'Unicorn' 1977 Jeep J10 Prototype Restored Decades After Escaping the Crusher

Automakers are very careful with their engineering prototypes, with the vast majority of R&D vehicles crushed once development is complete. However, in the 1970s, a Jeep employee worked on a one-off prototype, fell in love, and managed to save his creation from its fate as scrap. Decades later, his family is restoring the vehicle to its former glory.

As covered by 13ABC, the vehicle in question is an extended-cab prototype of the Jeep J10 pickup truck. Harold “Pete” Johnson was a pivotal figure in its creation, working as a Research & Development engineering supervisor at Jeep in the 1970s. The one-off J10 was built in 1977, with Jeep ultimately declining to put it in production. The story of the extended-cab prototype should have ended there. Instead, it lives on, in the hands of Johnson's granddaughter, Paula Smith, and her husband Michael.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn6-Rgf2Uws

“He loved it so much, he would hide it in the factory in the file cabinet room. When the higher-ups would come in to find it, he would put files in front of it," said Michael Smith, adding "When they would leave, the Jeep would come back out and they’d use it to get lunch." Eventually, Johnson was able to convince his bosses to let him buy the truck for $1 as he was retiring from the company. The truck has been in the family ever since.