The seller of today’s Nice Price or No Dice Custom Jeep Grand Cherokee pickup says a new owner can remove the decals if not to their taste. I’m betting most of you didn’t even notice them at first. Let’s see if this surprising custom also surprises in the price department.
It’s unfair to say that the majority of your comments on yesterday’s 1980 Chevy Monza 2+2 centered on damning it with faint praise. No, in reality, most of you damned the car with full damnable damnation giving as the reason it being a wholly mediocre car. Perhaps a more accurate description would be “a product of its era.”
Still, that denouncement didn’t play out in the vote, since at just $3,500 even a car of such meager aspirations has its place, and in our case, that place was a 57 percent Nice Price win.
Now, I’m going to preface the discussion of today’s 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee custom mini pickup by acknowledging that we generally shy away from what we classify as “Other People’s Projects (OPP). I’m hoping we can make an exception to that in the case of this fully-realized and quite professional appearing custom.
Despite offering various Gladiators and Comanches over the years, Jeep has never really been known as a “pickup truck company.” In the Mopar microcosm, that role is generally ascribed to the Ram division. That all being said, this is not a weird concept in the least, even if the hot rodder that built this interesting beast had to leverage parts from a Chevy Colorado for its creation.
According to the description in the ad, this is a home-build with the seller claiming “I have built many hot rods over the years, this is my favorite.” The work started out, the seller claims, with a “mint, top of the line, fully optioned 2007 Grand Cherokee.” That was disassembled and then decapitated aft of the front doors. A bed and tailgate from a Colorado pickup were added, along with a custom-melded cab cap and back glass from some other donor.
Aside from some odd proportions from certain angles and the fact that your brain has a hard time processing what it is you are seeing, it all looks very righteous and well-conceived. Of course, the Grand Cherokee is a unit-body SUV and hence there’s likely some question as to the torsional rigidity of the final outcome. Any owner, however, is unlikely to be fording the Rubicon in so unique a vehicle. That is unless they’re some sort of desperate YouTuber using the attempt to drive up likes, comments, and subscriptions.
Okay, enough about the concept, let’s get to the specs. First off, under the hood you’ll find a 5.7 liter Hemi V8. In the 2007 Grand Cherokee, that was factory rated at 330 horsepower and 375 lb.-ft of torque. That should be plenty for the home center runs the seller claims are the truck’s raison d’être. Behind that engine is a five-speed automatic and Jeep’s legendary AWD. All that has seen 90,000 miles which isn’t a ton.
More fun stuff can be found inside. The interior is laden with factory accessories including dual-zone climate control and fancy leather seats. Everything in here (or what’s left, at least) looks to be in perfectly serviceable shape.
The only downsides to the exterior are some aftermarket headlamps that, like almost all aftermarket headlamps are a bit too over the top, and some fender graphics that might not be to everyone’s taste. Personally, I don’t mind the decals down the flanks, but I take exception to the Gladiator name on the back gate. The repositioned rear license plate is also a bit of a kludge, but with a little work that could be frenched into the gate for a smoother look.
You might think that the impetus for this custom was someone being stuck with a salvage-titled truck due to a wreck or other unfortunate issue. That’s not the case, however, as the seller notes that the Jeep has a clean title. Why is the builder now selling the Jeep? The ad doesn’t say, although reading between the lines it seems that the interest was more in the “can I?” than the “yes I could.” Perhaps the builder needs the space and the cash for a new, equally audacious project?
That cash, by the way, is $18,500 and it’s now time for you all to weigh in on whether or not that reflects a good deal. What do you say, does this custom Jeep pickup warrant such an outlay as it sits? Or, does that price make this a custom truck that won’t soon be picked up?
You decide!
Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Earl Junior for the hookup!
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