I stopped to photograph this Jeep Cherokee because the two-doors are far less plentiful than the four-doors, which themselves are starting to thin out here in Rustopia. I guess most people bought these to do what we buy CUVs for now, and that demanded four-door utility. But this Cherokee was certainly not bought for that purpose, and the proof is inside.
A five-speed transmission! If the two doors, which squelch easy entry and egress for little Ashley and Jayden, were not enough to shift this four-wheeler’s mission, the stick shift certainly was. And judging by the trim in evidence, this is probably as basic a Cherokee as you could buy at the time.
Twenty years later, it carries on with few signs of hard use. In that teal color, it is a real rolling throwback to its day. Doesn’t it seem like most of the mid-90s teal cars were basic transportation that have gone on to the Great Junkyard Beyond?
So yes, there were many reasons to pause and consider this Cherokee. Discovering the manual transmission was just icing on the cake.
Related reading: CC 1984 Jeep Cherokee – AMC’s Greatest Hit Thanks To Renault
The City of Houston is constantly bidding off 2-door Cherokees that saw former utility/inspector fleet use. They all seem to have 2WD, a 4.0 and an automatic transmission, and no options…but straight bodywork and no rust.
I really want one. What a wonderful vehicle for urban environments. Curbs and potholes present no challenges, bumpers are at the correct height for dishing it out instead of taking it, there’s nothing on it to break, and nothing on it to steal. Very charming.
Ooh, that would be tempting Very tempting.
It was mean of me not to leave a link: http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/list/current?slth=&sma=&orgid=4154&sorg=&page=0&sortBy=title
There’s no Cherokees right now, but many other used-up white fleet vehicles with varying degrees of usefulness. It’s also a good place to scour for heavily beat-up Ford P71s, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Hmm, the university I work at has a ’98 Windstar Cargo identical to the 3 listed in there. We bought it from a GSA auction several years ago. I’ve always wondered if it was factory or if someone just ripped the seats out of a normal van. Guess it must have been factory.
VERY tempting. The 2 door is a more desireably bodystyle…if theyre straight and clean (as a TX fleet vehicle should be) then its a ripe candidate to be converted to 4×4. No need to settle for a 4 door.
I saw a City of Houston Cherokee on the Gulf Freeway today. It was parked in the emergency lane (perhaps some mechanical failure on this at least 18 year-old vehicle). It had the original style grille and front bumper making it a 1996 model at the latest.
I have owned two Cherokees (a 1996 and a 2001, both with the 4.0 liter six, automatic transmission, and 2wd. They are indeed very well suited to driving on the ever worsening roads in Houston and parking in cramped inner city lots. They have a really tight turning radius for a solid axle vehicle. Speaking of tight the rear seat is definitely that. We gave one of my son’s school friends a ride one day. He got his size 13 basketball shoes (still on his feet) jammed between the seat tracks fo the front seat and needed help getting them free.
Cherokees of that era were handsome vehicles, but even the 4-door is tight in back, a common problem with high-floored SUVs. I remember a trip to NM with coworkers in a Suburban, & recall how poor the 2nd-row seat legroom was for a vehicle of that size.
Yeah, I knew someone who had one back in the day and was surprised by how cramped the cabin was. Still, these were fashionable family haulers, poor rear leg- and shoulder-room notwithstanding.
Yep. First one of these I rode in belonged to the scoutmaster of my Boy Scout troop, and while it was certainly a nice vehicle, it was tighter in back than the Trooper it replaced. Further experience confirmed this…several friends and family members owned them over the next many years. Last one I can think of out of that group was totaled in 2007 or 2008.
One of the more interesting stats is how close the current Jeep Patriot is in dimensions to the original Jeep Cherokee. So, for those desiring the original (instead of the ‘urinal-face’, ultra-modern, new Cherokee), the Patriot is actually much closer (despite being FWD in its basic versions).
It’s not just the high floor – the rear wheel intrudes into the passenger space a lot, perhaps from the long-hood, pushed-back cabin styling?. (Look at the shape of the rear door on a 4-door.)
Also, these are much smaller than they look. Believe it or not, a Cherokee (either 2 or 4 door) is 2″ shorter than a PT Cruiser (!) (166.9″ vs 168.8″), and all of the difference is in the wheelbase (101″ vs 103″). An Explorer of the same vintage is 14″ longer than the Jeep.
Compared to the Dodge/Plymouth Neon based PT Cruiser weighing at 3,123 pounds, this Jeep Cherokee (XJ) weighed much lighter at 2,891-2993 pounds for the 2WD models. So the PT Cruiser was slightly larger and heavier than a 2WD 1985 Jeep Cherokee (XJ). In addition when this Jeep Cherokee was introduced in 1985, safety steel cages and bulkier standard tires weren’t a common daily household word back then hence they were lighter compared to smaller or similar sized SUVs being built today.
I heard that Renault had input into the Cherokee’s design, so no doubt they got Europe-friendly dimensions as a result. And small size never hurts if you actually do offroading, either.
Yes, it was designed to be sold in Europe too, since Renault was quite involved with its development. They wanted it to be verry light and compact given the rising gas prices of the early 80s when it was designed.
And did Renault also have input concerning the ZJ Grand Cherokee’s design?
I would buy one if I got the opportunity.
True confession time. When this car and then the Explorer came out, I thought that published predictions of the high take-rate on 4 doors was pure fantasy. After all, look at all of the 2 door Blazers, Jimmys and Bronco IIs that were everywhere then. I failed to note that most of those buyers evidently settled for 2 doors only because there was no 4 door available at the time.
My sister had a 93 Cherokee Sport (4 door) with the 5 speed. Even buying new, she had to search long and wide for it, and had to go maybe 65 miles to get one. I have always harbored a grudge that she never let me know before she was ready to sell/trade it.
I always liked this color. Heck, I would happily buy and drive this very vehicle.
Yeah, it’s just like pickup trucks. How many two-door and extracab models do you see today vs. 4doors. Except in that case it was weird how other markets (Mexico for example) had many of them on offer for years before us.
I was shocked at how quickly the 4dr became popular as the family station wagon. I don’t think that many of the people who bought the 2dr Bronco IIs, Blazers and Jimmys in the beginning would have went with the 4dr. The 4dr did make it useable as a family wagon and thus increased the market significantly. Another reason that the 4dr took over was that pesky chicken tax as they closed the loophole for the 2dr versions and only kept it open for the 4dr versions which meant that the foreign offerings dropped the 2dr versions pretty quickly.
The 4 door takeover was pandering to the suburban soccer moms. Even when minivans were ‘in’, they still had a stigma right from the get go. So what happened here is when a good yet specialized idea goes mainstream: Sports utilities were basically 4×4 trucks that took on some of the better qualities of cars while keeping the capability of a truck. Lockable storage, room for 4-5 people, shorter overall length…but they were still basically offroad vehicles and aimed at younger, outdoorsy adventurous types.
Basically, its pretentiousness run amok. Most suburban yuppie family types want to look like they are rugged, outdoorsy, individualistic, etc. But when it comes down to actually LIVING that image, they aren’t up to it so the enthusiast suffers. As a result, only Jeep even tries to cater to that original market. But even those are starting to dumb down at an alarming rate. Well family types want a piece of feeling ‘cool’ so they buy in but quickly start whining that these vehicles don’t really cater to them. Since its a mass exodus, numbers and money talk and what once WAS a rugged, utilitarian and capable vehicle to start with then slowly fattens up, gets softer, lower, less capable and becomes a vehicle for posers. It becomes more like that minivan that the mainstream consumer didn’t want to be associated with in principle yet a little more closely resembles the image they were trying to project. Now, you have the CUV which is a total minivan in every way except they lack sliding doors.
Don’t get me wrong, Im not knocking people for seeking out what works for them. But in the end, the hardcore enthusiast gets screwed.
Depends on how you define ‘hardcore enthusiast’. During my late wife’s real estate career (1998-2006), I had two of these plus a 1990 Grand Wagoneer. Patti found them invaluable for taking clients to newly laid-out developments, because, of course, the client wants to see the home site from where the house is actually going to be built – but under no conditions do they want to get their feet dirty walking to the location.
Which meant that, at the end of the day, Patti looked like just another one of those trendy ‘soccer moms’ minus kids driving thru the suburbs. Except that her Cherokee was mud caked on the sides and in the wheel wells. She used to laugh at the looks she’d get in the parking lot of the local upscale mall where she’d get our groceries (they had a Ukrops, a big deal in Richmond). And there was no problem finding her car in the parking lot full of SUV’s. Just look for the dirty one.
I’d meet her at home with the power washer ready, clean it off and ready to go again the next morning. Rode with her once – she was actually a very competent off-roader, despite her protestations that she didn’t have a clue what it was all about. She had absolutely no interest in recreational off-roading. AMA Superbike (back when it existed) and MotoGP were her loves.
Nice find. I haven’t seen that color in quite a while!
These were popular in our part of the world. They also usually folded up like soft drink cans in an accident. I liked Jeeps but they seem to have always carried on a tradition of no survivors in a crash.
I love the vibrant colors these Cherokees came in during their twilight years of production including USFS Green. Great looking SUVs and it is nice that Oregon is home to many of these. My dad did not buy one of these in the late 90s and instead bought a 93 Legacy due to its superior fuel economy. I had the same steering wheel and window cranks in my 95 Voyager, wonder what other items are from the parts bin on this Jeep?
One of my favorite colors on these Cherokees was the bright magenta that seemed to have migrated from the Dodge/Plymouth Neon.
I’m surprised no one has noticed something conspicuously absent from this XJ, especially in the Midwest – it’s 2WD!
On top of the 2WD, manual transmission and manual front window winders, this one has neither tinted glass nor the ‘flipper’ opening rear quarter windows, marking it as a true stripper. Someone probably got a real good deal, maybe their first vehicle, and decided to take real good care of it.
For which we thank them.
You don’t see many two door Cherokees, nor do you see many Jeep Cherokees with manual shift transmission.
Since it has an airbag and high back buckets (vs headrests) I think it’s a ’96. ’95 and before didn’t have either, and 97 up had the new front clip, hatch, and dashboard.
I had a refrigerator-white ’96, also with the manual (albeit 4-door/4WD) and it was a lot of fun. The straight 6 was torquey and smooth – not a lot of shifting needed. It was a great vehicle.
The back seat was small, but the
biggestmajor problem (once the kids grew out of car seats) was the lack of head restraints back there. Made me really nervous. Only problems I ever had were the O2 sensor (twice – the first time it got torn out when the cable wasn’t properly tied down at the factory and got caught in a U-joint), and the water pump – also twice. But the beam axle made it easy on tires – 65k+ on the originals – and the manual made it easy on brakes – close to 85k on the first pads.By the time I sold it at 120+k miles, everything still worked great, though the rear diff was howling (bad on me for a lack of maintenance!) I did have a spot of rust at the top of the windshield (in San Diego?!) so I can’t imagine how it would do in the rust belt.
Oh, and one other oddity: the keyless remote was actually infrared, not RF. It had a little IR LED poking out the front, and it had to aim at a small black dome on the ceiling above the rear-view mirror.
Thanks! I adjusted the article.
So many good memories of seeing these all the time in my childhood. I knew plenty of people who owned them, but I don’t think I ever actually rode in on (at least a pre-1997 version).
Interesting fact: the trunk was made out of fiberglass.
One of these on sale at a lot just a couple miles from the house. If it had been available when I bought the 4Runner I just might have bought it. Lots cheaper.
Yeah, I noticed it was 2WD also. During the mid-2000s I was renting cars almost every week, and occasionally the corporate rental car company would stick me with one of these. I absolutely hated them. Noisy, rough riding, and the poor things had no idea where straight ahead was. For comparison, I owned a GMC Jimmy at the time…the worst vehicle I ever owned. The Jimmy was great compared to the Cherokee.
A friend of mine used to have a Cherokee with 4L engine. I don’t recall the year. he lost an engine in the strangest way I can imagine. After the engine seized they found the oil sump dry and all the oil was in the air filter housing. He also told me it was common for these engines.
I was not attracted to these vehicles. I am more attracted by sedans, wagons and hatchbacks.
The 4.0’s have a little oil that backs up through the breather and into the airbox and filter element. It’s common to all of them but certainly it shouldn’t force a crankcase full of oil into the box.
Your friend either had something seriously wrong with the motor it or he didn’t maintain it by periodically checking the oil level. A low, non fatal oil level in a 4.0 produces a very noticeable lifter clatter, something quickly remedied by adding oil. That should have been warning enough that something wasn’t right.
I knew someone that had one just like the featured car, except in dark green, we nicknamed it “Ranger Rick” since it looked like something someone from the Bureau of Land Management would drive.
Love the 2 door Cherokee! I never could figure out why these didn’t sell more for the longest time. Ive always wanted one and if I could ever find a clean 2 door 4×4 with the 4.0, 5 spd and NOT grey, white, forest green, or that champagne gold Id probably bite. For me its the holy grail of XJs and Ive never understood why theyre so rare, until I got to really thinking about it.
Back in ’94 or ’95 I was debating on buying a new Jeep. It would’ve either been a Wrangler or a Cherokee, optioned up with all the heavy duty offroad gear I could stick into the exact body style that a 21 year old single guy would want: A Wrangler 4.0 5spd sport with the offroad package, tow pack, hardtop (no soft top/hard doors avail then) and nothing else. In the XJ camp, a 2 door sport 4×4 4.0 5spd with the offroad package, D44 rear axle and tow pack, not much else. Either way Id have been looking at about $18K. I really liked the looks of the 2 dr XJ since it had a clean sporty style. So different and unique than all the 4 doors owned by the soccer moms. But on the other hand, it was a fixed roof so no open top motoring, it wasn’t quite as ‘extreme’ as the Wrangler and the inside was a bit cramped for my frame. The Wrangler would give me open roofed freedom, more offroad ability, and nothing is more rugged and macho looking than a Wrangler with a lift and plenty of black tubular body armor. But its also a bit short on interior space and storage, and the 2 door XJ has that ‘theyre rare’ appeal. In the end, at that time I was 2 CJs deep and those are what me fall in love with Jeep to start with so the Wrangler would’ve won out, had I not come across my Scrambler….
What this all means is that to the free spirited adventurous types, the Wrangler is just a better fit and cannibalized the 2 dr XJs sales. Its still not a perfect rig though. My ideal Jeep would be the ’03-’06 TJ Unlimited (lwb 2 door) but with a 4.7 V8 minimum, Hemi strongly preferred, manual trans and both full and half soft tops. Guess Ill have to just build it some day….
i bought a 2000 cherokee classic used in 2002 and kept it for about 7 years. the size was great for getting into places other vehicles could not go. i had a friend call me up because he had his utility tractor with a bush hog stuck on the back 40 while doing summer trail maintenance on his xc ski trails. he knew i had an oliver tractor and figured i could fetch it with the oliver. knowing that the drive was a good 8 miles one way, it would be much faster w the cherokee. he was amazed that the jeep could fit on the trails. 4wd low and it was out in a jiffy.
it was also small enough to fit on atv trails. while scouting pine cone crops one day i just kept going farther and farther in on a two track that de-evolved into an atv trail. no problem. then i heard the familar sound of one of those beasts coming the other way down the trail. he was quite surprised to see me there! but he could not complain as the atv trail was likely just the remants of an old “jeep trail” on the map.
does anyone remember that phrase on older maps? solid grey lines become solid red lines become dashed red lines labelled “jeep trail”?
Yup, that’s the one I should have bought new in 1996. Nice find, good ones are so rare now.
That teal color certainly screams “90’s”! And in my opinion was thankfully left in that decade along with a host of other colors – including all the neon (the colors – not the car) variants.
I wonder if in 15 or so years we will look back at the current trend towards black rims and the “murdered” look with fondness or disdain?
Well I bought one new in December of 1990 (it’s a ’91) and 23 years and 312,000 miles later l’m still driving it. And yes, it’s a 90’s color, bright blue. My XJ is no frills, bottom of the line four-door and 4.0 litre engine with 4X4 and that’s about it.
The more I am exposed to “modern” oversized, well let’s call them what they are, a pig on stilts, SUV’s the more I appreciate the XJ’s simplicity, maneuverability and visibility.
Production totals from 1984 until the XJ’s demise in 2001 equal about 2.3 MM units. Even if only a third are still in existence that’s 765,000 examples. We’ll continue to see these for awhile.
I never understood the appeal of this model. I rode in one once and found it uncomfortable and the interior of poor quality. Couldn’t imagine owning one. Give me a front wheel drive floater any day.
I have owned two of these…one an early 2.8L-5 speed in faded bright red, and the other much newer, dark green 4.0L-auto…dead simple to work on, primitive, but cool.
My biggest irritant was that the front door opening is really small, and the rocker panel is high, and I kept catching my feet on the rocker when I would try to get in the truck.
How can you guys tell it’s a 2WD? Lack of badging? Lack of the 4WD shift lever? Or is there a cosmetic difference?
I really like these. The square look has grown on me and the engine note is very distinctive.
Shame they are falling prey to the mudding/off-road crowd, who lift them and cut them up.
I also wouldn’t mind having one of these.
Sorry day late with question, went on vacation without any tech on purpose.
Was the 2.5 an iron duke or the 4.0 missing two pots? I love the last HO sixes, torque in the basement with good upper range. Angry UPS truck. The 2.5 sounded the the ole Duke coughing away.
The latter. A better engine than the ID. And it made more power than the ID, up to 130 hp in the last version.
Hi can you help me I want the number of this tint from the 1996 Jeep if possible