Yahoo Autos Junkyard Gem: 1990 Jeep Cherokee Laredo
Counting manufacturing in China, the XJ Jeep Cherokee stayed in production for an amazing 31 years. This revolutionary small unibody SUV began as an American Motors-Renault project in the late 1970s, went into production in Kenosha for the 1984 model year, and continued to be built in the United States after the 1987 Chrysler takeover of AMC. By 1990, the XJ still had better than than a decade of production remaining here, and that's the year in which today's super-clean Junkyard Gem was built.
It has very close to 200,000 miles on the odometer, a much higher reading than I expected after a glance at the interior.
The only way you'll see seats and door panels this nice in a 30-year-old vehicle is when that vehicle had a lifetime of meticulous care from its owner or owners. The Colorado sun is very hard on upholstery, even the industrial-grade stuff that went into early XJs, so we can assume this truck spent its resting time in a garage.
Manual transmissions in American trucks were slightly more popular in 1990 than they are today, but still rare. With XJ Cherokees, however, I still find plenty with three pedals. This truck has the tough Aisin AX-5 five-speed, which replaced the Peugeot-built five-speed used in the late 1980s.
