I’ll admit that part of me was starting to question purchasing this 1992 Jeep Comanche. Time has become such a rare commodity in my life, I have a family at home that needs me, and I already have far too many vehicles. But tonight, about an hour after my plane from Burbank, California touched down in Boise, Idaho, I find myself in a dark Super 8 Motel parking lot getting my first look at the machine I flew all this way for. And I’m in love.
The mind of a diehard car person — especially one whose job is to write about his car hobby — is a tortured one. The world is full of amazing cars — from vintage Nashes that you can get for free to old Plymouth Valiants that only cost $2000 to Valiant Utes in Australia to diesel manual minivans in Germany to $700 4×4 5spd Chevy Trackers to Holy Grail 5spd Jeep ZJs and on and on. How do you decide which cars to own? How do you decide which white hot deals to pass up on?
For the longest time, the question of “which white hot deal do I want to pass up on” was: Literally none of them. And the result was, well, this:
That’s not a bad result, to be honest. I loved owning 14 cars, even if it was sometimes challenging. It forced me to learn how to repair cars, often in adverse conditions. I remember welding up a Jeep XJ unibody in the middle of the winter while it was snowing. I remember pulling a rusted-out axle from a junkyard in 20F weather. I remember doing oil changes in deep snow. This was all character-building, and I regret none of it.
These days, life has become so absurdly complex. I almost cannot believe how quickly this has happened. Two days from my family feels like an eternity. Co-running a business is a shockingly time intensive and mentally-taxing endeavor. As a result, my car-buying tendencies have had to change. I just gave away my Nash Metropolitan to Stephen Walter Gossin’s friend, I just sold my Willys CJ-3B, and I’m in the process of trying to consolidate my fleet in perhaps the most illogical way possible — a way that brought me here to Boise.
“Mental gymnastics,” some may call it. I think that’s fair; like I said, my mind is a tortured one trying to keep at least one toe in the “fun” pool while the other nine rest firmly in the “serious obligations” ocean. A few months ago I bought a Chevy K1500 to potentially replace my Jeep J10, which is a fantastic truck with a bit too much rust and an engine that will never pass SMOG. The K1500 hasn’t quite scratched the itch that the J10 scratched, so I considered doing a 4.0-liter engine swap to get my J10 SMOG legal, only to realize that, actually, I could just buy the Jeep truck that came with a 4.0 in the first place.
With the Jeep Comanche, I’m hoping to hit a three-run homer. Not only do I hope it will replace my J10 in cool factor, but I also want it to replace my K1500 in driving comfort/reliability and I want it to potentially replace my first Jeep — my original 1992 Jeep XJ — for nostalgia-factor. That’s right: I’m hoping this one vehicle can take the place of three, leaving me with the following manageable fleet:
- 1992 Jeep Comanche (truck)
- 1994 Jeep ZJ 5spd (overlanding Jeep)
- 1991 Jeep YJ (convertible rock crawler)
- 1966 Mustang (classic cruiser)
- 2001 BMW i3S (daily driver)
Those parenthesis are entirely pointless, because really they should all be replaced by “(a cool car that I just want to own).” Nobody needs five vehicles; one 2005 Corolla would be a much smarter move in so many ways.
But this is the burden I bear. I really love cars. The way they connect people. The way they make you feel when you drive them. The way they make you feel when you look at them. The joy you get when you fix them. Few things in this world can bring joy to people from completely different backgrounds like cars can. There’s music, babies, food, movies, sports, and there’s cars.
Here I stand in this dark sketchy parking lot, looking at a truck that seemingly everyone loves. The enthusiasm I see in forum posts, on Reddit, in comments here on The Autopian, on YouTube, on Twitter — everywhere — was surprising to me until this very moment. This Jeep Comanche is special.
Sure, it’s just an XJ Cherokee with a bed, but that’s the whole point. The Ford Maverick is somewhat like a Ford Escape with a bed, but people love it because small trucks rule. The world is full of big, ostentatious pickups, and when a small pickup that can bat above its weight class comes along, it’s hard not to adore it. And that’s what’s happening here, right now, in this parking lot. This MJ Comanche is tiny, and it’s in far better shape than I expected. It’s a vehicle that isn’t trying to be macho or tough like perhaps my J10 and K1500 are — it’s just happy to be here, lending its 7’4″ bed (that you can easily reach into) for your hauling needs.
It’s simple, it’s reliable, it’s capable, and it’s friendly.
I know it’s odd to assign a personality to a car, but I think we all do that inherently. And I think that’s why the Comanche draws so many people in. It’s capable and powerful and quick, but without being so in-your-face about it. It’s a Golden Retriever, and if it drives anywhere near as well as I hope, I could see it becoming a permanent fixture in my fleet, replacing two, maybe three machines, and thus simplifying both my driveway and life.
Anyway, it’s late, and I’m not sure any of that^ made any sense. But I’ll keep you all posted on how this Boise-LA drive in my new Comanche goes. Initial impressions couldn’t be better.
You have approached old me life in driving stamina. I drove from Cleveland to Seattle, in a 94 Jeep ZJ, pulling a U-Haul trailer (2400+ miles) in three days. But that was more than 30 years ago. Now I break up the drive from Seattle-ish to Sacramento-ish and back (~700 miles) into two days and stop in Eugene or Medford overnight, because I just don’t want to do that to myself anymore.
I will say the V8 Jeep felt very under stressed compared to the Ford E350 U-Haul van in which I have made similar trips since then. But it (the Jeep) was only towing a trailer full of full of clothes, baby stuff, etc and not hauling a 3500-pound car behind it. Those poor Ford E350s really work their tails off some times. I felt sorry for how hard they had to work over the Rockies. And of course, I had to pay for it in gas.
Please God, don’t make me do any of that ever again.
Yeah I would do 20 hour trips in my 20s now in late 50s I find it a bit less fun, I had to drive seven hours last month through the mountains and it was exhausting
The mountains don’t get any smaller and my shoulders get less happy cranking around corners. Thank goodness for power steering.
Sweet, sweet truck. The XJs had near-perfect proportions, and the Comanche extended that goodness into the truck realm. Combo of the high output fuel injected 4.0 with five-speed and AWD? Chef’s kiss.
Good buy, this truck, and (hopefully) goodbye, other trucks. Well done, DT.
I love this, kinda reminds me of the dilemma you wrote about a year ago with compromising between an interesting but sacred truck vs. one you can actually use. For a man that cut his teeth on XJs, this unique but not rare vehicle seems perfect
David, congratulations! I remember driving an ’88 MJ years back and it was a hoot. The torque of the 4.0 off the line made it a hoot to drive, giving it a favorable power to weight ratio, at least as measured by my butt-dyno. Unfortunately, it was a tad rough and needed more than its asking price merited, so I passed. I also remember when I was a kid, the neighbor down the street had one of these, it was silver with blue highlights and had those sweet turbine rims. What a great truck.
There is something very, very appealing about having “enough truck,” something maneuverable and fine to drive, without having to contend with ponderous proportions when you don’t need its full capabilities. The Hank Hill mantra, everything you need and nothing you don’t. This Jeep hits the target at the confluence of packaging, cost, reliability, and capability.
I can do all the mental gymnastics for adding to the fleet. Having cars for one purpose and all that. And I even have a
CorollaVibe in my own fleet!But a Super 8? For the CEO? If we’re that hell bent on saving money why not a mattress in the bed?
Maybe I should upgrade.
DT only sleeps in cars when The Autopian gets 500 new members.
At least he should do a Holiday Inn Express since so many of the out-of-town Autopian main staff probably stay at the one adjacent to the Galpin lot (especially Jason who seems to have been in LA once a month since at least spring) that they either have a business account or should.
Maybe Jason kept his old pied à terre in Los Angeles after he moved to NC.
This is probably a personal purchase, so it’s probably not paid for by the business. (Or maybe it is, who knows.) When I travel for work, I stay in better hotels than I generally do when I’m travelling on my own dime. The other issue is, if he’s 150 miles outside Boise, there might not be a better hotel available.
This purchase has already produced 2 articles. You don’t even have to squint to make it a business thing.
Even an honest CPA would be fine with this.
I am surprise he did not setup camp by a river.
Shoot, I don’t even get a motel/hotel during my car acquisition trips. I just sleep in whatever I’m driving! Look at David here with his swanky Super 8!
Fair point! I forgot about that!
It’s been a long while since I have been inside a Super 8, but there is a nonzero chance I’d rather sleep in a new car.
Perhaps an air mattress and a couple of blankets in the bed of the Comanche would do, but it gets a bit brisk there this time of year. Let’s not speak of the middle of the night need to pee.
You don’t have to justify your purchase, it is your job. If you would only drive a 2005 Corolla, there would be no content to write about, we would have no ‘wtf did he do/buy/sell …?’ shouting at our screens, members would leave, less membership fees, no income… you get the idea.
Brother, I love what you do. But you keep making Jeep purchases and that cheap motel might end up being your home address. Elise (not her real name) is a saint.
Some wives are saints. 60% of the time, my wife will entertain the idea of a new or different vehicle if I can present a compelling PowerPoint presentation.
This. Though, my trade off is getting rid of one project for another. Would not be the same if I collected a fleet.
If you were buying a drift car, would you get confused when your wife asks for another slide?
We went over this the other day, and David replied to me(!) that she Googled him and knew exactly what she was getting into. I would not be surprised if she saw the old Jalopnik video above before saying “I do”.
It looks good. Just be sure to actually sell the other two trucks.
Narrator: “He didn’t.”
Love it! I’m such a sucker for bed caps, they make any old pick up truck a bit more interesting and useful (but really, I mostly just love the looks).
I have a newer Ram 1500 Crew Cab with the “long” bed. When I bought it, I was adamant about having the long bed because I use it. The gladiator (which I traded for the Ram) was too short.
I’m *shocked* to see that the Comanche has a 7’ 4” bed. So shocked that I had to fact check it.
My Ram with the “long” bed? 6’ 4”
But, the Ram cab has 4 doors and takes 40 acres to turn around.
“New.”
Congrats on your bundle of joy, David. Also the baby, though I’m a little late to that party.
David has to be the only husband who steals away with a pickup to a cheap motel with the pickup being a Jeep.
Never change.
isn’t the Mustang your brother’s car?
and man, I love how honest and approachable the Comanche looks. it’s a quality sorely missing in most trucks (bar the Slate and Maverick) that look like you chewed up their beloved pet and spat it out on their face while pushing their mom in an industrial shredder.
Oof, you described this so well. I know we are preprogrammed to love the vehicles from our youth. But I appreciate simplicity in the design of anything. So many vehicle designs are just overwrought today (see, e.g., nearly every Toyota/Lexus model, and about half of the Kia/Hyundai line up).
Nearly?
lol I was trying to be nice
The new Prius, Camry, and Crown Insignia look nice. The Corolla is OK. Corolla Cross is bland and generally inoffensive. Venza is dead again and while a bit marine-looking was generally OK. The RAV4 and anything bigger in the lineup though are trying too hard, from the Sienna and Highlander up to the Tacoma and Tundra. The Land Cruiser almost gets a pass, but it just looks too bulky, and they didn’t do enough to make it different from its 4Runner and Lexus LX brethren.
I wonder what the world would have thought of an i3 back in 2001. Horrified? Blown away?
More people (at least in the US) gave a shit about small cars then, so probably blown away.
Blown Away was a decent movie (does what it says on the tin), but Tommy Lee Jones Irish accent was not good.
Styling they’d have been justifiably horrified. On capability though it probably would have been similar to the reception the Prius, Insight, EV1, etc. got when they debuted.
Happy trails DT. My Comanche was among the best vehicles I ever owned with one exception: rust. Previous owners had apparently never discovered the drain plugs in mine and the rot invasion was pervasive. I got a couple of good years’ service before replacing it with a CJ 8. I loved my Scrambler, but there’s no doubting the Comanche was the better all-around truck. Sounds like your new baby has been taken care of when it comes to rust and you’re moving it to the land where rust goes to die, but it might not be a bad idea to hit those body cavities, frame and underbody with some POR 15 lovin.’ Best of luck on your trip home and here’s to a long, happy ownership.
And now I’m reminded of that time he almost oil-undercoated Delmar.
I suspect Delmar still regularly undercoats himself.
I don’t know why but the picture of the the tailgates sold me on this for you.
Scale.
Yeah. David can have a small truck, as a treat.
Um, you’re married. You definitely left out a car!
100% this. The Lexus is even more his responsibility, because if she’s not happy, well, y’know.
I dunno, she seems to have managed fine before they met. She sounds like a very capable person with her own agency :p
I never include my spouse’s car in my fleet calculations.
Can we do that? That makes me look like less of a lunatic if I only have to report 14 cars and not the 7 she owns too. 14 is less nuts than 21.
Right?
I don’t know, man. Once you hit a certain number, I think “less nuts” and “more nuts” becomes pretty meaningless …
Oh, trust me, I have realized this is “nuts”, but yet I’m still on Marketplace every damned day.
Gotta save ’em all!
FB Marketplace is my version of bench racing. I pretend like wind, sun, heat, et al. don’t matter (condition, mileage, the seller is 100% telling the truth, etc.)
The escapism is what does it for me. “Ooh, how much FUN would that be?!?!? For only $3500? What a gem!”
Then I come back to the reality that I can’t even split time between my two trucks, and my wife drives one of her two about three times a month, total.
Only the cashews are important.
Hazelnuts and pistachios would like a word
It’s the rules. My fleet is my problem. Her fleet is also my problem, but only from a maintenance perspective.
he also left off the Van in Europe, and the holy grail he still has stashed in Michigan
… and the ute in Aussieland.
I’d say Project Cactus is fully Laurence’s since he’s been driving it regularly and the one giving us updates.
I don’t count the van. That’s in Europe for a specific purpose. I do count the Michigan XJ and that would need to go now that he has the Comanche.
Project Cactus belongs to Laurence now.
How the new/old Jeep build gets counted remains to be seen.
Nope, hard disagree. When I talk about my automotive fleet I do not include my wife’s car. It’s rare I drive hers, and it’s rare she drives any of mine except when she needs the Suburban to haul something. I don’t feel like David’s playing any games here.
Keep the wife in something nice that she likes without hesitation or complaint and it will go a long way in earning tolerance for your automotive shenanigans.
That feeling you got alone was worth the purchase.
Enjoy.
So have you sold the K1500 yet? And if not, when can I buy it?
I have followed The Autopian ever since the OG’s started this channel, it was this post that convinced me to finally get off my arse and register so that i can make a comment.
I have spent the last 55 years living in South Africa after coming here from the UK as a small kid with my parents and growing up as a car nut I have one question. Why have pickups become so large/
In SA we got mostly the UK and Australian vehicles and we drive on left.
growing up we had Hilux 2.4D and later much the same body but the 2.8D and thousands of these cockaroachesque vehicles are still on the road along with Datsun 1200 and later Nissan 1400 pickups.
These days the pickups are ridiculously huge. Why do they need to be so big? The standard parking bays are still the same size and now there is only room for a single pickup in a double bay.
I will end this post before it gets to long winded.
Oh and get off my lawn 😉
Welcome to the comments. I ask the same question all the time. What bothers me is that they keep getting bigger and taller and the bed keeps shrinking.
Footprint wise, trucks in the US have not gotten much bigger than what was available 50 years back. See the link to the crew cab International below. Ford, Dodge and GM had these available not long after.
Full size pickups are simply much more popular for daily use since becoming more refined and practical. Also in the past 2wd was more common making the truck appear smaller, as it’s lower to the ground.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Travelette
Additionally back in the day pickups were designed to be 2wd first and foremost, they they decided how to strap a straight axle under it for 4wd, which meant jacking the front up several inches. Now trucks are designed to be 4wd and they just leave out the front diff on the 2wd ones. Since it is expected that the 4wds will sit high, now all trucks sit high, even the now rare 2wd versions.
This is a really excellent analysis for truck history, usage, and stats:
https://www.axios.com/ford-pickup-trucks-history
Long story short? Trucks have become luxury family vehicles.
While the footprint hasn’t changed much, in 1979 trucks were 36% cab, 64% bed (excluding the hood). By 2015 they are about 63% cab, 37% bed.
The one thing they don’t cover is that I think through the 2000s trucks got into a sort of stats arms-race on hauling and towing capacity. Hence why a 1990 F150 would tow 2,800 lbs, but a 2025 F150 will tow up to 13,500 lbs. Bed capacity shrank (it wasn’t followed as a stat), at the expense of a luxury cab (which increased greatly).
There is an irony here that in order to tow 13,500 pounds, one should really use a fifth-wheel. However, for some RV/trailers that kind of requires a long-bed so that you can turn without hitting the cab. However, from family experience, GM will cancel orders for an 8′ longbed, even though they “offer” it. The numbers are too low for them to care. So, that tow capacity is a fanboy stat, not an actual capability. (Although Ram had no issue making a longbed with a tow package.)
Hot-take: At this rate, in another 20 years, the truck “bed” will be a vestigial organ. A 1 foot exposed pocket on the back of something like a large SUV.
From Wikipedia: “Starting in 2011, … CAFE footprint requirements are set up such that a vehicle with a larger footprint has a lower fuel economy requirement than a vehicle with a smaller footprint.”
And Ford Ranger, Dodge Dakota, and Chevy Colorado/GMC Canyon were all dropped or up-sized after 2011. Just a coincidence?
I recommend a boat hook for any pickup bed.
I’ve got one in aluminum with rubber pads for pushing and pulling.
I can load and unload most things without climbing into the bed.
In before the headline is changed to “I’m Waiting For A Tow Truck 848 Miles From Home Staring At My New 1992 Jeep Comanche And It’s So On Fire”.
Seriously though it looks great, and the low and long load bed is going to be super useful for doing actual truck stuff.
“I’m on Craigslist 593 Miles From Home, and I Might Need This Holy Grail LJ.”
“Fortunately, my new Comanche has a tow hitch”
“Here’s All the Things wrong With My Commanche, But at Least I Can Sleep in the Bed.”
As much as we all love poking at you about adding yet ANOTHER vehicle, I get it. When there’s passion for another one, it’s easy to rationalize its purpose. The true golden nugget in this story is Elise. You’re lucky to have someone that understands that vehicular passion and doesn’t create a roadblock to it.
Congrats on the new ride. One you’re excited to have. I know that feeling too well. It’s especially exciting when there’s a car-owner bonding drive home after purchase.
Fun times!
Definitely a great spouse you’ve got there DT.
im reminded of my friend Julie’s comment on her husband’s predilection for expensive hobbies: “well, it’s cheaper than drugs.”
Are there any hobbies that are not expensive. Even walking / hiking can send you down a rabbit hole: carbon fiber poles, a bunch of different boots/shoes, a closet full of packs, first aid kits, sitting pads, etc… and this is before you get cabin fever and start traveling to national parks and forests to see more of the world.
This! Elise FTW. Having a supportive partner makes all the difference. I told my wife I was buying a new project car and it would require buying a parts car to strip down in the driveway (no HOA FTW) and her response was “As long as I get to drive it!”
You nailed it, DT. Nothing connects people like cars can – your other examples are mere also-rans. And, older cars seem to somehow have more personality.
I hope the car writes the cheques your mental gymnastics promised. Can’t wait to read the full review.
Is the bed really 7’4″? It doesn’t look that long. I guess the color match bed topper helps the proportions. Sharp truck!
I reckon I’ll likely let the camper go. I don’t really need it, and storing it is a PITA.
You might be sorry if you do.
I suspect a replacement would be hard to find.
A simple lift in the garage makes storage easy for it (just like Jeeps).
That assumes you have a garage you can get the truck into….
Nah, keep it up in the rafters, like an R107 hard top. Finding a replacement might prove expensive if you change your mind.
Did your J10 that the couple used for their honeymoon have a bed cap? They can be surprisingly useful, and also a deterrent to folks using your truck bed as a free dumpster.
From experience my brother had nothing but work trucks until he acquired a 2007 Ranger with a cap to use as a runabout. He loves having the covered and dry storage/work area so much that he purchased a “mid-roof” Transit 250 to replace his agéd F-250 Super Duty.