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Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:49 am
by Icetruck
Hi Guys,

Thanks for having me in the forum. I always had a soft spot for the FSJ but never had a chance to own one. I recently came across a strong candidate, in Iceland where i work, on the former NAS Keflavik base. It' a '75 Cherokee, 4 speed manual box with the 360 V8.
The spec is intriguing: black bumpers, they were never chromed, no chrome either around the windshield or the window frame of the doors and back windows. The tailgate has the wind-up window and the car looks like it could have been a former military vehicle, possibly airport fire service. The only chrome are the door handles and the winder on the tailgate, and of course the grille is shiny. The interior looks to be stock.
Here's a question for all you history buffs: was this kind of stripped down version available commercially or was it only offered to Government/ forces/ law enforcement and the like?
I haven't bought it yet, and to me it doesn't matter what its former jobs were, i'm just intrigued by the spec. I have driven it though, and it made me smile. I will try to post pictures if I can figure out how to do it.

Cheers

Eric

Re: Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 11:04 am
by Stuka
I owned a '75 Cherokee that was for the government. It had an AM General sticker on the glove box listing out a bunch of stuff. As all Jeeps intended for government usage passed through AM General first. I also had the build sheet for it, which was cool.

Mine was also a 360 4v, T18a 4sp, non-power drum brakes, no radio, no chrome, etc.

BTW: Welcome to the forum!

Re: Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 2:07 pm
by Icetruck
Thanks Stuka!

I will have a look next time I go see it. Will try to find out more about it. And when I can, there'll be pictures.

Cheers

Re: Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 2:14 pm
by tgreese
I have seen SSR&O numbers (Special Sales Request and Orders) that indicate it's an agency vehicle. Look on the VIN plate. I don't remember what the letters were specifically but it was something like "GSA" or "US."

Re: Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 6:52 pm
by jpswapmohn
Welcome to the forum.
I had a 77 J10 that was a govt truck. It was also as Stuka describes, with part of the radio delete plate still in place. There was a sticker on outside of the glovebox door that had a few paragraphs of verbiage. I did have power brakes, with discs on the front. Sold it last year to a retired mechanic that was looking for one to completely restore.

For pictures, you will have to host them on a site like flicker or such. Just don’t go to photobucket since they now block 3rd party posting..

Re: Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:18 pm
by letank
my 74 was not a govt FSJ, no courtesy lights, no cigarette lighter, no chrome trim, but chrome bumpers and 3 spd auto, QT w reduc unit

Re: Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 7:15 pm
by j10jim
I had a 1983 Cherokee that was ex Gov. 360, 727, 208. Vinyl interior, am radio, standard windows and rear manual window. No power door locks, etc. Did have A/C. Had a Sticker on the pass side door (still have that door on my 1980 j10.

Re: Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:52 am
by fulsizjeep
I know the US Forest Service and Border Patrol picked some up in the mid-late 70s. I have seen two over the years and they were both Forest Service green which I think is the same color that the Border Patrol used. Jeep managed to get lots of contracts like this over the years. I think the last year you could get a new basic spec government use FSJ was 88. They were also bought by various law enforcement branches.

Not a Cherokee but the first several years I worked at Mesa Verde, we had a 80 J20 set up with a plow and spreader. This was ex-DOD truck that the auto shop manager picked up for free in 1990. His crew did the work to convert it to a plow truck and it did winter service on all the side roads and parking lots for about 15 years. It was picked up by another agency in 06 or 07 and had less than 36k miles on it. It would have been great for clearing roads and driveways in our area where the county does not plow. We are at the end of county maintenance. Fortunately, they plow our road up to the far end of our property before they turn around. Here is a tribute page I put up about it: http://frontier.net/~mystkblu/hornet

Re: Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 5:57 am
by tgreese
letank wrote:my 74 was not a govt FSJ, no courtesy lights, no cigarette lighter, no chrome trim, but chrome bumpers and 3 spd auto, QT w reduc unit
Yep - just because it's plain jane equipped does not mean it's an agency vehicle. My J10 is a bare-bones model with no options to speak of, but it was first owned by a civilian, a bee keeper. 258, 3-speed PS/PB, no radio, no cigar lighter. Standard equipment AFAIK. I would expect extra identifying marks on an agency vehicle, and a SSR&O that's not blank.

Re: Basic spec Cherokee. Govt workhorse?

Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2018 3:37 am
by Icetruck
Thanks guys! I'll be checking out the glove box next time I'm at work. Keflavik was a massive base back in cold war days and a lot of American service personnel lived there, with their own vehicles, plus of course the necessary hardware for the job, all of which came from the US. There are still a few cars and light trucks left from that time, mostly GM and Ford. The Cherokee looks a lot better than the rest!