I hear Kodos & Kang are yelling at each other tonight, but I thought I’d spend time on yet another forlorn search for interesting Jeeps and share them with you, because surely you haven’t been exposed to enough manual XJs yet.
This one has caught my eye in part because it’s a drivable distance, and also because I know we have a couple of Jeep enthusiasts in North Carolina. Unfortunately brokenmostweeks is too far, but maybe jeepoftheseus is closer...
This is local, obviously not an XJ, a bit out of my range, and I’d need a roof, but it’s a looker.
Plus of course not the straight 6 I’d want or one of the classic CJ V8s, but rather a GM 151 I4.
http://jeeptech.com/engine/gm151.html
Moving out west, where the Jeeps are plentiful and the rust is marginal...
I absolutely love the color on this rural Washington XJ. The lift is a bit much, and I hate the idea of having such big tires that I wouldn’t be able to put on a spare without rendering my back inoperable for a week.
It’s interesting how different the blue looks on these two photos. Sun vs shadow, but still.
This Portland vehicle definitely looks the part of an adventure Jeep, but it’s only 2WD. Still, the price is hard to beat.
This Portland Jeep is out of my price range (especially when you include the cost of shipping) and the photos are ... well, damned few and damned crappy.
This one in the SF Bay Area is currently inoperable, and 2WD only, but I like the price. Still, if I were going to buy a cheap 2WD, I’d probably buy the Portland one, because it actually runs. Or more likely the Orlando one further down the page.
More weird photo choices...there are quite a few, but they’re mostly very tight and just weird. But the price is right, and it’s New Mexico, where they’ve never heard of rust.
This one’s from Texas, nearly to the New Mexico border. I absolutely hate the color (white? cream?), but it has remarkably low mileage. Apparently sat for years.
Also, the seller has quite an attitude. “I’m a dealer but I refuse to do dealer things.”
(I just noticed that intriguing yellow...truck? Anyone recognize that?)
This problem child from Colorado has been fixed frequently by its adoptive parent and still is glitchy. I know the feeling.
Can’t beat the price on this Colorado special, $800...probably because it needs a new engine (or some major work on the current one). If I had the engine and the chops I’d grab it.
Jumping down to Florida, this is tempting because I could fly to see family in the area and drive it home. Single owner! 2WD only, sadly, but I really should think more about this one given its proximity to my grandmother.
Also in Florida, also perplexed by the lack of photos. As I’ve ranted before, photos are cheap! Take them, share them, you’re spending money to post on Craigslist so make the best of it!
(That rant was a lot more interesting when the linked for sale pages were still up.)
This is also sadly white, but not the dingy white of the Texas low-mileage example.
Holy crackpipe, Batman! But it is undeniably gorgeous.
(It’s actually probably a fair price for a restored, relatively rare Jeep like that, but it’s way way way out of my range.)
This is an SJ Cherokee. Nice classic, affordable, but there’s no way I have the chops or the pocketbook to clean it up like it deserves.
This one in the DC area is gorgeous, and looks so clean, but trying to sell it 4000 miles after an engine swap is a big red flag to me. Still, if I knew it were a safe bet, this would be near the top of my wishlist.
So, those are (most of) the Jeeps I have my eye on right now, none of which I’m likely to buy. If anyone’s within a short drive of any of them, let me know (although some of them aren’t even worth a visit, so definitely check with me first).
Thank you for indulging me by reading this new edition of unnecessary Jeep shopping with JJ.