Rare CJ-7 Laredo Roars Back to Life After 12 Years in Storage
Living in an East Texas metal building for 12 years of its long life, 1980 CJ-7 Laredo includes aftermarket chrome, strong 304 V8.
In 1976, Jeep released the CJ-7, a longer version of the CJ-5. Among the trims available over the Jeep’s life include the rarest of them all, the 1982 Jamboree Commemorative Edition. Only 630 were built to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Rubicon Trail, 70 of which were painted Olympic White, the rest in Topaz Metallic.
A couple of years before, though, Jeep introduced the CJ-7 Laredo. The trim level included tons of features, though found few takers in its first year. One example, however, recently landed in the lap of Dennis Collins. All he needed to do was make a 300-mile round-trip to Linden, Texas.
“Today, we’re going to go rescue a very rare and desirable 1980 CJ-7,” said Collins. “These rarely come up for sale. The reason why is it’s a Laredo, which is the first year of the highest option CJ-7 of that year until the Limiteds came out later on. But the other thing is, from the pictures, it’s a factory automatic, which is crazy rare. They only made them twice a year.”
A rainstorm and 150 or so miles into East Texas later, Collins arrives to pick up the CJ-7 Laredo. According to Autoevolution, over 38,000 CJ-7s left the factory in 1980, though only a handful were of the top-tier Laredo trim. Throw in the fact most of the Laredos aren’t in the best condition due to rust, this one truly is a diamond in the rough. Or a metal building, in this case.
“We got a crazy-optioned Jeep,” said Collins. “The first-year Laredo. Not rusty. Power steering, power brakes, factory AC […] It looks complete and correct. I like that.”
The CJ-7 Laredo is an H-code model, featuring the 304 V8 linked to an automatic. Such an engine was standard on the Golden Eagle and Golden Hawk. It also wears a full host of aftermarket chrome from Olympic, from the door-sill guard to the windshield itself. And, despite being stored for 12 years, the big V8 fires up like it was yesterday.
“Again, in 1980 was the first year of the Laredo,” said Collins. “Very important. That was the top-line Jeep that year. If you got one fully loaded, which this one is fully loaded, it was as expensive as a Cadillac or Corvette.”
And it may be as pricey as a new Wrangler Rubicon. A 1985 Laredo with a 258 V8 and five-speed manual went to a new home on Bring a Trailer for $41,000 at the end of September 2020. Meanwhile, a modded CJ-7 Laredo with a swapped-in 360 V8 netted $52,500 for the seller through the same auction site just a couple of weeks before. Who knows what this one will score once restored.
Photos: Screenshots via Autoevolution
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