Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Jeep comes with a unique feature, that being a fiberglass body. That means it’s never going to rust up top, and getting it through the TSA should be a breeze, but for all that will its price make your eyes glass over?
Okay, so was yesterday’s 2000 Saab 9 superscript-3 really a Viggen or was it just a standard convertible with a lot of crap cluttering up the interior that would need to be cleaned out? Regardless, according to the ad it seemingly came with... an umbrella. That might have been what pushed it over the top and on to a solid 68% Nice Price win. It should be noted, that was at its original $$4,500 price, not its now $6,000 asking. Let’s just leave the seller to see how that works out.
People used to quip that men don’t make passes at girls who wear glasses. I don’t think that’s true any more, and today’s Jeep Renegade might get a pass from some of you owing to its glass body - fiberglass that is. Now, there are generally two types of people in this world, those who dig fiberglass Jeeps and those who despise them. Actually there is a third type - those who’ve never even heard of the plastic-tubbed off-roaders - but I’ve yet to meet one of those.
Anyway, this 1972 Jeep CJ-5 Renegade has had its body replaced in plastic, probably owing to its original steel unit turning to swiss cheese from that ol’ demon rust. Fiberglass doesn’t rust, but it does tend to suffer from other maladies such as stress cracking and not being quite as strong as metal. You’ll note that Superman is the ‘Man of Steel,’ not the ‘Man of Fiberglass.’
That’s pretty much okay here as the CJ-5 rocks a stout ladder frame and the body is mostly along just to keep people from falling off of that. The body here, while not in a factory material, is at least in one of the crazy ‘70s colors Jeep offered on the Renegade. It also has a Renegade script hood decal, which looks awesome, although I’m not sure that’s correct for a ’72. Experts?
Under the hood you’ll find Jeep’s 232-cid OHV straight six. That’s a 100-bhp/185 lb-ft 7-main mill which was the Jeep’s base engine in ’72. That’s something else that’s odd here, as I think Renegades all came with V8s this model year.
Behind the small six is a three-speed manual and two-speed transfer case. The underside looks clean as a bean, as does the body. The ad claims 50K on the clock, as well as new brakes, wheels and tires, and springs. Making it pretty-pretty there’s new paint and a bikini top to keep the sun off your dome.
What’s not to like? Well, there doesn’t seem to be any full top so it’s at best a fair weather friend. It also sports only a six-point roll bar. Remember what I said about stress cracks? Well, there’s enough weight in the windshield on one of these that the fiberglass at the attachment points can decide to split over time, especially if you do a lot of off-roading. A family cage would fix that right up. There’s also no tail gate which might not be a problem if yourTinder profile indicates that you’re into high lift-overs.
This is a killer-looking CJ-5, and it rocks a lot of old-school features which are cool if you like roughing it. The fiberglass body will never rust, but then it’s also not original and has some of its own tradeoffs. It’ll be up to you to decide which side of the fence you’re on regarding that.
The price is $11,500, which is right in the neighborhood of older Jeep values right now. What we want to know is whether you think this green meanie is worth that kind of scratch. What do you think, should the seller get that much cash for this much glass? Or, is this Jeep priced for a steel, not a steal?
You decide!
Eastern Shore MD Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Yes, I like Jukes for the hookup!
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