1980 Golden Hawk – Jeeps are cool. Over the last eighty years, Jeep has proven this simple, wonderful fact repeatedly as one of the most enduring, popular vehicles ever made. Few eras spawned as many aforementioned ice cold, rockstar Jeeps as the eighties, which introduced raptor-inspired, delightfully radical trucks such as the Golden Hawk (and Golden Eagle). Enter Vigilante 4×4 Founders Daniel and Rachel van Doveren and their company’s restoration experts out of Texas (dubbed JeepHeritage) with a sunbeam-chasing screamer in this 1980 Golden Hawk now available to explore the happiest of trails.
“In the vintage Jeep market, Golden Hawks are rare. The opportunity to restore a very special truck like this was such fun for our team because Golden Hawks are a treasure, and we took our time restoring this one,” comments JeepHeritage and Vigilante 4×4 Founder Daniel van Doveren. “Speaking honestly, this fully-restored 1980 Golden Hawk is among the best surviving examples of this particular Jeep in the world, a completely unique, absolutely stunning rig that instantly makes an impression out on the road.”
The JeepHeritage Golden Hawk features a striking Bordeaux Metallic colorway exterior paint that was made available in 1980 CJ-5, CJ-7, and Cherokee models. The Golden Hawks were a limited edition offering at the time, highlighted by an eye-catching tri-tone flying hawk graphic on the hood with matching striping across the Jeep body. Other Golden Hawk touches included branding on the sides and tailgate, gold and black pinstriped wheels, a black tubular steel brush guard, and bronzed glass on the rear quarter windows.
The carefully restored JeepHeritage Golden Hawk is yet another stellar representation of Vigilante 4×4’s mission to reimagine and restore vintage Jeeps of all kinds; a story that starts in Europe with van Doveren growing up taking road trips across the United States with family. Every trip, van Doveren would find a beater Jeep and get to work on the fly making the rig road worthy, trekking thousands of miles wherever the highway took them across the vast mountains, canyons, and deserts of the United States.
After each trip, van Doveren would ship the Jeep back to Europe and meticulously restore the vehicle. The process became a wonderful obsession of joy for the young van Doveren, and he incidentally became one of the most knowledgeable (and unlikeliest) of talents working in Jeep restoration and repair. Word spread across Europe of van Doveren’s amazing Jeep restorations. When one of Jeep’s European executives came to him offering to purchase one of his builds at a price he couldn’t refuse, van Doveren knew that he wanted to develop a business out of giving classic Jeeps new life.
With van Doveren overseeing some of the most detailed restorations in the car world, the 1980 Golden Hawk started with a carefully rendered frame off-restoration that JeepHeritage embarked on down to every nut and bolt. With no compromise in quality, the Golden Hawk body is stripped to bare metal and carefully restored. The Golden Hawk was then metalized for rust protection and repainted in the original colorway. The Golden Hawk features classic, original body shaping techniques using hammers and heat to create the perfect shape and bodywork. JeepHeritage restored and powder coated the Golden Hawk’s chassis alongside completely rebuilding the axles, transfer case, transmission, and engine. JeepHeritage upgraded the AMC 360 engine with a multipoint fuel injection system allowing for smoother idling and better fuel efficiency, replacing the old carbureted fuel delivery system.
The JeepHeritage Golden Hawk includes an all-around disc brake upgrade from the Eighties-era drum/disc combination. JeepHeritage then integrated a custom-built stainless-steel exhaust system with Mandrel bent steel for a perfect fitment and performance in any conditions. JeepHeritage meticulously recreated the Levis Jeep interior using classic stock Levis fabric and matching Moore & Giles leather in place of the Golden Hawk’s original vinyl. All new wiring, glass, seals, window actuators, gauge cluster, radio, clock were introduced into the truck in order to provide some modern comforts in a thoughtfully rendered, period-correct aesthetic true to the original Golden Hawk.
1980 Golden Hawk Photos
The new 1980 Golden Hawk from JeepHeritage is now available for sale. To learn more, please visit www.jeepheritage.com or call (832) 475-1822.
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