Editions
The 462, the forerunner of the Renegade package
Kaiser saw the sales of the Jeep slip in the 60s and was wanting to cash in on the muscle car trend with the CJ5. They made a special version they called the 462. It was a step to improve the reputation of the jeep among the off road and sports crowd. So in 1969 they produced a Limited number of the 462. It is thought these were for a press release party and not much is known about what happened to these Jeeps
upgrades were larger wider off road tires, the V6 Dauntless, extra gauges, a hood stripe and a roll bar. All these are not much by today's standards but in 1969 they lit the Press up. Also included in this were bucket seats and a rear seat, heavy duty oil pan skid plate, rear swing out tire carrier, full wheel covers, (hub Caps) padded visors and padded dash, heavy duty frame and springs and a locking differential. with these additions in mind the next year Jeep released the first of the Renegade packages and the rest is history.
Johnny Cash in his rare 462.
The Special Value Package
Here's an example of a little known package called the Special value package. These pics were taken from a local Craigslist ad.
This Cj is wearing the factory Sunshine yellow paint. The wheels came color matched along with chrome beauty rings similar to the Limited. The only 2 colors available were Sunshine Yellow and Adriatic Blue Metallic.
Here you can see some of the many options this package added. A chrome front bumper with Marchal fog lights, matching chrome bumperettes and factory side steps. Originally sold with a white or black Whitco soft top our example has a Bestop Super top and an aftermarket rear tube bumper.
Golden Hawk
In mid-1980, Jeep's product planners developed a pair of Limited-production Jeeps to create some excitement in the market. The CJ Golden Hawk available on both the CJ5 and CJ7, included a tri-tone stylized Hawk decal on the hood, tri-tone striping on the body, gold-colored wheels, tan top and high-back seats, fog lamps, and a host of other trim bits.
Renegade
This was The longest running and most popular package developed for the CJ line.
Kaiser looked at the extreme excitement over the 462 and developed it into a Edition, they called it the Renegade.
It ran from 1970 to 1986 on the CJ, a GO and SHOW package, was extremely popular and is one of the most collectable Editions ever made. In 1976 AMC dropped all the performance package standard items and made them options, this took the bite out of the package but not the popularity. Until 1986 and the end of the CJ line, the Renegade package was one of the most popular options on the CJ5, CJ6, Cj7 and Cj8.
It started in 1970 with the CJ5, packaged as the Renegade 1 it came with the V6, a Trackloc rear Diff, roll bar and swing-away rear tire carrier. It was badged with cowl and hood stripes and read Renegade 1. a Amp and oil gauge were in the package as well as G70-15 tires on 15x8 rims about 250 were built under a special sales order (SSO)
In 1971 it was badged as the Renegade 2, it kept all the show and go and added American Racing Alloy Wheels with H78-15 tires, still a SSO it sold real well.
1972 saw it became the Renegade, no longer had a number, it was still a SSO but now it had a lot more Bark in it's go, they Added the 304 V8 to the package and all the rest of the drive line upgrades. Plus a gas tank skid plate. Sales soared past 2500 and a hit was on AMC's hands.
In 1973 the Hood stripe was again modified so it surrounded a V8 badge. Changing the Stripe pattern over the years always kept the look fresh.
1974 saw it go over to a Regular Production Order (RPO) It was now available in standard CJ colors and the Tracloc was deleted. This was the first move to water down the GO in the package.
AMC made more changes to the CJ in 1976, and when they did they took the bark out of the Renegade Edition. No longer did it come with performance upgrades standard, they were now options to the package, so any engine could get the Renegade badge. The Levi Interior option was added to the package but the Renegade was no longer a GO and SHOW package, but just a SHOW package. It was retained till 1986 and expanded into the CJ7 line. It's popularity never diminished and is still one of the most sought after Jeeps out there.
It has been badged on Tjs for a few years proving the CJ reputation can never be put down. From a collectors view point the 1970 and 1971 are the gems of the line, then up till 1975 are strong contenders. The later
Models still sell well, After all a legend is hard to dismiss.
The Renegade had 10 different designs for striping, and we are going to post examples of them all here.
Jeep was not blind, they could see the sales that were made by excitement over the new technology of applying vinyl stripes. The Ponttica Judge, the Mopar Roadrunner, this as a lucrative area, so the jumped in.
Renegade, what a word, current Hollywood westerns were strong. This word spoke one who was not part of the crowd, someone who rebelled, someone who walked in their own footsteps, not others. Wow imagine what this could do for the image of the CJ line. Create a sporty idea to a product seen as a farm tool. So they went with it.
1970 was the introduction, the side stripe with the word RENEGADE. It spoke "Look At Me" and it sold.
Simple by today's standards, but still bold in the day, this started out the legend
1971, the renegade 2, a bit different to say we were going places, but it still rocked a fresh new appeal, taking the que from the muscles cars, it featured a big center stripe. now the Renegade 2
1972 and 1973, We make the Word Renegade larger and drop the number, we are just the Renegade and we are proud.
1974 to 1975 1/2, Now we take the stripe and turn it down at the cowl, it goes down the the V8 Logo, yea this puppy has a V^ and we are proud to let you know.
1975 1/2 to 1976, Yea we are really getting bold now, gone is the center stripe but now we cross the hood and run down the sides with larger Lettering. We are a huge impact on sales and we are going places.
1977 to 1978, we are Bold we are Proud, the lettering now has the impact, it is huge and the huge stripe crosses the hood and dies out at the lettering. We are now a legend and we are going to let you now all about it.
1979 to 1980, Lets get with the program, multicolor striping and side board stripes complete the badging.
1981 to 1982, they change the stripes and how they run. Tricolored and bold, they still are a major feature in the finish.
1983 to 1984, now the hood stripe is down the center again and the side board stripe falls down in front of the door, the stylist are proud.
1985 to 1986, we can call this the last hurah, and it is sharp. The sidewall strip goes over the rear wheel opening to the back of the Jeep.
Limited
This edition ran from 1982 to 1983 and was an upscale package for the CJ7 only. It was a nicely tricked out package. There was a small “Limited” emblem on the rear above special pin striping. Matching top, wheel centers, and body paint. There were chrome accent on the spoke wheels with special Goodyear tires. Chrome front bumper and chrome bumperettes and other items tricked out the exterior. On the interior were such things as high back bucket seats in western weave, sports console, soundproofing and tilt steering with air conditioning available. It did reflect a $2895 price for the option in 1982.
Levi Edition
The edition that was not an edition, yes this option now is often confused with a special edition because they used a sticker on the outside of the tub to promote it. However, this was never truly an edition, instead it was one of the most popular interior and top options Jeep ever offered, so popular it was included in several of the upgrade packages. It was in the line from 1975 to 1986. It included simulated stitching in Levi fashion on the seats special jean style padding on the dash and jean material type top. Early versions had a Levis sticker on the tub above the Jeep embossing. It came in blue of tan and was included in the Loredo, Renegade, and Golden Eagle package as standard. Optionally it was seen in quite a few other Jeeps.
The Jamboree
In 1982, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Jeep Jamboree across the Rubicon trail, AMC released the Jeep Jamboree. What a package this was. It was Show and Go and one of the nicer editions ever put together.
Offering 2 colors, Topaz Gold and Arctic White 2500 were sold of this limited run. This unit had the goods, 20 gallon gas tank, dash plaque, Jamboree hood stripe, chrome wheels and bumpers. Full carpeting, special gold accents on the seats, and roll bar saddle bags helped to finish out the appearence group. Performance included a 5 speed transmission, power steering and brakes with 31 inch 10.5x15 Goodyear tires. Clock and Tach in the dash, all from the factory. The dealership offered a special Ramsey winch and Chrome tube bumper as options.
I could only imagine showing up at the Jeepers Jamboree in one of these seriously tricked out Jeeps was a point of pride that year.
An excellent source of information on the Jamboree is here
The Jambo Registry
Although many believe there were 2500 Jamborees produced this site has a registry to track down and register CJ7 Jamborees. That site shows there were actually less than 1000 produced.
Tuxedo Park
Early Tuxedos
The Tuxedo Park did not start as a full blown special. Like a lot of the editions we will see Jeep offered it started as a dealer add on package.
The first of the Tuxedo Parks was the way Kaiser wanted to upgrade the CJ line to a more civilized image for the public. The thought process was to offer a stylish CJ5 with comfort and style so the CJ would be thought of as a more sporting vehicle over it's reputation of a farm and utility vehicle. Kaiser was looking into the future to insure the CJ would continue as a popular consumer item. We can say this, without this vision the universal line would never have survived into the top selling product it is today selling 4 door versions that compete with top of the line SUVs of other companies.
In 1961 and continuing till 1963 a limited production run of CJ5 and CJ6s were produced under the name of Tuxedo Park. These offered a lot, a chrome hood badge, Chrome Bumper and Bumperettes, Front 60/40 split seating, chrome hood hinges and mirror, special hub caps, and white sidewall tires. These are rare to find today and production numbers are hard to verify. Being the first of a SHOW type offering for Jeep they were amazed at how many they sold.
The Mark IV Tuxedo Park
In 1964 Kaiser stepped the game up and presented the package as a separate model with a serial number change to match.
It was now the Tuxedo Park Mark IV and was a good selling item. The offered items not offered in the regular universal line. It came with a column mounted shifter, Turbine style hub caps, Single lever transfer case shifting, the bench seat had calf grain embossed vinyl and it came with rear wheel housing pads. Improved brakes with improved springs were part of the performance upgrade. It kept the chrome goodies from before. It had it's own parts addendum, W-1175 to keep up with the part changes in the model. Model Numbers 8322 for the CJ5 and 8422 for the Cj6 were on the Vin number, this was a full scale model change. Production numbers seem to show the CJ5 sold over 7400 units and the CJ6 sold 459 units before the end of production in 1969.
This seems to be the most sought after special edition ever produced in the CJ line. The true travesty is that over the years so many were modded up for trail service it is hard to find original Parts that distinguished the model.
One of the proud points to restored Mark IV owners is this was the only special edition that carried it's own model designation.
Forward thinking with eyes to the future, Looked back at by AMC as they offered upscale Jeeps through the 70s and 80s, we can only take our hats off to this model for making the Jeep universal package the power seller it is in today's market.
Jeep Camper
What can be said, in late 1967, through 1970, and guys these numbers are hard to find, but Jeep made a factory option of a camper designed for the CJ5. Yes a over the cab camper that was so long it had a set of tires mounted under it with it's own suspension, to help carry the weight. Jeep suggested not selling it with anything but the V6 with 4.88 axle ratio to handle the load.
There has not been a lot of stuff written about what may have been in the camper but we do know it had sleeping for 4, propane stove, sink, water tank and an icebox, options were a refrigerator and a 10,000 btu heater.
Knowing the size of a CJ5, I can only imagine the space inside.
It is very rare to find this option still in a rebuildable condition and are highly prized when found. Pictured below are several advertisements for the option, notice 2 are of the same pictures with different backgrounds, I guess even the advertising department found them rare to photograph.
Super Jeep
Wow what a fun Jeep. This Jeep was the right Jeep at the right time. 1973, 1976 and 1977 this Jeep was in super colors during the bicentennial. Although it was basically a stripe package on the CJ5, coming in only 2 color combinations, it also came with the 258 and a 4 speed making it a performance package as well in the 1973 model year, in 1976 the drive train had evolved a bit but still stood out. It also came with a chrome bumper and bumperettes. A roll bar, special wheels and tires helped set this Jeep off. It had very low production numbers and deserves each one to be brought back to the stunning trendy looks it had.
Golden Eagle
This was a package for both the CJ5 and the CJ7. It ran from 1977, when it was introduced as a low production special, and proved so popular it lasted till 1980. In 1977 it was a one color option package, Thrush Brown, officially that was Oakleaf Brown. After 1977 it came in other colors. Included in the package was the Large golden eagle on the hood, special gold spoke wheels, large tires, Golden Eagle lettering, Levi soft top and a décor and convenience group. It was an appearance group and came in all drive train options. A popular option in it’s day the package was $1,248 in 1978.
CJ5 Silver Anniversary
In 1979 it was decided to release a limited production of CJ5s to commemorate the 25 years of production. Based on the renegade package this special edition was, how shall we say, silvered up. It came in Quick Silver Metallic finish, with special silver topped Renegade decals and striping. Black interior and top with a special dash plaque set this apart. Chrome wheels, and seat striping came in the package.
There were very low production numbers of this jeep and it is a nice find today. Of course by this time the Renegade package was an appearance only package so any engine can be found in them.
Promoted with the saying of “25 and Going Strong” AMC used them as a promotional tool for the CJ line.
Laredo
1980 to 1986, this package was the Upscale Jeep for the universal line, it came only in the CJ line during these years. It changed very little during it’s run, Typically the package included Laredo badging in either silver or nutmeg, wheel opening and hood blister strips in silver/grey or nutmeg/orange was prevalent as was Chrome. Wheels, Grill, footman loops, steps, front and rear bumpers, mirrors among the chromed items . Full carpeting in either black or nutmeg, leather wrapped steering wheel, dash plaque, clock and tachometer were in the package. High Back Bucket seats, swing away tire carrier and tinted glass in the hard top. This was a nice and very popular option. In 1982 it listed for $2149 and had high production numbers.
Spring Special
