Kaiser-Jeep pickups
After 1963, Kaiser-Willys corp. changed its name to Kaiser-Jeep, thus closing the Willys company. In the same year that this happened (1963), the Gladiator was introduced. It was available in 1-ton, 3/4 ton, and 1/2 ton form, as a chassis and cab (all), Thriftside pickup (1/2 ton and 3/4 ton), Townside pickup (1/2 ton and 3/4 ton), and platform stake (3/4 ton and 1 ton). They were available as 4x4s and 4x2s. Production of these ended in 1988, being produced by each of the 2 companies that owned Jeep after Kaiser (AMC and Chrysler). The other pickups produced by Kaiser were the 1 ton and 1/2 ton trucks originally produced by Willys, the FC-Series trucks, and the Jeeepster Commando pickups. Kaiser ownership continued until 1970 when AMC purchased Jeep in February 1970. Note that we have many new pictures on this page, so be patient if they take a little while to load.
| A complete lineup from the 1960's of Kaiser Jeep Products | 1967 Kaiser Jeep Jeepster Commando Pickup |
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Kaiser Jeep FC-150 and Kaiser 1 or 1 1/2 ton pickup advertisement. |
Plans for an FC-190 that never made it to production |
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| Advertisement for jeep demonstrations | Advertisement for 1965 Jeep Gladiator |
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| 1965 Jeep Gladiator Camper Truck ad | Another Gladiator Camper Ad. |
 A picture of the famous Jeep Gladiator Matchbox toy. Note how on the box it gives an illustration of the suspension system used on the matchbox toys of that period. |
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| Kenney's landscaping must have been very proud of their 1966 Jeep Gladiator |
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| Another Gladiator, don't know the year on this one | Doesn't the positioning of these Gladiators look similar to that of the Ebro trucks pictures here? |
I recently spotted this 1966 Jeep J2000 on jeep-classifieds.com. As you can see this truck needs some
serious work. Note that the tailgate appears to be from a Willys pickup, so it may be a thriftside. Also note wood rear bumper
and the strange placement of the taillights. This truck has no front bumper. To see the ad for this truck, click here
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A 1965 Jeep Gladiator spotted on Ebay. As of February 18 2005 it had 1 day left, a $975 starting bid and
no bids.
A 1963 Kaiser Jeep pickup recently spotted on Ebay. As of Feb. 18 2005 it has 2 days left, a starting price
of $6000, and no bids.
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This is a 1966 ad that I found on Ebay. It is for Canfield Wreckers, who were authorized by Kaiser-Jeep. This brochure shows their wrecker equipment for the Gladiator. They also made tow truck bodies for the FC-series truck, Kaiser 1 ton pickup, and the CJ. You can see the ads for these here.
Some ads found on Ebay for the 1963 Jeep Gladiator thriftside. The bed looks like it's from the 1 1/2 ton Willys trucks that were also produced for a little while after the company name changed to Kaiser.
Another advertisement from 1963, this one being for an all steel utility box for Jeep Trucks.
A 1963 advertisement from Flex-n-gate Inc.'s aluminum cap available for Jeep Pickups.
The reverse side of the advertisement shows an "old style" Kaiser pickup with the aluminum cap.
A 1966 ad for Meyer snowplows featuring Jeep pickups, as well a regular Jeep. The pickups are a 1 1/2 ton pickup and an FC-150
This ad was from the same company that made the all steel FC body. The ad is from 1963, the year that the Willys name was changed to Kaiser, but it still says that Jeep is a registered trademark of Willys. This is also strange because the Gladiator was introduced by Kaiser, and never produced under the Willys name.
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A 1966 Jeep Gladiator found on Ebay. It is in pretty rough shape, though the seller said it was restorable. As you can see, it is a stake bed.
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A 1958 FC-170 that I spotted on one of my many ebay adventures. It has a really bizarre cage on the back that might be good for carrying monkeys or something like that. Actually, it was used for carrying cattle.
The Gladiator models offered by Kaiser.
Top (Left to Right)- Gladiator Cab and Chassis, Gladiator Platform Stake, Gladiator DRW
Bottom (Left to Right)- Gladiator Platform, Gladiator Townside, Gladiator Thriftside.
The bed and interior of the Gladiator.
A junk 1964 Gladiator. It was recently on Ebay. It could not run or drive, and I think that the engine was missing a lot. There were a ton of pictures, so I took the 2 that I thought best showed the truck in all of its hideousness. Note that they are large pictures and I am having trouble with the "slide show" photo gallery, so I made them thumbnails. Click on them to bring up a full size picture.
A nice ad from about 1964 comparing the Gladiator to what I think is a Dodge pickup of the same era. As you can read in the text of the ad the Gladiator appears quite civilized compared to other offerings of the period. What is funny about this ad is that it tries to compare the loading height of the Gladiator to that of the Dodge pickup, but the Dodge looks like it has been given a 2 inch body lift.
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Another Stahl ad, this one for side boxes "to add utility and to provide tool and material storage for the service trades. This particular option was for the J-200 and J-300.
A very rare MPC plastic model of a Jeepster Commando pickup. I found it on Ebay. I seriously doubt that this "Hombre" package was ever offered on the Commando. The model itself was not missing any pieces, but all the pieces were off of the "trees."
Another picture from Ebay. In the background, in the yellow circle, you can see what appears to be the cab of an FC. There has been an ongoing discussion about this on the forward forum, a web forum dedicated to FCs. You can see the conversation here.
This is an FC-170 DRW that was converted to a 3 door configuration by Freightliner for work on the Alaskan Pipeline. Notice how similar it looks to the M-677 on the military page. It appears that it was used as a tow truck for Hunt's Chevron service. The website I found this on claims that the vehicle has dual PTO winches and an L226 gas engine. The owner was asking for $4000, which seems a little high.
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This is an actual 1967 Jeep Gladiator J-3000 DRW. As you can see the original rear wheels have been replaced but the ad said that it still was configured for the dual rear wheels. It was being sold on Ebay. The engine was non original because it blew a rod. It had a utility type body, and came with a snowplow and a boomlift. This is the original ad for this truck:
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Jeep J3000 Service Truck V.I.N # 3406Z100127
This Jeep J3000 Service Truck is a "Work Horse". It is in overall good condition. We replaced the engine when the original engine blew a rod. Before us, it was owned by a local party. The utility box is customized and made with 3/16" thick steel. The actual miles are 45,195. It does need some cosmetic touch-ups such as the interior upholstery. We did repaint the truck in 1997, but due to sitting outside the past few years, it will require either new paint or sections repainted. |
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The auction for this truck ended July 31 with 2 bids but the reserve was never met.
This is a really cool ad. It is comparing the 1963 Gladiator to a nonexistent model pickup that I guess is supposed to look like a dodge of the same vintage. But, if you look closely, it appears that this "Dodge" is actually based on a Gladiator, but with a higher suspension.. I guess that it is most likely an airbrushed photo, or the people at Kaiser built it themselves. The similarities include the fenders, fenderflares, the quad headlights, the front bumper, the shape of the hood, and the length of the bed, among other things. Funny, isn't it?
This is a Jeep Gladiator DRW with a Canfield Wrecker body. The ad itself is a promotional postcard from 1963. I found it on Ebay.
Here are some pictures that are really of interest to me because I am from the Boston area. It is of a FC-170 DRW that belonged to the MBTA (Mass. Bay Transit Authority) I found these pictures on http://jeepfc.www5.50megs.com/registry/ob/ob.htm, just part of a great site run by Danny Hartling. How could these vehicles have pushed these huge buses used by the MBTA in the same era?
A Gladiator thriftside that has definitely seen better days. Note the homemade snowplow bracket, and that the rear hubcap is still there.
A rough-looking Jeep J-3000. This is an older picture that I forgot to put on the site as of the last update so I don't have any further information on this particular truck. I think that it may have been for sale though.
An extremely rough J-3000 DRW. Note the markings left by old lettering in the front fender. What could this have possibly be from? Also note the old snowplow bracket on the front.
Another J-3000 Dually, this one is in much better shape however. It looks like it is missing one of the dual rear wheels, as well as the bed. Note the old red paint showing through from underneath the newer green paint. This is a pretty solid example of a DRW and would make a great restoration candidate.
The same truck. In this picture you can see a piece of plywood and what I think could be an outboard motor resting on the bare frame rails. Is that really such a great idea?
A beautiful example of a DRW camper. I'm pretty sure that this is a factory photo. I have never found any other mention of this kind of vehicle.
2 decent examples of 1964 Gladiator DRW's. The truck in the bottom photo has a newer late 1970s- early 1980s J-truck front end. Note the strange front wheels. These don't look like the other DRW rims that I've seen, which were made by Budd. Perhaps these were the rims used on the early DRW models, and then they were changed? This remains a mystery to me.
This thumbnail is of a Kaiser Jeep FSJ-based Paddy Wagon. This and the following pictures were licensed builders of custom bodies for FSJs apparently. They are some very interesting vehicles.
This is a "visual aid truck" built by the same company. Anybody know what a visual aid truck is? Email us please if you know.
This company also made a Variation of the Wagoneer called the PD Traveller. It has a raised roof and barn rear doors. What "PD" means I do not know.
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This is an FC cab of an unknown year that was mounted on a WWII surplus weasel tracked vehicle, and made a handy year-round cab for it. Note the sagging suspension in the front due to the weight of the cab.
(Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the image)
These are some pictures sent to us of a 1966 Jeep J3000 DRW wrecker. It runs and drives, and features a Jeep 327 engine with a four-speed transmission. The Canfield wrecker seems to be a model JB-432, according to the brochure featured earlier on the page. These are truly interesting and rare vehicles and we are proud to feature them on our site.
(Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the image)
This is a picture that was sent to us of a 1966 Jeep J200. It has a 230 OHC tornado straight six motor. Though the vehicle appears to have been sitting out in the elements for some time, it seems to be in good condition, and an excellent candidate for restoration.
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