Last week I was scheming on how to collect my M-715. About 8 years ago I sold my Army truck to a friend, then he sold it back to me a few months ago. I was employed and could pay for it back then, but I have never picked it up from him. I have not even seen it in person in maybe 5 years, so I started surfing CraigsHelper.com to see what the state of M-715s is these days.
If you’re unfamiliar, the M-715 is a giant 4×4 roadster pickup built by Kaiser-Jeep from ’67-’69 for the military. It’s rated at 1-1/4 tons (called 5/4-ton) and has Dana 60 and 70 axles with 5.87:1 gears, which it needs, because the stock Tornado overhead-cam six is horrifically underpowered. (It is, however, the first OHC motor produced in the States.) The main merit to these it that they are the most baddest assest Jeeps ever built by the factory and they accept 40-inch tires with no lift kit.
Depending on who you ask, they only made 30,000-40,000 of these, but there was a time when they were everywhere for cheap. They all had super low miles on them—like less than 10,000—because they were too punishing to drive anywhere far from the base. I bought mine for $3000, sold it for $2500, and bought it back for the same amount.
Not too many go for that cheap on CraigsList these days. They seem to be in the $3,000 to $5,000 territory. Here’s the ad for the one I picked for this week’s item. It was listed at $7,000 forever, but the guy just came down to $5,500. He claims it’s the nicest one on the planet and he has it advertised in a bunch of cities, but he’s in Cincinnati. It has a 460 Ford in it, which is kind of an odd swap. You see many with small Chevys (clearly too small) and with 455 Buicks, because the Buick bolts right in using Jeep Gladiator or Wagoneer mounts from ’69 when the factory used Buick 350s.
So there’s a mini history on M-715s. Look for more when I finally drag mine home.
