Officially known as CJ-8, the Scrambler can be considered the grandfather of the Gladiator that Jeep offers today. Essentially a CJ-7 with a long wheelbase and a removable half cab, the small truck is popular with off-road enthusiasts to this day.
The 1983 model in the photo gallery is one of 5,405 produced that year, and as you can tell from the pictures, it’s a very different affair from its bone-stock specification. Listed on Bring a Trailer with five days of bidding left at the time of writing, the green truck hides a General Motors engine behind the seven-slat grille.
With 350 cubic inches on tap and Edelbrock goodies such as the intake and carburetor, the small-block V8 is far more potent than the Pontiac 151 and AMC 258 of the original. The 5.7-liter powerplant is connected to a three-speed automatic transmission – a Turbo 350 to be more precise – which was rebuilt in April 2020.
A two-speed transfer case, Dana 44 axles, Warn locking front hubs, and Mastercraft Courser MXT 37-inch tires wrapped around 17-inch steelies are also worthy of mentioning, providing this Scrambler with the go-anywhere capability that you would expect from a Jeep. The icing on the cake, however, comes in the guise of Fox shock absorbers with remote reservoirs at all four corners as well as heavy-duty tie rods.
The power steering pump was repaired in October 2019 according to the online listing, and the braking system now features four-wheel rotors and stainless-steel hoses. Painted in olive drab U.S. Army-style green with stencils and a black canvas top, this one-of-a-kind Scrambler also boasts half doors with roll-up side panels.
Given the high ground clearance and body-on-frame architecture with no electronic nannies, a beefy roll cage has been fitted as well for the sake of passenger safety.
Steel bumpers from Poison Spyder, an A-bar and 9,000-pound electric winch up front, 3/16-inch steel cladding for the rear fenders, and heavy-duty front fenders complement the black hood vents and rock sliders. The interior is a no-nonsense affair with little in the way of comfort creatures, combining cloth inserts for the tan vinyl seats with four-point harnesses, a hand-grenade shifter, and 50-caliber ammo storage cans.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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