By Robert Emslie
Are you worried about your current vehicle’s ability to get you from point A to point B? Then you should really consider plunking down the lowly eight Benjamins for this former Postal Jeep. That’s because “neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”, . . . and this is their car!
They say the postman always rings twice, but that’s just because he was so excited to get back behind the wheel of his sassy little Jeep. For years we’ve all looked at the mailman, so smug behind the wheel, wearing his pith helmet and striped shorts, and wondered what it would be like to drive so capable a vehicle. And now here’s a cheap chance. Not only that but, based on the description, the seller appears down-home and honest:
74000 miles, in good shape but has only been driven occasionally in last year. Bought to use on my mail route but realized that I couldn’t pick kids up from school and stuff if I needed to since only the 1 seat. Gas gauge doesn’t work and brakes seem to be a little grabby but i think that is from not being driven much. The last pix show the inside right door that needs some fixing. Otherwise the body is in good shape. Would make a great part time mail jeep or hunting vehicle. Feel free to ask any questions.
It has an inline 4 cylinder and 3 speed automatic transmission that I think is a GM Iron Duke engine 151 cu in (2.5 L) four cylinder, Chrysler 904 transmission. I also have the Haynes manual, the Jeep service manual and parts manual.
Now, it’s pretty rudimentary, and plenty rough, and it’s a monoposto, so your friends will have to jog along outside. But who cares, its got right hand drive and sliding doors! Right-hand drive! That means you’ll be able to fly through traffic cameras with impunity albeit without speed. These things were built for comfort, not speed- and by comfort, I mean the lack thereof. Still, how cool would be to cruise around in one of these? And it’s only $800. Sliding doors!
Evansville Craigslist
Jeff Glucker
Ohhh yummy Jeep rust. If I had any money I’d buy it to run as a Lemons entrant. What’s the worst that could happen?
this HAS to become a LeMons vehicle for someone….
I’m up for it but have no team.
You can be on my team! It doesn’t exist yet and it’s based out of New Orleans, but I’ll be damned if I won’t be at both Louisiana races next year!
Well I’m in Lawrence, KS so whats 12 hours to make to a team meeting…
You know, Jeepy … they have announced a race in Omaha next year.
*Ears perk up*
And yes, verified: http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/omaha10/
I am quite near this area…in fact, closer to the actual racetrack than Omaha is.
I have no $. But I do have above-average mechanical skills and a pretty decent selection of tools/hammers. Anyone else nearby?
I know, I have been plotting evilly ever since. Saw a $200 escort or LTD (yes it was beat that bad) in Pittsburg that might be a good victem… er base.
There are all kinds of potential … candidates … on the KC CL. I’m thinking it’s time to find some like minded induhviduals and get out the grinders and torches.
I’m down, Sufficiently poor to be really creative, and I have neat tools.
Alf, email me
So… Is there a LeMons matchmaking service, for people who want to learn, and have some enthusiasm but less talent, and no car?
Go here:
http://forums.24hoursoflemons.com/
Go to “Human Resources”. There are people with open spots, people looking to put together teams, etc.
What’s the problem with it only having a driver’s seat? Fab up some bench seating the back and you’re golden.
You mean like this?
Even fabricating’s more than necessary. If your friends are so posh as to need such refinements as seats (and you’re not willing to get rid of them for whatever unfathomable reason), the solution is as easy as finding your nearest junked dustbuster van (or the U-body replacements) for the modular seats, and strap them in with copious amounts of the handyman’s secret weapon.
But that’s not nearly as cool as C-130-style webbed seating down the sides! The ride back there would be about as pleasant, too.
GM truck seats are ridiculously easy to put into anything with a flat floor pan, as they’ve done that with their trucks for the past 60 years.
I had a buddy in high school that actually had one of these, only it had a passenger’s seat in the front (on the left, of course). 2 seats be damned, we’d pile up in it, with several people in the back sitting on the floor. Although it was downright scary around corners, it was a shitload of fun. Good, clean, ghetto fun.
As an added bonus I’ll be well equipped to pursue that second career I’ve always dreamed of … Ice Cream Man.
I STILL see some of these things in official USPS livery parked at a few post offices around here. They quit making these things 25 years ago!
I think we all should have right hand drive. In fact, I’m going to go home tonight and hack the steering column out of my Mustang and move it to the right. OK, not really. I’ll practice on my wife’s car first.
Oh, and like Braff said, this *must* be a LeMonsable car. Hell, the extra $300 can be made up by smuggling drugs like the IMSA teams of the ’80s. The drugs then would be given to the judges to bribe them, like in New Orleans.
Engineerd,
Time to reverse import an RHD conversion Mustang from Australia? Check out the photos; they make parts locally, this isn’t a factory thing. It’s like a weird, alternate universe thing. There must be some larger photos.
That’s freaking awesome. I want to do this to my car!
How meta would it be if someone bought this and drove around smashing mailboxes with a baseball bat?
Holy crap, you had me in stitches…! Karma can just stuff it…!
All while your passenger waves a steering wheel out the right window.
The mailbox comment cracked me up. This about knocked me over. I think that’s the only way I could, with good conscience, recommend mailboxing.
Quick tips: PVC pipe is lighter and sorta works. Go-cart axles are too heavy. Just use a bat. Or so I’m told. (I’ve witnessed these runs, but haven’t really participated. Part of being a teenager around here…)
@p161911: ROFL! <- Yeah, I had to use that. Seriously.
How did I miss this? It’s a good thing I don’t drink and read any more. There’s be another keyboard in the land fill.
@engineerd: Pah! Did the MADuR(Mothers Against Drunk Reading) people get to you or something?
I had to explain to my wife what I was guffawing about. Fortunately, I’d just set the drink down.
A buddy of mine had one of these for a few years. Fairly reliable, cheap transportation, and nothing more. After a while stuff started to break and it was a pain to keep in service. They have absolutely no performance characteristics, or comfort. They are the definition of ‘moving chicane’.
“realized that I couldn’t pick kids up from school and stuff if I needed to since only the 1 seat.”
They realized that after they bought it? Priorities.
Of course, owning this would then require negotiating fast-food drive-thru lanes and tollbooths in reverse… Perhaps a third-party backup camera would be a good adjunct purchase.
Hey, this is perfect for those handful of places with drive-thru lanes on either side of the building (I know of a few Tim Hortons around here like that) – I've even reached across the car since it was quicker than waiting in the regular line.
oof. I saw the Indiana plate on it and was going to volunteer to go get more indepth pictures if someone was serious. Then I saw Evansville Craigslist. You can’t get to Evansville from here. Or there. Or anywhere for that matter. And this is in Petersburg which is even less get-to-able than Evansville!
I don’t think I could get used to the idea of driving on the wrong side of the Jeep. I wonder how hard it would be to switch the wheel over to the left side? Then it would be kinda fun to have one of these to beat on. I imagine a conversion to 4WD would be simple.
Really it’s not a horrific conversion, but it takes new a new steering box, knuckles, and maybe other assorted things. Have to do something with the old hole in the firewall. I’ve seen it done before.
Makes sense. Might as well go all the way and convert it to 4WD while you’re at it. I bet the holes are already bored in the frame, as well as the holes for the transfer case bracket. Then, running gear from a rolled/wrecked CJ would bolt on. It’s doable.
My local Post Office still has one in service, I was quite surprised to see it the other day.