When it comes to rare tow trucks….and there are such things are rare tow trucks this may be one of the rarest of all. Reader Jerry Johnson sent us this Craigslist find which knocked our socks off because we have never heard of a Jeep J20 wrecker, let alone one that’s in the pristine near-new shape that this one is in. The engine looks to be the tough as nails AMC 401 and after that we have no idea what the rest of the drivetrain is. The transmission? Your guess. The rear axle? Who knows. We’re not even sure if it is single rear wheel or a dually setup. The seller is pretty convinced that this thing is about as rare as a unicorn and the fact that the title reads “Factory Demo” we’re believing him. Have you ever seen another one?
Here’s the text of the listing:
I have a rare 74 factor j20 4 wheel drive wrecker pto wench works. perfrct. tires 90percent look u wouldn’t find 1 that’s factor built have paper work. have org bill of sale 6500-obo or trade.
Sad as it is to say, the $6500 may be strong money for this truck. As good as it is, as clean as it is, and as truly cool as it is, we’re just not sure that there’s actually someone out there with the desire to throw that much cash down for this truck. Hey, if we are questioning it and you know how sickly obsessed we are about wreckers there can’t be that may people with this problem as bad as we have it. Are we being cheap asses? Is this thing priced right? Check out the photos below and let us know!
SCROLL DOWN AND CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS OF THIS 1974 JEEP J20 WRECKER –
CLICK HERE to see all of the photos of this 1974 Jeep J20 Wrecker
I’ve seen them before, back in the day, but maybe not a “factory” conversion. Anything you could take the bed off could become a “tow-truck”. Put a lift kit on it & some 37’s and go mudding – you can pull your buddies out & make some money too!!!!
Wow, this thing is awesome. A Jeep dealer in our area had an old FC cabover converted to a dually with a wrecker body on the back. Used it up until the dealership closed in around ’05 and he still drives it to car shows. Had some other cool old AMCs he used to display in the showroom too, like a ’66 Marlin, a ’64 Rambler and a big Bad Green Go Pack AMX.
I love those old J10/20s, those were good old trucks. The wrecker gear on the back just sweetens the deal. There’s a guy around town who owns a J10 with a homebrew expedition camper on the back. I have been tempted on more than one occasion to offer him my firstborn for it.
Im the owner of this 74 j20 an i have the paper an bill of sale where its a factory demo wrecker inside nice as out side price obo anybody can text me about it 256-589-9110 ty jimmy
Pretty cool truck, I’m guessing D60 single rear…but is the paper marked “factory demo” from a used-car dealer? It may have been spec’d/built at or for a Jeep dealer once from a cab/chassis or a pickup w/ the bed removed, used for a while then sold like they do any other demo. I don’t think the Jeep factory itself was into doing the special-use bodies but like all truck builders the frame was made to accommodate. Jeep did offer a dually cab-chassis when the Gladiator was first introduced (along w/ winches, pto etc.) but I’ve never seen one.
Thanks for finding, commenting here…we love unusual trucks around this place. Hope it finds a good home.
It’s 6500 for a tow truck.
Dirt cheap, really.
The fact that it’s a J20? It’s a steal – for somebody…
I’d be really, really tempted to put a 14 bolt / D70 combo in there with a Stak 300, because why the hell not.
Nice truck, decent price, but far from the only one out there. These were available as chassis/cab setups and tow bodies would be installed later at the dealer or by outside companies. This body looks like a Holmes unit. I have pictures of several tow trucks that look similar to this which are scattered around the country. I have had 2 J-truck duallys so far, fyi.
Saw one in the late 70’s and not sure if the tow body was added on later, but the owner loved that truck. While dumping the days load from the garbage truck I was working on at the local landfill, the truck next to mine dumped a load of NEW auto parts from the AMC zone office and I picked up a few parts I resold. One was this odd thick flat plate like you’d find on the front of a tow truck. Hmm, AMC? I took it to the guy with the Jeep tow truck and he bought it on the spot for $150! Think we were both happy that day!
Rustowner that would be pretty cool if you wanted to post any of those pics, or any you had of your own…
If I knew how to do that here, I’d be happy to. 🙂
Here’s a link to my photo gallery. Couple of pics of the 2 J truck dually’s I had and some other oddball dually Jeeps I still have.
http://imgur.com/a/Aocpm
Tow truck pics are on another computer at office. I can update later…..if I can remember. LOL.
My friend has one that is a few years older, as its a Gladiator – 1967/1968 ish. We thought it was homemade until we saw the exact body and hinky lift setup in an old jeep advertisement.
His has what looks like a 232 AMC in it, with a T18, and Dana 60 single wheel rear end. Its pretty rough and we have never found the VIN on it to verify its age.
I have two of these…a late ’74 and an early ’75. The truth is they were Jeep Special order options and are shown in the Jeep books that the salesmen used. if you notice his paperwork it says SE and a part number follows. that means special equipment. his from what looks like in the pics is the real deal and the wrecker bed should be a Canfield 5 ton.
I have a 1967 J 2000 Gladiator dump truck.
I own this tow truck now if you want to come see it. 256-309-9406 you know I can pay for it in a year pulling Fords outa the mud.
I have a 73 J2000 4×4 wrecker the same body as yours they were factory installed from canfield.