Chip Beck's Jeep CJ-5 For Sale on Bring a Trailer


ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,769
Scottsdale, Arizona
Gentlemen,

25 years ago while I was still an automobile dealer I spent over $100,000 in parts and labor to build the worlds nicest factory V-8 numbers matching CJ-5. A lot of our members have seen it at my home over the last 15 years and know how nice it is. At the time I built it (1993) the Kelly Blue Book was $3000 so it wasn't a real rational project but I had wanted a brand new CJ-5 since I was a kid. The last new one was built in 1982 so I had to build it from a nice undamaged rust free 1980 Arizona Jeep. The senior master tech at my dealership owned a Jeep CJ-5 and was a complete Jeep fanatic and expert. He was constantly working on his own Jeep and I told him I wanted a CJ-5, not the longer CJ-7 or Wrangler. He had always dreamed about building the ultimate CJ-5 hard tail but parts alone would cost 50K. I told him the dealership would fund the project and he would have an unlimited budget if he built it for me. CJ-5’s are not rare but original numbers matching factory V-8 CJ-5’s are very rare. We found an outstanding undamaged and rust free example and tore it down to the bare frame which was bead blasted and powder coated gloss black. At the time we built it Chrysler still had a complete stock of original AMC parts and every single component that was available was ordered. Every switch, coupler, wiring harness, nut, bolt, fitting, pump, compressor, you name it, was ordered. Parts that were perfectly good and worked fine with thrown away and replaced with brand-new items. A brand-new air-conditioning compressor, power steering pump, power brakes booster, and even a brand-new transmission in the crate was sourced and ordered. The existing transmission was fine but since a brand-new one was available it went into the Jeep. Plastic parts that tended to fail in time like the mounts for the outside rearview mirrors were replaced with custom made billet aluminum pieces (which you can see in the BAT photos). Custom billet mounts were made to use a front bumper on the rear of the Jeep so that the front and rear bumpers would match. The four speed and four-wheel-drive shift levers were chromed. A new windshield, all new rubber parts and the finest forged internals were sourced for it’s basically stock AMC 304 V-8. No screws, washers, or bolts were re-used. Everything was replaced with brand-new items. I have been a pilot for over 40 years and my personal aircraft have always been painted with DuPont Imron and so was this Jeep. It’s expensive at over $500 a gallon and it’s also dangerous and difficult to apply as it’s vapors are poisonous. Applying it requires a full body suit and a respirator. It’s a single stage paint used on train locomotives, buses, and airliners. Designed to take bug, rain, and hail strikes at 500 miles an hour without damage. It’s used on top fuel funny cars as it’s the only paint that survives nitromethane vapors and heat. Even when decades-old it’s tough as nails, hard as a rock, and looks and shines like it was sprayed last week. The Jeep was painted completely dissembled with the fenders, hood, and roll bar off the main chassis. The inside and outside of the fenders hood and everything else are painted the exact same. The belly of the Jeep, bottom of the fenders, and interior of the body is painted as nicely as the exterior. The paint work alone on this Jeep would cost over $20,000 to duplicate today and the only way a Jeep could be finished like this would be to disassemble it down to the last nut and bolt. If you put the best regular auto paint on the nose of a 747 it would be destroyed in a week, Imron lasts for decades. It would be almost impossible to duplicate this Jeep today because most of the factory original parts used in its construction are no longer available. Old parts would have to be used or rebuilt. And most painters who aren’t familiar with Imron won’t touch it. But when applied properly by an expert, nothing else comes close. I insisted on using the finest black vinyl instead of black leather on the interior because the vinyl would look great decades later and wouldn’t be hurt by rain if I got caught out without a top. It goes without saying this Jeep has received the finest maintenance with full synthetic lubricants and has been stored indoors since the day it was built. This project was a labor of love by the body techs, painters, and my head technician as well as myself. The four of us spent over a year putting together what I believe is the nicest pretty stock factory V-8 CJ-5 hard tail that exists. There are some nice Jeep’s out there, but there is honestly nothing remotely like this one and you can take that to the bank. The Jeep has just 7700 miles on it since completion and it's like brand new. If you’ve always wanted a rediculousely nice CJ-5 this is it. Feel free to examine it top, bottom, inside, and out at Southwest Vintage Auto before bidding if you like. After looking at this Jeep, every other will pale in comparison. For a collector that want’s a stock ride height Jeep a set of stock leaf springs can be bolted on with stock white wheels and hubcaps and under the chrome grill cover the stock grill is painted red like the rest of the Jeep. I know that this Jeep isn’t worth anywhere near what I spent to build it, no project like this ever is. You can buy it for a small fraction of what it would cost to build and whoever buys it will own something very special. The listing/bidding will end Tuesday, May 7. I still own this Jeep so there is no sales tax to the buyer. A buddy of mine who owns Southwest Vintage did the Bring a Trailer listing for me but it’s my personal vehicle. All the best.

Chip


Jeep 1.jpgJeep 2.jpg
 
Last edited:

roketman

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Oct 24, 2005
7,994
ma.
Looks great!
 

spartan

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Feb 11, 2017
1,216
Bloomfield Hills MI
Chip, I'm sure the seller is happy that you are providing so much detail to the listing. He should pay you for driving the value up!
 

jaxgt

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Jul 12, 2006
2,794
Fabulous build. Do you still own it, or does the dealer?
 

ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,769
Scottsdale, Arizona
I still own this Jeep so the buyer will pay no sales tax. My buddy who owns Southwest Vintage did the Bring a Trailer ad for me because he knows them well and I’ve never dealt with BAT before. But it’s still my personal vehicle.

Chip
 

ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,769
Scottsdale, Arizona
Here’s a couple more photos. The engine and undercarriage are spotless.

Chip

72B246DD-1055-4735-9547-FBA48F66611B.jpeg404AEAD6-C317-44A6-BDF4-50CA5141CBF5.jpeg6A04F79C-13B3-4E6A-9002-958473B67317.jpeg507B0866-2F84-406C-9594-EDDEF578B3E4.jpeg6E62B3E5-3062-4BC1-A369-705A0FC8D1AB.jpeg
 

FerrariSlayer

GT Owner
Mark IV Lifetime
Feb 3, 2014
137
Spring, TX
Looks like someone is going to get one hell-of-a Jeep! Very tempting except I already have two Jeep projects underway. Good luck with the sale!
 

RPM217

2005 white/blue stripe
Jun 18, 2010
1,658
Rye Brook, New York
I gave you an "endorsement" on BAT, not looking for a commission!!!
 

Roadtrip

GT Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Dec 28, 2006
418
I've sold a few cars on BAT, haven't bought one yet but I've bid on a few. Great looking CJ!!! Good Luck with the Auction!
 

ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,769
Scottsdale, Arizona
I gave you an "endorsement" on BAT, not looking for a commission!!!

That was very kind of you. Thanks!!

Chip
 
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ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,769
Scottsdale, Arizona
Gentlemen,

My Jeep sold for $26,500. A great buy at about 25% of what it would cost to reproduce! After only driving it 7,700 miles in 28 years it was time to sell it and move on though. Still sad to see it go.

Chip
 
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soroush

Ford Gt Owner
Mark II Lifetime
Aug 8, 2007
5,256
congrats on the sale Chip. I know its a bittersweet feeling
 

ChipBeck

GT Owner
Staff member
Mark IV Lifetime
Le Mans 2010 Supporter
Feb 13, 2006
5,769
Scottsdale, Arizona
Congrats on the sale Chip. I know its a bittersweet feeling.

It really is. After owning that Jeep for 30 years I feel like I sold the family dog. Charley thinks I'm out of my mind. Ugh, selling this one did not feel good. Forward I go.

Chip
 

SPI

Well-known member
Nov 28, 2018
123
Chicago
Gentlemen,

My Jeep sold for $26,500. A great buy at about 25% of what it would cost to reproduce! After only driving it 7,700 miles in 28 years it was time to sell it and move on though. Still sad to see it go.

Chip

Great build Chip! I build project vehicles and that is an amazing Jeep for $26,500! Great for you to let it go for someone that will enjoy every bit of that $100k build!