A few months ago I purchased a manual transmission, V8-powered 1989 Chevy K1500 — possibly one of the greatest pickup trucks ever. I used that truck to move my entire household, and fell in love with how it drives; it’s smooth, torquey, and supremely capable. But I’m a Jeep man — I have been for over 20 years now, which is why I don’t think that K1500 will fill the gap in my heart that will exist when I begrudgingly part ways with the 1985 Jeep J10 that the state of California won’t let me drive due to SMOG. For this reason, I have made a questionable choice that will on Wednesday put me in Idaho, about 1000 miles from my home.
With my J10 on the chopping block and my heart unable to truly cherish the K1500 like a Chevy truck fan would, I find myself with a truck problem. How will I carry big, heavy parts like those needed to build my eBay World War II Jeep? How will I cary washing machines and driers and drywall and other things needed to maintain this ancient house my wife, child, cats and I live in?
What I need is a Jeep pickup truck that won’t fail SMOG, and that leaves me with four options. The first is an old Willys pickup truck; this thing:
These are basically pickup truck versions of the first true family 4×4 SUV, the Willys Wagon, and like the Wagon, the Pickup was loosely based on the World War II Jeep (on which the first civilian Jeep, the CJ-2A is also based). They’re old, really don’t go much faster than about 45 MPH sustained, and they’re small.
The truth is, finding one of these in decent shape is difficult and pricey, and what’s more, they’re basically antiques; they’re for driving either on a farm or slowly around town; they are not meant for LA highways.
I could also hunt for a pre-1976 Jeep J10, which would allow me to forgo annual emissions checks. Of course, decent Jeep J10s from that vintage — coveted for their beautiful “Razor” grilles — aren’t cheap. Most of these have rust on the bedside seams, and fixing that is really tough. I’m lucky enough that my bed doesn’t’ have this.
What I could do is buy a pre-1976 with a rust-free cab but a crusty bed, swap my bed and 85,000 mile powertrain, and boom: I’d not only have a California-legal truck, but the rust on my floorboards and the back of my cab would no longer be an issue.
This would take time, of course, and then I’d be tempted to paint it all to make the bed match the cab. And in the end, I’d still have a temperamental, carbureted old truck that makes 112 horsepower.
I could also do an engine swap — namely do the 4.0-liter “stroker” mod that involves taking the crankshaft out of the 258 currently in my J10, swapping that into a 4.0-liter engine. (they are a dime a dozen), and installing a new Hydroboost brake booster (since the 4.0’s intake manifold would interfere with the J10’s brake booster) as well as an engine computer and all the requisite wiring.
It wouldn’t be trivial. The easiest “J10” option involves me just plunking down $15 grand for a nice pre-1975 J10.
Door number three involves buying a new Jeep Gladiator. This is a good option for a few reasons; first, because it’s newer, it’s more refined, more reliable (thus giving me more time to do family things), and safer. This latter point, along with the fact that the truck has four doors, means I could actually drive my kid around in it. Not to mention, it’s really the only option on this list that can actually tow.
The downside to this option is that the manual version of the truck isn’t rated to tow more than 4,500 pounds, and I refuse to ever buy an automatic ICE car again. What’s more, pre-2024 Gladiators don’t have rear side-curtain airbags, which is totally ridiculous. 2024+ trucks are too expensive, but older Gladiators are actually fairly cheap, with 2020s going for around $23,000. That’s not bad for a modern truck, but it’s only got a 5-foot bed, towing with the stick is limited, there are no rear side curtain airbags, and $23,000 is still $23,000.
That brings me to the final option, and the one that I’m exploring.
The Jeep Comanche.
And not just any Jeep Comanche; I just committed to purchasing the very last model-year: 1992. Jeep built only 1,000 Jeep comanches this year, so this is an extremely rare truck.
I’m usually not a snob about final model-years, but what I am a snob about is engine management systems, and all Jeep Cherokees and Comanches prior to the 1991 model-year had what was called a “Renix” fuel injection system, along with a “hot bottle” cooling system. These tend to be a bit temperamental, and the Renix-era vehicles make less power. I’ve gotten used to the Chrysler Fuel Injection system offered in 1991+ Jeep Cherokees and Comanches and Grand Cherokees, so I really didn’t want a pre-1991 Comanche.
So this left me with 1991 and 1992 options.
I’ve actually owned a 1991 Jeep Comanche before, but it was not only an automatic, it was horribly rusty and outfitted with a janky lift kit. I barely recall that truck since I owned it for only a year or so. But I do remember it being reasonably comfortable and capable enough to haul over 11,500 pounds of scrap metal to the metal-yard. Here’s old-me doing feral things in Michigan with that old Comanche “MJ”:
Some people call it a backyard. I call it a proving ground. pic.twitter.com/AEWDkHaUAj
— David Tracy (@davidntracy) March 3, 2020
Anyway, I recently spotted a 1992 MJ for sale up near Boise, Idaho. It is a bone-stock, final model-year model with the coveted AX-15 manual transmission. The asking price of $6,500 seemed reasonable, and if I sold my K1500, I’d actually come out ahead. So I told the seller I’d buy the MJ, only to later realize it was a no-AC truck. Oh well!
Tomorrow I’m flying from Burbank up to Boise to pick up this rust-free 200,000 mile pickup that I hope will fulfill my truck wants and needs. I hope it will offer a bit of the comfort/reliability of the K1500 and the cool factor of the J10.
We’ll see. Before I decide on which truck to keep, I have to get this machine from Idaho to California, which is a tall task for any 30+ year-old car with that many miles on it.
I’m on board for the adventure! And a little bit jealous.
Hell. Yes. I’ve been waiting for some Comanche content! We bought a low mileage pristine 1992 manual base trim Comanche about a year ago. It was brought up from Texas so up here in Maine, without a speck of rust on it, it’s a real head-turner. We love it. It’s such a great truck. I feel pretty certain it would even be a good investment if we ever wanted to sell it, which we won’t. I’ve often wondered why the remaining Comanches don’t get more attention, particularly with XJs in good condition becoming collectors items. Maybe there’s just not enough good ones around to get more notice? I was surprised that there didn’t seem to be more serious competition in purchasing ours. It’s a real cherry example and, as far as I’m concerned, super desirable. We get comments on it all the time.
I’ve done the sight-unseen thing in an old car three times, all great trips, so I approve.
Go David, go!
I think it’s so fascination, the stories we tell ourselves about why we NEED that particular car!
I have several reasons for why having a 63 year old small german sports car and a 34 year old JDM turbo Pike factory car – and a barn full of unfinished projects! – is the most perfect and natural for me.
I could really just take the bus, walk or bike, or lease something new, like everyone else. Or rent something for that one day I need to transport something big.
This headline is like David Tracy bingo – “Jeep”, “200,000 miles”, “sight unseen”, “try and drive it home”. Love it all.
Called it. Phenomenal choice.
If you want it, you should buy it. Just wanted to say though that you don’t need to rationalize it the way you’ve done. It’s ok to just say “it’s cool and I wanted it.” You don’t really need a truck as a casual DIY-er and car enthusiast. Yes it can come in handy, but at the end of the day it’ll just sit 99.9% of the time. Truck rentals are absurdly cheap. I just helped my brother rebuild his fence and he rented one from Home Depot to pick up the lumber and concrete, as we are both truck-less. It cost him less than $40. You could do that several times a year and still probably come out ahead compared to purchase price, maintenance and insurance of even a cheap beater truck. Another great option is a 4 x 8 Harbor Freight utility trailer; you can build one for like $1,000. I’ve owned my home for nine years and done several major DIY projects and have never had trouble without owning a truck.
I know from experience, because my siblings and I were gifted an old beater truck for free and accepted it with similar thoughts in mind. In the end it was more trouble than it was worth (and more expensive) and now we just rent them or use a utility trailer. Truck ownership for practical reasons is overrated unless you very routinely need to tow very heavy loads or carry bulky items. Thinking they’re cool and just wanting a truck as a preference is also valid, but it seems like no one who owns a truck is willing to admit it and instead must demonstrate to everyone how much they need it.
I get your point, but I do think there is a place for a usable truck when it comes to home ownership. Not long after I bought my first house I ordered and purchased a Ford Maverick. I was constantly using the bed of that thing and I’m glad I ordered the lux package with a bedliner. Between projects and hauling/towing crap (it had 4k tow), it was a lot more convenient to just have a truck when I needed it, and it was even better that it hauled people with ease. That being said, I did sell it when I sold my home and every time I want to get something bigger than a Maverick again, I am reminded that it more than reached my goals for a truck and there’s no need for a $60k truck. I just wish there were more competitors in the compact truck space.
Red, so good.
Hey, Mate is here! How is the A112 holding up? 😀
Heyhey,
I’m always here in the shadows, and since you kindly noticed, l’ll go into more detail. The A112 is broken (fuel line), and it’s stupid, because while the fix would be easy, without an MOT, it’s rather difficult to move a car around in Hungary. Permits and so on to drive, or a flatbed, and if I make that effort and spend the money, I want to bring the car to a guy who can fix the slightly rotten sill that’s also an MOT failure here, and get it ready for more action. That’s money down the drain, so, the A112 is almost ran when parked, but hasn’t been moved in the last year or so. It is in the paid garage, safe and sound. I won’t sell it, because it’s part of who I am according to my wife, and also not worth any money, so there’s no point selling. However, we are expecting a child (boy) late November, and we are buying a flat ($272K) as well. My contract at my current job expires late November with no option for an extension, so…a lot is going on, and the situation is rather difficult, to say the least.
Oh no, sad to hear the A112 is down for the count, but glad to hear it doesn’t sound like it’s anything major! Definitely understandable with a new baby around the house….some things take precedence!
Here in Nova Scotia, we can purchase things like a 1-day Transit Permit to move vehicles place to place within reason (as long as the vehicle is safe to do so)
That’s great. Our system is less flexible, but the situation the car is in is mostly my fault. It’s funny how many things you have to manage as an adult, and the A112 just couldn’t be a priority after failing me in a way that made it impossible to drive it out of the (underground) garage. Anyway, it will live, I promise myself just as well.
Ugh..
wonder if you could use the extra money from the K1500 to install a Jeepair ac system under the center of the dash. Might have to modify the YJ kit though, I don’t see anything except wrangler kits. https://jeepair.com/collections/ac-kits/products/1991-1995-yj-wrangler-ac-kit-4-0-liter-engine?variant=32066975924309
Wow, that one really looks nice! Pretty sure it won’t be that big of a problem down the road to retrofit A/C; my parents had that done with a ’64 Ford they inherited, and it worked quite well. It’s also great to see that you’re going to hang onto the Chevy for a bit, so you know for sure which truck is right for you.
Older cars and trucks are significantly easier to add underdash AC to because they actually have room under the dash. Once they started making the HVAC the same (with the exception of the evaporator) it started to become a lot more difficult.
David, I’m in the same boat as you. I always prefer something older and interesting vs something new and “nice”. We have a 2011 F-250 and it works great for towing and driving around, but I don’t give a shit about it, and will be happy when it leaves us. I would prefer to have something interesting and fun to drive instead.