We like different here. We like it because it shows that there is still a lot of creative thinking going on in the world of hot rodding. Now, not all different is great, right? Some different is unfortunate and confusing. To us, the most interesting kind of different is the type that walks the line between both worlds and sends half the world into fits while the other half eats it up. Is this 1975 Jeep Cherokee Chief different enough to be cool or too different to be accepted?
For starters we dig the look. A truck that sits like this with minimal lift and full wheel wells is alright in our book. There’s the Mopar snorkel hood, the fender flares, the sunroof, and then there’s the interior. All black with diamond stitching, it is definitely a departure from what we expected and while we cannot say that we hate it, we’d not have opted for that stuff if we got to build it again. The dash is a factory piece and it is cool with its turned metal look. The quality of the interior looks great, its the style that’ll be polarizing.
The drivetrain will throw people for a loop for what’s there and what isn’t. First off, unless our eyeballs are broken we’re not seeing a transferase or front driveshaft in the truck. Not the worst thing in the world, especially if you just plan on street cruising, right? The engine is an iron-headed big block Chevy! No AMC or Jeep engine in here, it is a rat motor. The engine has headers and an intake on it, we don’t know what else. The rear gear is a 4.56 and with the decently tall tire we guess it would not be THAT bad, unless you wanted to road trip it.
So what do you think? Too much? Just enough?
eBay: This 1975 Jeep Cherokee Chief has a big block Chevy and no front driveshaft
How original! Wow! A Chevy! Who’da thought? Gimme a break. Loose the engine, hell, put a 4.0 inline in it before that. Too much diamond pleating. My favorite Mopar street scoop.
I WAS HOLDING MY LUCKY CHARMS UNTIL I SAW THE CHEVY MOTOR…
I can see a lot of work went into this rig. Lots of work = lots of time. Pity some of that time didn’t go into finding a proper AMC 360 or 401.
The story will be they couldn’t find a decent Blazer. But for THAT price they should have kept looking.
you can also buy ‘pre-sewn’ diamond by the yard…..
Definitely not how I’d build it.
oogly…. rear roll pan, mini truck style gross. BBC no thanks.
Meh…
Interior – NO
Air cleaner – NO
Hood scoop – not sure. I always thought the stock hood on these was perfect.
Everything else – nice
Price – $30,000!!!!!!!!! No way
Another vehicle worthy of the “Double Crack Pipe Award”
Crack pipe build with a crack pipe asking price ….
Is that a massive auxiliary fuel tank hanging down in the back?? Maybe left over from the truck was an actual off-road 4×4 vehicle.
As for being a RWD only street vehicle, the front suspension is probably not set up for that amount weight. Just throwing in stiffer sprigs is not the end all fix.
The t-case is gone probably b/c:
1) This thing had a bad habit of stretching t-case chains w/ the stock engine, nevermind, a BBC
2) It wouldn’t survive the BBC, even it it wasn’t stretched to start with
3) Go luck finding parts for above mentioned t-case
The ride wasn’t particularly great w/o going to aftermarket springs/shocks. Making it 2wd wouldn’t help that.
Interior looks idiotic, hot & sticky in the summer, hard & cold as hell in the winter.
$30K? Not a chance! $15K? Probably not. $7.5K Maybe, but probably not. $5K, possibly. Mileage has to suck w/ a BBC & the aerodynamics of a cardboard box.
It’s a hard no for me. These rigs are so great stock with a spring over conversion, there would just be too much work to un-ugly this one.