If there’s one three-letter combination that’s seared into the brain of every American car enthusiast of a certain age, it’s SBC, which stands for Small-Block Chevy. Ever since it appeared on the scene in 1955, this compact cast-iron marvel has found its way under the hood of just about every RWD car you can think of, whether Chevrolet put it there, or someone else did. And the most common displacement is also a well-known number: 350 cubic inches. One of the cars we’re going to look at today has had a 350 small-block since day one, and the other recently acquired one.
I got a little silly for most of you yesterday, it seems. But in fairness, I did warn you that we’d be venturing out into left field a bit this week. The gigantic diesel-powered extra-wide Studebaker was polarizing, but even with its absurd looks and even more absurd price tag, it managed to pull off a win.
Thanks to those of you who identified the engine in the other choice as a Studebaker V8. I should have known that. Several of you had ideas on how to finish its front end in a more attractive fashion, and I have some ideas of my own too. As it sits, it looks like one of my old attempts at customizing model cars by cutting two kits up and gluing them together, but I can see a way to make it work. Is it worth doing? Absolutely not, but it’s fun to think about.
Today’s choices are downright tame by comparison, but they’re both rarities. One is quite possibly the least attractive vehicle ever to carry the Jeep name, and the other is also pretty ugly, but iconic. And both have Chevy 350 V8s under their hoods. Let’s check them out.
1972 Jeep Commando – $5,000
Engine/drivetrain: 350 cubic inch OHV V8, three-speed automatic, 4WD
Location: Muskegon, MI
Odometer reading: unknown
Operational status: Runs and drives well
The original Jeepster, way back in the Willys-Overland days, was an attempt to bring a more car-like vehicle to the starkly utilitarian Jeep lineup, and it turned out to be a really cool car. It only lasted about three years, though, before Willys shelved it. In 1966, new Jeep owner Kaiser brought the Jeepster back, this time on a 4WD chassis and carrying the name Jeepster Commando. When AMC acquired Jeep in 1970, it took the Jeepster concept and basically ruined it. Now called simply the Jeep Commando, the new version had an elongated nose to fit AMC’s inline six engines, and a new and hideous grille that looked like a Tonka toy of a Ford Bronco. This ’72 Commando somehow makes the botched nose job look even worse, with its gigantic tube bumper that sticks out a foot from the front.
This Commando would have come from the factory with either an inline six or an AMC 304 cubic inch V8, but for the last five thousand miles it has been powered by a new Chevy 350 crate engine, probably with a four-barrel carb and probably making somewhere around 200 horsepower. It’s a big step up in ease of maintenance and parts availability from the old AMC engines, but I understand if purists are upset. I don’t know for sure what transmission is in it, but I think Jeep was using the GM Turbo 400 at the time. It all runs and drives just fine, according to the seller, who says it’s “dune or trail ready.”
The four photos of this car you see here are the only four photos in the ad, and they’re not much to go on. This is the only view we have of the interior. If that rip in the driver’s seat is the worst of it, then I’d say it looks pretty good, but more photos in the ad can never hurt. You get something like 24 spaces for photos; why not give us a better look?
The outside, apart from the AMC grille and the terrible front bumper, looks pretty good. It has a little rust here and there, but for this part of the country, it’s nothing. The paint is even still shiny in most places. It has nice slotted mag wheels with 35-inch tires on them that give it a good stance, and it comes with both the hard top and a soft top. And of course, you can drive around with no top at all, which is a feature more modern SUVs should bring back.
1977 Checker A11 Taxi – $4,850
Engine/drivetrain: 350 cubic inch OHV V8, three-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Caledonia, MI
Odometer reading: 99,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Checker is unique among defunct car brands in that most of its production was never sold to the public. The bulk of Checker cars were built to be used as taxicabs, starting way back in 1922. It wasn’t until 1960 that Checker offered a model for sale to consumers: the Superba, shortly thereafter renamed the Marathon. You might think that this is a Marathon, but it is in fact an A11 taxicab model, special-ordered by a Checker dealer for his own use in 1977. The A11’s design is based on the earlier A9 taxi, which dates all the way back to 1956, and barely changed at all until the last one rolled out of the factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1982.
Earlier Checker taxis used flathead inline sixes built by Continental, but the firm switched to GM engines in the mid 1960s. In 1977, three Chevy engines were available: a 250 cubic inch inline six, a 305 small-block V8 with a two-barrel carburetor, and a 350 with a four-barrel that put out 170 horsepower, not bad for the malaise era. This one has the 350, and a beefy Turbo 400 transmission. It runs and drives very well, the seller says, and it has had a lot of recent work done to the cooling system and brakes, among other things.
A11s, and Marathons for that matter, are anachronistic and utilitarian inside, but it gives them a sort of timeless charm. This car could be any age, really, except for the obviously ’70s Chevy steering column and wheel. Basically the whole interior is black vinyl, which isn’t the most comfortable material around, especially in the summer. But the ad also mentions a new air conditioning condenser, which gives me hope that the AC actually works.
You’d expect a Checker cab to be yellow, as most of them were, but this one is painted in almost-but-not-quite Forest Service Green. Could it be that Smokey the Bear was moonlighting as a cabbie at one point? Only you can prevent forest fares, after all. The seller suggests painting it yellow and renting it out as a movie prop, but I think that would be a shame. I like it exactly as it is, rust, dents, and all.
Hopefully today’s tamer offerings are a little more to your liking. We have only one more Showdown this week, as I believe we are off on Friday for the Juneteenth holiday, and I’m trying to decide how crazy to get tomorrow. I have some ideas. Until then, pick the 350-powered ’70s machine you’d rather drive off into the sunset in.
I have done a few rides in Checkers, but I really don’t remember the ride dynamics in Manhattan. I do remember the massive trunk those things had.
In NYC or out to EWR to fly home, worn out ex-cop Crown Vics, a few Nissan N200s, a few Priusii. And often a Lincoln Town Car.
This Checker is interesting, but what is up with that raised rear-end? David might not be happy with me saying this, but that Jeep is not pretty.
It looks like both have their rust issues, but in the PNW, the Checker would get more admiring glances. Until some JDM import comes along. There are some very cool RHD JDM imports trolling the streets of Tacoma. Kei trucks, luxurious vans. It’s a cool scene.
Checker checks all the boxes.
I kind of like the Tonka look.
That bumper is sort of awful, I’d make sure it isn’t where a snow plow was attached, because I see a bolt hole underneath.
Even if Nelson Rockefeller had a Checker, they aren’t that nice, or at least not this one
I think a low Mile CHecker is pretty neat. I agree the jeep front bumper is heideous and would have to go immediately. that said, either are oddly ugly and beautiful at the same time and both appear to have been resurrected and usable as is currently. I would have to see and drive them both to make a final decision, but I am leaning towards the checker because you know the Jeep is with AC.
I’d like to own an SBC in something, but not that Commando, especially if it had the I6 258. I still regret swapping out the 258 in my 73 CJ-5 for a 304.
I might consider selling a CJ7 with a TBI 350, SM465 Manual, Atlas 2 T-Case and 1 ton axles.
Wow, that’s sounds like a beast! Someone gave me a half finished 1955 CJ-5 project years ago (original F-head engine, overdrive) that I need to finish someday. That will probably be my last CJ.
The early ones are way better, but I like the commando well enough that I’d still take the ugly face-lifted version… Also, the checker is post ’75 and I’m in CA so it’s pretty much a non-starter.
I’d buy the cab and think of elaborate stories to tell about its history.
Checker! I really like Checkers and have been looking at them and reading about them for a while now. I wouldn’t even be averse to buying an Aerobus- if I had the room. This one looks really good and I like the green. Too bad about the rust, but I’d fix it. I’m not really a Jeep person at all, but still think they are kinda cool. This one is a little odd, but that’s ok. I do like that blue. I’ll have a blast cruising in the Checker!
“the other is also pretty ugly”
How dare you! Ha ha
Friends of my folks had one, I thought it was amazing, flat floor! So much space. They summered in New Hampshire in a primitive house (no “running” water or electricity) with a really rutted dirt road. I remember that Checker handling the challenges of that dirt road with class.
Awesome! They are just so iconic
Re: the “How dare you! Ha ha…” I had a ’71 Peugeot 504 that people would ding and leave “sorry” notes. I’d get the estimate, let them know what it was, and they would pay me in cash to not report it. That money went mostly to beer I couldn’t afford on the minimum wages and unpaid overtime I worked for back then. It was really liberating to drive around Berkeley visiting friends in a car that looked like I had no Fs to give and didn’t cut me off nor hesitate to let me merge.
“Freedom is just another word for nothin left to lose.”
Years later, for some reason, I was carrying uninsured motorist coverage on my insurance and it got folded up to the rear axle by an uninsured motorist in a big Plymouth station wagon. My wife, who never wore seat belts, got a bad bruise on her left shin where it flew up into the underside of the dash. He went to the hospital. We got $900 for a car I had only paid $1500 for five years and 90,000 miles earlier.
My only regrets are that I didn’t keep the beautiful sounding horns it had and the special California Press Photographer plates it was adorned with. It was time. A key had broken off in the steering column and I had wired a flip switch for the ignition under the dash and a push-to-start button in the center console to the starter motor.
It would not have passed an MOT in the UK or pretty much any state in the US that actually inspects cars. It did pass the smog test in CA, so I must’ve been doing something right.
Thanks for the interesting stories! Yeah, I’ve never even cared about any dents/dings on my cars…have never really gotten any from anyone- they were already there when I bought them. Yeah, I was just a little surprised that Mark thought the Checker was pretty ugly; of course that’s always subjective