Return of the Scrambler

The Jeep CJ-8 Scrambler started production as a stretched Jeep CJ-7 in 1981 and remained in production until 1986.

Most notably, the Scrambler served its life under the hand of Former-President Ronald Regan on his California ranch, sporting a half top and integrated pick-up–style bed. The Gipper was so enchanted with the Scrambler that soon, in Alaska, the United States Postal Service started using CJ-8’s with full length high-roof hard top, and used a hinged “barn-door” instead of a tailgate. While only 230 of these were produced for the United States, they were sold in large numbers to Venezuela and Australia as the CJ-8 Overlander.

Unfortunately, in 1986, the CJ-8 was discontinued by AMC-Jeep and the name was left to collect dust.

Thirty-three years later, Jeep is reviving the Scrambler namesake for the new Jeep JT Pickup, with promises of uncompromising brutishness and utility. While the ’19 Jeep Scrambler hasn’t been publicly released yet, there are a few details that have been pulled from engineers and test mules seen around Detroit.

• Removable hard-top
• Fully-boxed steel frame
• Solid beam axles Front and Rear
• 3.0L V6 VM-Motari diesel engine
• 8-Speed automatic transmission and 6-Speed manual transmission
• 5-Link “Quadra-Coil” suspension
• Full-Time 4WD “Quadra-matic” Transfercase

Needless to say, the new JT Scrambler Pickup should be a a show stopper, and is set to shake up the small pickup market. Toyota and General Motors should be watching with eager anticipation as this competition drops on their already released Tacoma and Colorado models. What card does Ford have up its sleeve with the pending release of the Ranger and Bronco models?