledo Factory with its original 350 Cubic Inch Buick “Dauntless V8. Interesting side story on the engine. It was originally the Fireball V-6 and owned by Buick, but it needed some retooling and they offloaded it to Kaiser-Jeep. But then when the OPEC energy crisis hit GM found itself without a more fuel-efficient engine to stuff in its mid-size cars. They tried to get American Motors, which owned Jeep at the time, to do the reengineering on the engine but balked and then just bought it back in 1974. I remember from my dad’s time at AMC that the V-6 was notorious for leaking oil so they were glad to get rid of it and use AMC engines in the Jeeps moving forward.

The transmission is a Borg Warner T15-A manual 3 speed bolted to a Dana 20 two speed transfer case providing 4WD, and an optional Power-Lok differential. This truck is also equipped with a factory installed Ram Ramsey Power Take off winch. MSRP for this truck when new was $3,450.

The Jeep Gladiator/Pickup design remained in production for more than 26 years on a single automobile platform generation. The Gladiator was the basis of the first post-war U.S. Army trucks designed to be civilian vehicles and adapted to military use. Gladiator-based Jeep SJ full-sized pickup truck models, as well as the compact XJ-based Jeep Comanche pickups, were discontinued by Chrysler after acquiring AMC in 1987

If you’re looking for a classic pickup that won’t break the bank, this would be it. According to Hagerty, one in #3 Good Condition is just over 16 grand. Just slightly less with the 6-cylinder engine. Jeep brought back the Gladiator name in 2018 and I got to go to the product launch in California. A super fun trip and I think those days are gone.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest spot. I do love Jeeps and will have more to come. We’re going to try something different, moving my spots to Sundays so check back for another one of my spots along with some of its history. Have a great weekend.