Jeep Builds a Muscle Car: The XJ-001

While the name “Jeep” is synonymous all over the world with rugged engineering and unstoppable off-road performance, there was once a time when the brand known best for fording rivers and crawling through boulders considered entering the muscle car wars, with a sporty, bare bones short-wheelbase convertible that likely gave the insurance industry cold chills just by looking at it.  
Introduced in 1970, the XJ-001 concept car was the brainchild of Jeep stylist Jim Anger, who wanted to see if there was consumer interest for Jeep going in a totally new direction. If that severely-abbreviated design looks familiar, that’s because the Jeep design team took one of their most recognizable products as a foundation for the XJ-001: the frame of a 1970 Jeep CJ-5. The resulting wheelbase: a very short 81 inches, just like the CJ-5, with an overall length of just 144 inches. While the engineers behind the XJ-001 considered using the front suspension from the two-wheel-drive Jeep DJ Postal Jeep and going with rear-wheel drive, they settled on a then-revolutionary full-time all-wheel drive system they called Quadritrac, which was introduced in production Jeep vehicles three years later.

Having all four tires driving the XJ-001 made the short-wheelbase cart a bit more manageable on the street, which was important given what they decided to drop under the hood: the same 360 cubic inch American Motors Corporation V8 found in muscle cars like the AMC Javelin and AMX, producing 315 horsepower, which made the little roadster — which tipped the scales at just over 2,000 pounds — quite a handful to drive.   

Going with the “less-is-more” approach that has defined Jeeps since the first Willys models rolled into combat in World War II, the team behind the XJ-001 went full-on roadster with the body design, relying on the ease and low-cost of fiberglass to make their sketches a reality. The result is a vehicle that’s more streetable dune buggy than standard convertible, featuring deep cutouts in lieu of doors (heavily reminiscent of the CJ), a sloping hood with a scoop, twin bucket seats, sporty side vents and a stubby rear overhang fitted with round taillights and chromed dual exhaust tips.  

The resulting concept car, painted bright yellow with colorful stripes, debuted at the New York Auto Show in 1970 to rave reviews, later appearing on the cover of Popular Mechanics magazine. There was talk of putting the design into production as a compact hardtop muscle car called the XJ-002, but that ended when American Motors Corporation — which had long supplied Jeep with engines — purchased Jeep in 1970. The only XJ-001 prototype was still a big draw at car shows, however, so Jeep kept it on the road for display. A few years after the XJ-001’s debut, it was headed for a display booth at the Texas State Fair when the transport truck overturned and caught fire, with the XJ-001 completely destroyed in the resulting blaze.

While Jeep never returned to the idea of building a muscle car, Jeep muscle lives on in the 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT Trackhawk, with over 700 horsepower and performance that would put even the hottest of the “Golden Age” muscle cars to shame. Stop in at McLarty Daniel CDJR of Bentonville, and check out our great selection of Jeeps today!    

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