What Options Were Available?

Does anyone know of a list or build sheets that might show exactly what options were available for each year of our early CJ's?

 

Factory parts catalog should show that.

 

I don't know about the early ones,but on the later models everything was extra. I bought a 1981 cj5 from Woodys Jeep in Houston TX,top,side steps,floor mats,back seat,tow bar,locking counsel AC,& radio,were going to run you. 7100.00 out the door with a complimentary bottle of whiskey!

 

You could look at the sales brochure from each year to find most of the options. There was a basic list that was expected to be picked from to be ordered from the factory, and were many options that could either be ordered from the factory or dealer installed. Where I worked, the options that could be dealer installed, were dealer installed. This made the vehicle stock appeal to a wider number of buyers, and the dealership did a much better job of installing optional equipment than the factory. Cost was not an issue, because the installation costs could be rolled in to the new vehicle price at a cost comparable to the option charges.

There were order sheets that the dealerships filled out to order new vehicles. These would be the ideal source of an options list guide. You could also write-in specifications on the forms. Jeep was very accepting of special orders, especially prior to the expensive certifications required by EPA and NHTSA.

 

Have you see any of these order sheets or found a pic online? I know they offered a lot of obscure little options and it's proving to be difficult to separate the factory options from the aftermarket options.

 

Found some... I'll add them as I come across them.

 

At many dealers virtually every option was dealer installed. It makes it very difficult to say what was stock or original on a Jeep. Add in the ability to place a special order for anything in the catalog and the options were limitless. Jeep stuck with many of the same parts for years across the models so they really were the original Lego set of interchangeability.

 

Not the first thing that comes to my mind when I think "Jeep". The Surrey with the Fringe on Top. -- Oh, and don't forget the whole farm jeep set of options--there's many.

 

Some options just weren't practical to be installed by the dealership. For example, there was a heavy duty frame option offered some years. Engine, transmission and final drive ratio could be ordered from the list, and the parts could be ordered to change them, but it usually did not make economic sense to change these at the dealership.

I remember one time that a customer wanted a different drive ratio. Gernerally the cost would be too high to do this routinely for a new car, but the salesman told the customer he'd change it over. The salesman did the work off the dealership property (in his home garage?), and of course, the axles were noisy. The customer complained, but the boss would not cover the work, because it was done off-site. The salesman was fired instead.

There was a lot of customization done, at least in the 70s when I was there. When I bought my first CJ-6 in 1975, the dealership offered to sell it to me with a T-18 instead of the sole factory option, the T-14. They would have installed either a close-ratio or wide-ratio T-18 almost completely with factory parts, and put the take-offs on the shelf in their extensive parts department. I should have taken them up on the offer ... and I should have kept that Jeep till today.

I recall in 1975-ish they delivered a CJ-6 with an automatic too, made almost entirely from Jeep factory parts. This was a special for a disabled customer who could not operate a clutch pedal.

So it's a very gray area.

 

I remember going to the Jeep dealer in Kentucky just across the river from Cincinnati where we lived back in 1965. My dad had just brought home our "new" Tuxedo Park, white with red seats and convertible top. He took me along a couple days after he picked it up to get the extra set of keys and owners manual.
The dealer only had a handful of Jeeps in stock, two of which filled the showroom floor (a wagon and a pickup) and a couple more outside next to the building, including a flat fender (3B ?). Inside, there was a corner in the showroom devoted to options and accessories. I remember a pegboard wall with several different hubcaps and trim rings, floormats, pictures of Jeeps with plows, and a pictures of two FC's, one with a wrecker, the other with a backhoe. They also had several tires on display, mostly "snow" tires, but a couple with street tread. There was also a separate Warn products display with lockouts and a winch. I don't remember an overdrive, but probably didn't know what it was if it was there.
I remember my dad asking what else went on a Jeep. The dealer said we already had everything but the kitchen sink!
Our Tux came with lock-o-matic hubs, whitewall BFG silvertown snow tires, Cutlass turbine full hubcaps, and matching red spare tire cover, red covered gate chains, and red convertible top boot, along with all the chrome Tux trim. Our Jeep did not come with a grab bar on the dash! A couple years later, dad bought a lock for the spare tire from the original dealer, as the spare was stolen off the Jeep.
Two weeks ago, I just dug the red top boot out of our shop up that got flooded from hurricane Matthew up on the NC Outer Banks. It cleaned up pretty well and is in good condition. I have never seen another one.
It seems that dealers would add anything the customer desired from a list of factory and approved aftermarket accessories.
-Donny

 

Make the customer happy and add to the sales profit. Seems reasonable to me. Ashame dealers and Detroit do not feel the same now. Was a time when you could get what you wanted, even COPO cars. Those days long gone.

 

From my 1957 dealer invoice..

"Optional equipment and accessories"
(Factory Installed)

Heater and Defrosters
Directional Signals
Oil Bath Air Cleaner
Oil Filter

 

AFAIK the grab bar was always optional. Jeeps came from the factory with plugs in the holes.

In 1995, when I bought my VW, I asked the salesman why VW had so few options for their cars. He said that's the trend - have a handful of 'levels' for the cars with each of them "fully equipped." I presume this is a strategy to draw the customer into a more expensive configuration, because that's the only way to get the equipment that they really want. Seems this trend has continued, and has completely changed the way that Jeep packages their vehicles.

 

Here is one I have from 1970. Note it says to "see your dealer for more options"

 

I imagine it was. But it was shown as an extra on my Jeep. Maybe BS by the dealer?

 

Oh,& bumperrettes,were extra too!

 

Here is the list of optional equipment for 1971 CJ5 with V-6:

Axel Ratios:
4.88:1

Cab Equipment:
Chrome front bumper
Cigar Lighter
Ash receiver
Outside right mirror
Dual sun visors
Passenger's bucket seat
2/3 - 1/3 front seat
Rear seat
Wheel Housing cushion pad
Passenger's seat safety rail
Padded instrument panel

Engines:
7.4:1 compression ratio - Mandatory - State of California only

Heavy Duty:
Alternator, 55-amp
Battery, 70-amp
H.D. cooling system (6-blade fan)
H.D. frame
H.D. springs and shocks, R & R
H.D. rear springs - 12 leaf

Miscellaneous:
Fule tank skid plate
Selective drive front hubs
Rear trac-Lok differential
Locking gas cap
Radiator chaff screen
Pintle hook
Spare wheel mount on tailgate
Draw bar
Nitrox emission and fuel tank vapor emission systems - mandatory - State of California only

Tires:
Power Cushion - 7.35 x 15 4-ply Black (Standard equipment V-6)
Suburbanite - 8.55 x 15 4-ply Black
Suburbanite - 8.55 x 15 4-ply White
All Service - 6.00 x 16 4-ply Black (Standard Equipment F4)
All Service - 6.00 x 16 6-ply Black
All Service - 7.00 x 15 6-ply Black
All Service - 7.00 x 16 6-ply Black
Polyglas - G-70 x 15 White
Polyglas - Power Cushion H-78 x 15 White
Polyglas - Suburbanite H-78 x 15 Black

Tops:
Convertible Top
Fabric half top
Metal full cab
Metal half cab

Transmisions:
Heavy duty 4 speed

Wheels: Five;
Rim 16" x 4.50E
Rim 15" x 5.5K


Beyond these, I'm sure there were many available "Jeep Special Equipment" or delaer installed add ons

 

Great list!
Thanks-Donny