Don't quite get the enormous prices either. Yeah there is overhead to pay, and want to make a profit. Just seems crazy to pay $150-200K for a restoration. Believe they are selling an image more than anything. Most of these will be garage queens and hardly be used.
Have seen several Icons come up for sale over the years. Hardly any miles on them. Basically bought by rich guys to have a tough manly looking vehicle kept at the summer mountain home to run into town with.
Have heard mixed reviews about Vintage Offroad, but their prices are much more reasonable. Maybe not to the detail of FJ Co...but something you wouldn't be afraid to use.
http://www.vintageoffroad.com/collection.cfm?category=1
Leno had couple of the Legacy builds on his show, they had it up on the rack...saw a lot of cut corners. Should be absolutely perfect for the prices they are asking.
You can judge for yourself.
What corners do you think were cut? I haven't seen one in person, but it seems like they went overkill with the restoration: boxed the frame; axles from a newer 3/4 ton; front and rear locker options. I don't know that a Legacy PW is worth the current asking price, but it seems to be a quality build from the outside perspective.
Yea, the double cab is bigger than the domestic double cabs, but not as big as the giant ones with limo-rated legroom. And you get the 6.5' bed, same length frame IIRC as the crewmax small box.
All the JLs will get the 3.0 ecodiesel they're using in the Rams in Grand Cherokees (Though the first diesel WKs around 10 years ago used a Mercedes bluetec 3.0 V6 diesel, so if you are looking around at reliability keep that in mind). Both the 2.8 and 3.0 are VM Motori motors, but they are different. The duramax 2.8 4 cylinder is an evolution of the OLD Jeep 2.8 CRD used here and overseas. The 3.0 V6 is named the A 630 and the current 2.8 4 cyl is the A 428. Really high tech naming scheme. The 2.8 has been around since the early 2000s (starting as a 2.5), and is used in the last gen (until 2017, non hybrid) London taxis. If you do some searching around on it on the Aussie forums, people really like the 2.8, but the main complaints are the short (for a diesel) service intervals and the fact that it really is a "Car" diesel and not a truck diesel. So it doesn't take long term abuse like an older, more mechanical motor can.
I'm somewhat familiar with the 2.8l's and 3.0l's origins.
Despite its lengthy service history, the 3.0l v6 ecodiesel is still a big unknown in my book: that engine has a decent trend of failures in the Ram 1500 (not just emissions, but actual engine failures too). Maybe FCA has really gone to town and addressed the known issues for this next iteration that will go into the Jeep Wrangler and new 1500....we'll have to wait and see.
I have not heard about the Aussie complaints regarding the 2.8l. That engine has also seen use in the overseas Jeep (including the J8), and I hadn't heard of any major issues in those platforms, but I haven't spent much time reading about the Aussie perspective. It seems decent enough in the Colorado platform, and honestly I think that engine (or at least that type of engine) is a much better fit for the Jeep, both in terms of size and torque delivery. We'll find out over the next 10 years how its longterm durability fares.
The real shame is that Cummins produces their own 2.8l diesel and could probably have developed a v6 or inline 5 for the midsized market, had FCA asked them to do so. I really do think FCA's growing reliance on VM Motori diesel engines is a big mistake in the long run. Cummins practically saved the Dodge truck brand back in the day, and its arguably a major reason for why their 3/4 ton's continue to sell well. I'm willing to give the 3.0l ecodiesel another chance, but so far it hasn't developed the best of reputations.
