1979 Jeep Renegade

1979 Jeep Renegade CJ7 The 32 page Jeep sales brochure is a visual feast with page after page of CJ's, Wagoneers, and Cherokees in natural settings including a boulder field, sand dunes, a farm, a snowy mountain, and much more. There are fewer photos of Jeeps doing domestic chores like grocery shopping, lawn and garden, and hauling horses. Today's brochures might look different, and the photos are reversed. On the CJ page it proclaims, Whether you dress it to the hilt or drive the basic model, one thing's for sure. When you drive a CJ, the end of the road is just the beginning of the fun! For consignment, a 1979 Jeep Renegade CJ7 showing 85,963 miles, but the true miles are unknown. In 1979, Car and Driver editors David E. Davis wrote a feature article about his new Renegade. It's an amusing companion, willing to go anywhere and do anything. It makes me and my friends feel good, and it perplexes my ene­mies. What could be better than that? Exterior A nice shade of blue which Jeep calls Ensign Blue covers the body and is augmented with some classically 70's stripes as part of the Renegade package with three shades of orange, a commonly used accent color in the era. The orange colors are stripes that sail over the hood, take in the Renegade name, and reappear on the rocker panel in a sort of Morse code pattern. A period correct white Bestop soft top encloses the outdoor adventurer with an interesting array of plastic windows on the door and rear section, all in good condition. That white is picked up by the 15-inch wagon wheels wrapped in Mickey Thompson off road tires. The paint, lenses, decals, and metal on the rig are all in very nice condition. We note one hairline scratch and some paint runs, but you'll have to look close for both. Interior Our consignor states this was a Levi edition but now houses tan vinyl bucket seats up front and a tan bench in the back, all in great shape. The color is matched nicely by the dash pad that hovers over the simple instrument cluster and AM/FM/Cassette radio. Utilitarianism leaves the walls and floors barren but painted blue, and the shifter and range selector rise from a black base plate on the floor. Inside surfaces of the soft top, including the doors, are in fine shape, and a blue roll bar follows the contours of the roofline. Drivetrain A clean, driver quality 258ci inline six is under the hood, rated at 110 horsepower and fueled by a 2-barrel carburetor. A 3-speed manual transmission sends power to the AMC 20 twin grip rear axle with 3.54 gears and to the front Dana 30. Power brakes are supplied, configured as front discs and rear drums. Undercarriage A combination of very clean components and some driver quality parts with some oil film and surface rust are found underneath in this generally clean underside. A single exhaust flows through a stock style muffler before exiting and the suspension consists of leaf springs front and rear. This is the kind of practical simplicity that was born in the military versions that evolved into civilian jeeps. Drive-Ability They're not very fast, don't handle all that well, but pound for pound, dollar for dollar, you can't have much more fun on four wheels. And while we're having fun, we're also serious testers, and find that everything except the radio works as intended on this nicely maintained 4x4 from 1979. While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be working at the time of your purchase. Back to the 1979 Car and Driver we go, for Davis' summarized praise. If you are amused by mechanical devices of all kinds, particularly cars; if you are willing to accept the thesis that personal transportation need not be some safe extension of the suburban tract house, nor some kind of crushed velour parlor on wheels; then you can legitimately consider yourself a candidate for Jeep ownership. J9F93EC830298 J-Jeep 9-