Dave said:
Thanks. I'll ask Bob.
I don't think J was killed because of Chrysler. Like I said in the last paragraph, they kept pouring money in, and sales were dreadful throughout most of the run. I think at most they may have sold 40,000 in a year -- in something like 20 varieties! The Comanche replaced the J-series — and we can agree that Comanche was killed partly due to Dakota, though I personally think the popularity and profitability of Cherokee made it inevitable.
J trucks... they were selling maybe 5,000 per year at the end. No threat to Dodge there! Dodge itself was phasing out its truck line by then, I think they would have been happy to have popular J trucks so they could kill D-series.
I think we can agree they should have sold better, especially in the early years.
I'd appreciate it if you could write up your perspective as an owner, anything at all you remember, the page is all history and no character.
Will double check with Bob. I might have misunderstood him.
Oh, and THANKS.
You're welcome and check with Bob on the reason for terminating the J Truck, because my friend, Brian Chuchua was the number one Jeep dealer at the time of the Chrysler take over of AMC and that was his recollection.
Dodge Truck dealers felt threatened, but the reality was that the trucks were not direct competitors. I actually owned both at the same time. The Jeep was my 2/3 sized back country and primitive construction site vehicle and my Dodge was my "big rig" hauler and highway truck.
Two friends had them outfitted with Alaskan campers and traversed, with my Dad in his FC-170 and cab level camper, the entire length of the Baja peninsula, in 1959, years before any pavement graced the 1,000 mile wilderness. The trip took them 6 weeks and all three Jeeps performed flawlessly.
The J Trucks could go anywhere the CJ's could go, barring size limitations. They were truly a go anywhere truck, although they were lighter duty than the big three pickups, because of frame size, axle and spring set-up and construction. The 1981 Laredo model was a precursor to today's cushy cabs, with bucket seats, in leather, leather wrapped steering wheels and chrome accents inside the cab.It was a plush truck and the 258 in-line six was a powerful engine at that time, rivaling many V-8's of its day.
The Alpine sound system was equal to anything out there and folks who only shopped the big three missed out on a great truck.
Seeing that the Dodge Lifestyle trucks were nearing 10 years old ( they would go on nearly unchanged until 1993) these Laredo models sharing the same show room, would have received a LOT of attention from buyers and likely harmed Dodge pickup sales.
Compared to the trucks of the day, these last offerings from AMC were very competitive, but nearly a secret because of the low number of AMC dealers. Flashy packages like Honcho and Golden Eagle and Laredo, did gain a bit of attention, but consumers weren't sure what they were getting with Jeep, J Trucks. That was their loss, and ultimately the loss of Jeep.
I can't really speak to the Commanche being anything but a variant of XJ, as it really was far from being a J Truck replacement.
