UPDATE: **SOLD** Was $3000.

(09/16/2014) It’s a project.

“I have for sale a early Jeep CJ5. It is pretty plain with some rust. What makes it special is this is a factory DIESEL Jeep. It came from the factory with a Perkins 4.192 diesel engine! If I am not mistaken, this is the only model Jeep CJ or Wrangler that was sold in America that had a diesel engine. There were less than 300 ever produced. They made some CJ7’s with diesels, but only in Brazil. The story goes, it was originally made for the Air Force to be used as a tug, one of those vehicles that pulls the planes and cargo around the base. It was then bought by a chicken farmer in middle Tennessee and he had it for the majority of its life. It was then sold to a friend who is a diesel mechanic, which is where I found it.

The Jeep is complete, but it is a 49 year old un-restored Jeep. The frame has a good amount of surface rust on it, but it is still in safe & usable shape. The Jeep tub does have rust, if you are going to restore it, it will need floor pans. It was on a chicken farm for most of its life, remind you, but it is by no means a rust bucket. There are little dings and scratches here and there on the tub, but overall in pretty good shape. The hood, fenders and grill are all solid. As far as interior, it has two original bucket seats, but hardly any covering left on them. The Jeep is now a black color, but looks like the original color was a baby blue.

The Perkins diesel engine is not currently running. I bought it this way. The diesel mechanic who sold it to me bought it with a week number 3 cylinder. I just recently pulled the head to make sure there was no damage to the rotating group, which there is not. The problem is either a bad head gasket or a cracked head. This Perkins engine was also used in a very popular Massey Ferguson tractor, so engine parts are not hard to find. I know where a brand new NOS head is if it turns out to be a cracked head or you can pick up a head gasket from plenty of places. I am not worried about it. I do not see any small crack in the head, but I would have it magna-fluxed to be safe. Most likely, it blew the head gasket on the number 3 cylinder. The engine is all complete, like I said I just pulled the head a few weeks ago, but it is all sitting right there on the bench next to the Jeep. I even have the factory air cleaner, which are hard to find. The rest of the powertrain is typical early CJ5: T-98 4-speed transmission, Dana 18 transfer case, Dana 44 rear axle, Dana 25 or 27 front axle, I can’t remember which one came on the CJ. It has had a spring over lift installed, it sits on about 33″ tires.

I bought this Jeep about a year ago. I had been looking for a diesel Jeep for a long, long time, but honestly I have lost interest. I also have a restored Willys M38 army Jeep sitting right next to it and I don’t really feel like messing with either one of them. I just kind of got burned out on old Jeeps. I am more into the smooth ride and air conditioning now. I’m wanting to actually get rid of them both and do some traveling. It is a rare bird. It does come with a clean Georgia title.”