Truck Of The Day: May 14, 2012

Today's car of the day is Majorette's 1980 Jeep CJ-5.

The Willys CJ (later Jeep CJ) (or "Civilian Jeep") is a public version of the famous Willys Military Jeep from World War II.

The first CJ prototype (the Willys CJ-2) was introduced in 1944 by Willys, and the same basic vehicle stayed in production through seven variants and three corporate parents until 1986.

A variant of the CJ is still in production today under license. The last CJs, the CJ-7 and CJ-8, were replaced in 1987 by the Jeep Wrangler.

Also available were two-wheel-drive variants, known as DJs.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Jeep CJ-5

A great model of the iconic Jeep from Majorette.  Very few manufacturers have not done at least one Jeep at some point in their history.

The Willys CJ-5 (after 1964 Jeep CJ-5) was influenced by new corporate owner, Kaiser, and the Korean War M38A1 Jeep. It was intended to replace the CJ-3B, but that model continued in production. The CJ-5 repeated this pattern, continuing in production for three decades while three newer models appeared. "The CJ-5 has the distinct honor of being a vehicle that was hard to kill off... equaling the longest production run of note." A total of 603,303 CJ-5s were produced between 1954 and 1983.
From 1961 to 1965, optional for the CJ-5 and CJ-6 was the British-made Perkins 192 cu in (3.15 L) Diesel I4 with 62 gross horsepower (46 gross kW) at 3000 rpm and 143 gross torque at 1350 rpm.
In 1965, Kaiser bought the casting rights to the Buick 225 cu in (3.7 L) V6 Dauntless and the CJ-5 and CJ-6 got a new engine with 155 hp (116 kW) supplementing the four-cylinder Willys Hurricane engine. Power steering was a $81 option.

A similar but two-wheel drive model, the Jeep DJ, was based on the CJ.

Side-marker lights were added in 1969.

The company was sold to American Motors (AMC) in 1970, and the GM engine was retired after the 1971 model year. (GM's Buick division repurchased the engine tooling in the early 1970s which served as the powerplant in several GM vehicles.) The "Trac-Lok" limited-slip differential replaced the "Powr-Lok" in 1971.

American Motors began using their own engines in 1972. Replacing the Hurricane was the one-barrel 232 cu in (3.8 L) (except in California). Optional was a one-barrel 258 cu in (4.2 L) (standard in California). Both engines used the Carter YF carburetor. Also in 1972, AMC's 304 cu in (5.0 L) V8 engine became available in the same tune as a base V8 muscle car. To accommodate the new engines the fenders and hood were stretched 5 inches (127 mm) starting in 1972 and the wheelbase was stretched 3 inches (76 mm). Other drive train changes took place then as well, including the front axle becoming a full-floating Dana 30. In 1973, a new dash was used, with a single gauge in the center of the dash housing the speedometer, fuel and temp. gauges.

In 1976 the tub and frame were modified slightly from earlier versions. The frame went from an open channel to boxed in front of the rear axle, and the body tub became more rounded. The windshield frame and windshield angle were also changed, meaning that tops from 1955 to 1975 will not fit a 1976-1983 CJ-5 and vice-versa. The rear axle was also changed in 1976 from a Dana model 44 to an AMC-manufactured model 20 which had a larger-diameter ring gear but used a two-piece axleshaft/hub assembly instead of the stronger one-piece design used in the Dana.

For 1977, power disc brakes and the "Golden Eagle" package(which included a tachometer) were new options.

In 1979, the standard engine became the 258 cu in (4.2 L) I6 that now featured a Carter BBD two-barrel carburetor.

An AM/FM radio became optional in 1981.

From 1980 to 1983, the CJ-5 came standard with a "Hurricane"-branded version of the GM Iron Duke I4 with an SR4 close-ratio four-speed manual transmission. The 258 cu in (4.2 L) I6 remained available as an option, but the transmission was changed from the Tremec T-150 3-speed to a Tremec T-176 close-ratio four-speed. The Dana 30 front axle was retained, but the locking hubs were changed to ones using a five-bolt retaining pattern.