The very dressed-up Jeep you see up there is a Jeepster, specifically a Jeepster Commando, which is what Jeep called the re-born 1967 version of the original Jeepster from 1948. This one is actually just known as a Jeepster Convertible or sometimes Revival Jeepster, and was sort of the show pony of the Jeepster Commando lineup, as it had a lot enfancification elements grafted onto it, like the convertible-top-matching white trim that covers the upper part of the body from the A-pillar back, and ends in a little white deck complete with seven little ribs that do, um, something.
But the real party trick is the blingy Continental tire kit, with its extended chrome rear bumper and white tire cover. It’s funny, because Jeeps are among the more common cars to hang their spare tire on the back, but nobody ever calls a Jeep with a spare at the rear a “Continental style” setup; for that you need chrome and vinyl and at the very least aspirations of country club membership and maybe a few ideas that make people under 30 cringe when they hear you talk about them at Thanksgiving.
Really, though, what I want to point out is that Jeep seemed to have some sort of belief or wish that Jeepsters could lure in and dazzle crowds. Look at the one up there, everyone losing their shit and stopping that Jeepster on the road so they could crowd around it and really inspect the crap out of that thing, leaning in close to drink in all of the glorious Jeepsterism its outgassing.
What I find interesting is that this was the same method Jeep used to sell Jeepsters back in 1948, with the first generation of Jeepster:
See? Another crowd, all lured in with Jeepster Magic, leaning in and just admiring the paint off that thing, the intensity of their stares burning holes in the seat vinyl, the air heady with Jeepster arousal hormones. Hope you like attention, Jeepster owners!
Also, here’s a nice detail on the OG Jeepster: see the chrome steps in front of and atop the rear fender, to get into the back? Those are great. If I get sucked into one of these crowds, maybe I’ll focus my ardor on those.
So the Jeepster is kind of a strange car. When Jeep was owned by Willys, it was supposed to be a more pedestrian up-scale version of their CJ. Then when Kaiser bought Jeep they re-started production with the same idea but at some point (around 1966-67 time frame) decided to change the Jeepster to the “Jeepster Commando” and later to just “Commando” and redesigned the vehicle to compete more directly with the Ford Bronco, International Scout, and/or Chevy Blazer. They even redesigned the front in 1970 to look more like there competitors which they call the bull nose. If you haven’t guessed, I own one of these.
I have a 1968 4cyl f134 Hurricane all orginal except electric fuel pump and radio
This has not been abused it was ordered with Factory option/installed Western Snowplow.
A blast to drive, and it goes about anywhere, if you take the Plow Mount off “easy” unstoppable like a Army Jeep. I Plow the drive with it. Dont drive it much and im moving. I have to downsize, I have a old Harley 82 so between the 2 , 1 has got to go
Not many 4cylinder Commandos always a Dauntless v6 in them
Lose the Harley, keep the Jeep!
I never even noticed before, the spats over the rear wheels on the yellow one…..
That’s yellow jeepster is the 1st generation
The 2nd Generation Flares were not as big
Oh man, I get the same reaction on my ‘70 Jeepster. I think it’s like when someone gets a head injury and they see something that looks familiar but they can’t quite place it. Sometime the Wrangler guys start to give me the jeep wave, but then get all embarrassed and we just end up flipping each other off.
In the first picture the guy in the red shirt really loooOOOOOvvves the Jeepster.
My dad had a late-60s one when I was a little kid. He put studded snow tires on it every winter and it was absolutely unstoppable in any weather you could imagine. It also regularly blew off the muffler for some reason so after a while he just gave up and it was loud as hell (inspections were a bit less comprehensive back then). Alas, it was so determined to rot away that he took to brush-painting it with Rust-Oleum™️ which still was not enough to keep it from returning to the earth before its time.
Holy Toledo!
You could lose the entire city of Toledo in that blind spot.
Feature, not a bug
This just reaffirms my belief that any vehicle is better with whitewalls and a Continental kit.
[Staring silently at the first pic . . . breath a little shallow . . . haven’t read a single word of the article . . . perhaps it’s merely a petit mal seizure . . . ]
Pretty sure the woman in the top picture has backed over one of her children.
I learned to drive cars as a 7 or 8 year old kid in a 1948 Jeepster. Then around 11 or 12 years old I learned stick on a 1972 Commando. Both of these cars are big in my personal automotive history
Awfully bold of that person in the light blue outfit to put her foot on the front bumper & strike a jaunty Thinker-esque pose with one hand behind her back. Perhaps she was just pondering the conundrum of such an enfancificated Jeep which would indeed have been incomprehenisble back then, decades before the proliferation of luxury SUVs selling for $50k-$100+k.
My 68 had the 225 Buick V6 with the turbo 400 automatic, it was pretty peppy.
My first drivable car was a 68 Jeepster Commando convertible, mine was the downscaled convertible that didn’t have the two-tone or spare, but the same convertible top. Got it in 1978 as a $300 rust bucket (yeah it was only 10 years old), spent two summers redoing the body and had it on the road the fall of 1980 as my community college commuter. Never had a crowd anything like that around it, just people would say what the hell is that a Thing? It was alot of fun, but lacked in braking (4 wheel 10″ drums) and could have used power steering. Still have a soft spot for that era of Jeepsters.
I’m old enough to remember when a VW Thing could be a sight (always a wow look at that sight, but still…) on the road. As far as the funky former military vehicles now for fun market goes, the Jeepster was definitely the stylish American to the Thing’s Germanic sternness.
I enjoy the strangeness of the name for this model, generally.
“Commando” sounds very much like a modern Jeep name – manly and purposeful if a touch over the top, b/c Chrysler.
To see it affixed to a vehicle like this always seems discordant, esp. with a main name that’s already a diminutive. I think maybe it’s the soft top and the ’40s-style curves, even in the ’60s.
My first jeep was a 70 commando. It was very good off-road with the 225v-6 and very heavy flywheel. It was 101 in wheelbase and mostly a CJ-6 underneath ( the last few model years were 104 in. wb). They were not popular with only about 78,000 made from 1966-1973.
The 1st pic is very Stepford-wivish, but with a Ron Jeremy twist. The second pic……well, all the folks are wishing him well, as they set up the Wickerman.
What’s up with the guy in the red shirt in the first picture? Seems like he may need to get a room…
Must be Ray Wert’s grandfather.
https://opposite-lock.com/topic/43257/cruise-loses-ray-wert-chooses-a-life-of-crime/2
I was thinking the same thing. Very odd.
I have to wonder what these things were supposed to be designed for. On-road driving, off road driving?
It seems to me that is not perfectly suited for either. I really like the look, though.
Proto-Murano convertible.
On road, the original Jeepster was even RWD-only. Willys Overland didn’t revive their passenger car lineup after the war, focusing exclusively on Jeeps and Jeep derivatives until the new Aero came out in the ’50s, and the Jeepster was an attempt to spin a more car-like vehicle off the Jeep underpinnings to appeal to customers who weren’t quite so sure they wanted a Jeep.
Also often cited as possibly the last phaeton sold in America
Just Expect Every Possibility
Keeping up with International had convert pu, Ford Bronco,
Gm Jimmy
This was available as a soft top or hard top
they were intended to be more car like for the family and less bouncy small CJ style.
Yikes. The onlookers are kind of Steven Kingish, no?
You can almost hear them chanting “One of us! One of us! Gooble-gobble, Gooble-gobble.”
This is an idea that I can’t believe hasnt come back – graft some sleeker/more stylish body panels to the Wrangler’s structure, call it a Jeepster, and charge a further elevated premium price for it – like what Volkswagen does with the Arteon.
Oh, maybe that’s why
I would LOVE to get my hands on any generation of the Jeepster in decent shape. Alas, everybody who has one knows what they’ve got.
Just had a look around..seems +- $20,000 buys a very nice example down to around $5,000 for complete projects.
I have a driver, 4 cylinder All original 36000miles
Not sure where you are but Jim Babish Auto Sales in Johnstown Pa has 2. One expensive one one not too outrageous.
I’ve got a barn find that came out of West Texas. I’m hanging onto while I wait for my mid-life crisis to unfold. I’ll quite my job and drive to Alaska or something…seems like the perfect vehicle for such a thing.
Keeping up with International had convert pu, Ford Bronco,
Gm Jimmy
This was available as a soft top or hard top
Where in Canada I still can’t get in, meet ya at the border
I lusted after these in the mid aughts when a neighbor had one. They were too expensive then though and I have to believe there only more so now.
No T-shirts, pajama pants, flip flops or cargo shorts? Crowds have really changed.
Yeah, not even a ball cap.
No one in this crowd is wearing underwear tho
Now we just wear our underwear on the outside and call them “yoga pants”.
Now that you’ve drawn my attention to the rear fender of the yellow one, what is going on there? That can’t possibly be a spat, can it? Doesn’t cover enough of the wheel to be one, I would think. If it’s not a spat-that’s the actual fender-then it seems a bit phoned-in imo.
Not that I would kick this beast out of the garage for just about anything
Squared off and manly in the front, rounded off and dainty in the back.