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1974 CJ-6 Spec's Jeep CJ-6 History AZ_VJC Jeep Club Jeep Pictures Jeep Links Political-Jeep Links Closed Trails Hydraulic Clutch On-Board-Air | |||
| AMC Jeep CJ-6 History | |||
| 1956 | Introduction of the CJ-6. It was 20 inches longer than the CJ-5, with sheet metal inserts forward of the rear wheel openings. (1) | ||
| 1972 | Overall length increased by 3 inches, (wheelbase went from 101" to 104") to accommodate the AMC V-8's. (1) | ||
| 1974 | Record sales of 69,800 Jeeps. (2) | ||
| 1975 | In April, the 400,000th Jeep vehicle built since American Motors' acquisition of Jeep in 1970 came off the assembly line. (2) | ||
| 1975 | Last year of domestic production of the CJ-6. (2) | ||
| 1976 | Last year of export production of the CJ-6. (2) | ||
| During the 20 year production run of the CJ-6, there were less than 60,000 produced. Almost one tenth the amount of CJ-5's produced during the same period. I would speculate this was probably due to poor advertising and marketing. The quote below has a different opinion. "CJ-5 vs. CJ-6 : The two-Jeep test run through desert & mountain told PV4 staffers why the CJ-6 hasn't sold well. It's simply because not enough serious off-roaders have been exposed to the highly desirable all-terrain capabilities of this vehicle. It is staff opinion this situation is the result of pure prejudice on the part of dyed-in-the-wool "original" Jeep lovers who just can't stand change-even if it's for the better. The CJ-6 is all Jeep, in every sense of the word and, in many instances, as PV4's road test crew determined, superior to the CJ-5 "original". The CJ-5 enthusiasts badmouth of the CJ-6 is totally unwarranted hogwash. And, know this, the self-styled off-road ace who speaks ill of the CJ-6 doesn't know what he's talking about because he obviously never has driven the extended chassis Jeep in off-road situations. Here's the long and short of it: The CJ-5 is not the only Jeep. The CJ-6 is a true Jeep-plus." (3) I was 10 when the above was written and I was only 8 when my current Jeep was built, so I don't personally know the attitudes of the time. But, I know the longer CJ-6 is what I would choose to buy all over again if I had the chance. The Cj-5's are nice in some situations because they are so short, but that's the only benefit over the CJ-6 that I can think of. | |||
(1) Jeep Owner's Bible, by Moses Ludel (2) Standard Catalog of 4x4's, Robert C. Ackerson (3) Jeep CJ-5 & CJ-6 : 1960 - 1976, compiled by R. M. Clarke | |||