Five Years Ago, I Sold My ‘Holy Grail’ Jeep Grand Cherokee. The Buyer Turned It Into The Greatest ‘OEM+’ Jeep I’ve Ever Seen

I never thought I’d meet someone who loves Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJs as much as I do, but I did. His name is Jason Westfall, and he’s the Texan who purchased my mint-condition 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ when I moved out of Detroit. Any regrets I have about selling that Jeep have since disappeared because Jason turned that minty Holy Grail five-speed ZJ into the most perfect Jeep I’ve ever seen.

The very best case scenario when selling a car is finding a buyer who really, really loves it. That guy is Jason Westfall, who bought my mint-condition 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee for what I thought at the time was a mountain of money — $9,500. A couple years prior, I had purchased the vehicle for around $4000 all-in from Reno, Nevada, and I was smitten. This was my second manual transmission Grand Cherokee, and unlike my first one (shown here), it was a base model in excellent shape.

Check out how excited I was when I bought it:

But I felt I had stagnated in life, buying all those junkers in Michigan and remaining perpetually single. For that reason, and because I felt that having someone on staff near our business partner Beau made lots of sense, I chose to move to California.

I couldn’t keep all my cars, but I picked four. In retrospect, I did not choose well, as two of the four are already sold, and the Mustang is on the chopping block now. Here’s a photo of the Jeep just before I sold it: 

And here’s a video of me talking about selling the minty 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ and deciding to keep the junky 1994 that I had saved from the scrap-heap:

And here is me saying goodbye:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by David Tracy (@davidntracy)

I was thrilled with the sale at the time, and I bet Jason was as well, as now that I’m older and have a family I’ve realized that I may never get around to actually completing the 1994  “Holy Grail” five-speed Jeep Grand Cherokee that I chose to keep as a project. Still, that rare, one-of-1500 manual first-model-year, base-model (crank windows!) Grand Cherokee was a borderline museum piece, and to sell it to someone who gets it and who lives in the rust-free south is a best-car scenario. Especially since he built this:

It may not be obvious what Jason has done here, but that’s because he is a man of taste.

Ever since I sold him the Jeep, he’s been texting me what he’s been doing to this machine. The first few texts seemed a bit concerning, with the engine having to be replaced with a remanufactured unit (hopefully this wasn’t a result of the oil pressure sensor breaking off during transport):

I started just losing power outta nowhere. i thought i had a bad distributor (cause the bottom gear was really worn) and/or it was timed wrong. replaced the distributor and was good for a couple of days. then it died mid traffic again. so it seems the cam is loose enough for it to not contact that distributor gear. most boring way ive ever required a rebuild.

But before I knew it I had a pleasant message in my inbox: “ZJ is doing awesome with its brand new engine, so its ready to be of service for a long time.” Then in April of 2023, a few months after moving to California, I found one of the rarest and most coveted Jeep Grand Cherokee accessories in existence — the factory spare tire carrier:

Somehow, while walking through the local LKQ junkyard, I managed to just stumble upon a second! So I texted Jason, who was absolutely ecstatic, excited to install it on the minty machine I had sold him:

Jason texted me, patiently, for almost two years before I was able to get that heavy tire carrier onto a pallet and shipped his way. He was not only super appreciative, but when he started putting his together (he’s having it sandblasted), he even gave me some tips for when I eventually install mine:

“I’m trying like hell to have the ultimate [ZJ],” Jason texted me,” saying “if you or any of your followers ever finds a mini console i can buy, let me know!…I’ve never seen one in person, they are super rare, and I think it fits the vibe of this jeep.” A mini console removes the center console bin, offering only cupholders; this was available only on base-model ZJs.

He later asked me to “keep an eye out for that front console piece if you ever see one. I think maybe they might be more prevalent in Europe? It was only available in 93.” A few months later, he had found a mini console and purchased both parts:

Jason texted anytime he found a rare ZJ accessory near me:

And he texted when he added factory tow hooks:

You may also notice those amber turn signals up front; those are Euro-spec lenses that he imported from overseas. They look awesome. Also awesome? Those bumper-mounted foglights that were optional on ZJs.

This is the beauty of OEM. You use factory parts that may not have been optioned on your specific vehicle but were available on other variants, and you install the ones you like. Some people also consider OEM+ to include modifications that were never offered from factory but that maintain the vehicle’s identity. As an example, notice the lift kit (“a frankenstein lift…metalcloak tj 3.5 coils in front (part number 7060)…oem zj I6 front coils in rear…bilstein shocks for 3-4 lift (24-186223 and 24-186216)…jks adjustable control arms and front and rear adjustable track bar) Jason recently installed:

It’s nothing crazy — it didn’t require trimming of fenders or bumpers — and in order to maintain a normal stance and prevent rubbing, Jason replaced the wheels. But look at the previous photo and you’ll see how similar the new wheels are; it was not easy for Jason to find the right ones, with him telling me:

so the original wheels (which, of course I still have) we’re 15 x 7 with about 6 inches of backspacing. I was gonna rub like crazy. these are wheel vintique repop Mopar steel wheels from the 70s

This is really an amazing OEM+ build. From the Euro-spec amber turn signals to the rare mini-console to the factory fog lights and tow hooks to the spare tire carrier to the subtle lift with similar-to-stock wheels — this is about as perfect of a Jeep Grand Cherokee as exists in the world. 4.0, five-speed, crank windows, perfect options. A+. No notes.

Thank you, Jason, for giving this world the greatest Grand Cherokee it has ever seen.