Thursday 2 July 2015

The Spirit of ’76: America’s Most Iconic Automobile

Leave a Comment
http://ift.tt/1UdpCFB

Jeep CJ-5 1

With the 4th of July holiday upon us, we naturally are filled with the Spirit of ’76. No, not 1776—we’re talking 1976, America’s bicentennial year and a period whose automotive awesomeness is just starting to be appreciated. Over the course of the weekend, we’ll be bringing you prime examples of classic cars for sale that embody the Spirit of ’76.

First up, is this incredibly clean 1976 Jeep CJ-5 on offer in Springfield, Missouri. The vehicular hero of World War II, the Jeep is arguably our nation’s most iconic vehicle. It’s revered by millions of enthusiasts today for being one of the most capable, versatile, and enjoyable off-road vehicles ever.

The first iteration of the “Jeep” was called the Willys MB and was hastily designed for use by the military. Near the end of the war, Willys began designing a new vehicle for domestic sale; it was called the CJ (Civilian Jeep). Based on the MB, the CJ was similar in appearance but designed with more user-friendly features such as a canvas top, rear-view mirror, rear seats, and a rear tailgate.

Jeep CJ-5 2



The CJ-2A was first version of the new design to be mass produced, with more than 200,000 sold over a period of four years. Willys continued improving the CJ through 1953, when the company was purchased by Kaiser. In 1954, the CJ-5 was released. It brought with it a number of new design features including an available 5.0-liter V-8 engine. In the early 1960s, Kaiser sold Willys to the American Motors Company (AMC), and by the end of the CJ-5’s production run in 1983, more than 600,000 had been sold.

This 1976  CJ-5 is equipped with a V-8 and appears to be fairly stock, which is rare for an older CJ. It also seems to have led a pretty easy life, covering just 68,000 miles. The seller’s asking price is $12,500 which strikes us as fairly reasonable for such an iconic piece of American motoring history.

1976 Jeep CJ-5

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.



from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1NzE86c
via IFTTT

0 comments:

Post a Comment