Jeep doesn’t make a lot of pickup trucks, but for seven years beginning in 1976, a trim package called The Honcho was available. The limited-edition offered on the J10 model and only on the step side and short bed offerings included bold striping and decals.
Optional extras included an interior made by Levi’s (in blue or tan) or a roll bar. The specialty trucks also included the Golden Eagle and 10-4. The latter was offered with an optional CB radio corresponding to the radio acknowledgment decal “10-4.”
The Jeep J10 Honcho was manufactured through 1983, and it could be ordered with a combination of the specialty items. Only 1,264 examples were made. It’s not the most coveted, but it’s now often considered the rarest pickup truck ever made in the United States.
After American Motors Corporation (AMC) purchased Jeep from Kaiser Motors in 1970, the Honcho was sold as the Gladiator. They were known as the J-Series trucks.
Rugged dependability
Jeep marketed the truck as the epitome of masculinity with this advertising poster refrain:
“Honcho” means boss. And when it comes to 4-wheel drive pickups, the Jeep Honcho is way out in front with sporty good looks, all-out performance and the rugged dependability that comes with the Jeep name.”
Jeep reintroduced the Gladiator as a 2020 model, its first pickup truck in 30 years. A Jeep dealer in Wisconsin decided to pay homage to the original Honcho with a Gladiator with look-a-like original Honcho looks.
Despite its scarcity, the original Jeep Honchos are available on well-established vintage vehicle websites.
History of the Jeep J10 Honcho
The Honcho arrived in 1976 on the Custom-level J-10 short-bed, the 119-inch-wheelbase truck. It was the pickup counterpart to the wide-track Cherokee Chief that Jeep had introduced in January 1975, and it came in two body styles, the step-bed Sportside and the Townside.
The $699 package bought gold stripes along the bedside, fenders and tailgate, off-road tires on 8×15-inch spoke wheels and a sport steering wheel. In 1983 Jeep replaced it with the Laredo.
James Raia
A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004. In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida. An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.