I had seen this Comanche pickup once before parked outside its 9-5 home, a Jeep/4×4 specialist parts supplier. Now the XJ Cherokeee was only introduced here in 1994, unfortunately too late for any of the Comanches to have been slipped onto the boat with the wagons – and I’ve only ever seen one.
Life has taken me past the place again a couple of times, but I did not see it again, so you can imagine I was surprised and pleased to see it on my way home a few months back. It looks to be the long bed version, and although I have no idea what driveline combination it has I think a 4wd 4.0 would be a sensible choice.
It is a shame that the timing didn’t work for the Comanche to be sold in Australia as I’m sure they would have been popular, perhaps we will find out with the upcoming Wrangler based pickup. At least one person thinks that will be a good idea!
Did the owner have to convert it to right hand drive or did these come from the factory like that? I like these Jeeps including the Cherokee, but what is Australian’s honest opinion of them?
Could they built these in RHD for postal deliveries?
The XJ Cherokee did fairly well in Australia, reviewers criticised the interior as being a bit old fashioned, square & plasticky but I doubt that was too much of an issue for owners, especially since they have been pretty durable. I saw one just yesterday with a swing-away rear tyre carrier on an aftermarket rear bumper.
You see some that are set up for off roading now, but when new they were timed perfectly for the SUV boom and most were just used as normal family cars.
A co-worker if mine owned one of these years ago and loved it; he’d gladly have kept buying them if Jeep had kept the Comanche in their lineup. Maybe Jeep will stick a bed on the Fiat 500 and make a micro-pickup. 😉
Saw a lifted and primered example a coupe of weeks ago pull into the parking lot of an ice cream shop I was at.
Fiat ALREADY has a pick-up called the Toro that will be available in Canada soon, with a Ram and Plymouth version to be added in 2019. There may be a chance that model would be in the Australian Model lineup, being its made in Brazil.
I think they have said the Toro won’t be sold here, I don’t think they are built in RHD. The Fiat Fullback which is based on the Mitsubishi L200/Triton doesn’t look likely either. FCA is struggling in Australia, Jeep is down 35% for the first half of this year, Fiat, Alfa and Chrysler sell in tiny numbers. Or you can buy a Ram for $120k+!
Lack of a nation wide warranty didnt help the Cherokee’s cause in Aussie, it was easy to get too far from a dealership. I rarely saw any outside the main cities.
Maybe not so much warranty as dealer network. My uncle had an issue with his 1983 Cherokee when offroading in the Kimberly (remote north-west Australia) about 30 years ago, and had to call Jeep head office in Brisbane – no mobiles then of course!
FWIW, he noticed the whole roof moving, with a gap opening between the windscreen and pillar! The Jeep guys asked how big a gap, and said that was ok, but that he should take some weight off the roof rack. Apparently the roof pillars were designed to allow some flexing so they didn’t crack instead.
My first ever Cohort effect posted here!
Seen in Munich today…
Cheers Oliver! I can’t imagine there are a lot of these in Germany either.
Not even alot left in the USA though I saw a white one in TN (where I live) recently. These suffered from cancellation due to competing with the Dodge Dakota pickup after Chrysler bought AMC in the 1980s…
There’s a reasonably nice Comanche in my old neighborhood, and an absolutely beautiful blue one that is owned by one of the proprietors of a local garden center. Looks absolutely showroom new–I should try to get some photos for the cohort at some point.