The allure of a 5-speed manual SUV is one that many enthusiasts are drawn to. The combination of a raised ride height, go-anywhere traction, and the ability to shift your own gears is a fun combination to find, but SUVs with three pedals have always been a rare breed. They’re sought-after, for sure, and good ones that haven’t been beaten to death off-road are near impossible to find. The 1995 Jeep Cherokee listed here on Facebook Marketplace is a desirable 5-speed truck, and aside from some attractive all-terrain tires, it remains in mostly stock condition. The seller is asking a reasonable $5,000 for the rig.

While this wasn’t the exact truck sent in by Barn Finds reader Barney, I hope he doesn’t mind my finding a substitute. The Cherokee that he flagged was a very clean two-door model that also features the rare 5-speed manual, and it disappeared off craigslist quite quickly. That’s how things tend to go with an enthusiast-favorite rig with three pedals. Ask me how I know: I’m currently searching for a Series 1 Land Rover Discovery with a stick, and those trucks, while not incredibly valuable, are very hard to find. Of course, as I sit here with a Cherokee like this one a mere hour away and infinitely easier to live with than an old Rover, it gives me pause!

Oftentimes, when we find XJ Cherokees for sale, the interiors are absolute disasters. Caked with mud, ripped up seats, and other traces of a hard life left off-road. This Jeep shows none of those flaws, aside from a steering wheel that you can replace quite easily with a clean junkyard piece. The odometer shows just under 180,000 miles, which is nothing a 4.0L-equipped Cherokee. The interior will be cheap and easy to maintain with crank windows and no high-end gadgets or navigation system retrofits, just a simple, clean aftermarket head unit. The seller confirms it runs well, passes inspection, and has a Chrysler 8.25 rear end.

For a while now, I have tried to ignore the need for a 5-speed in every vehicle I own. And for the most part, I’ve been successful in living with automatic transmissions, but especially good automatic ‘boxes. However, there’s still a part of me that always wishes I could row my own gears, especially in vehicles without a ton of power. A vehicle that is somewhat pokey by design is made infinitely more bearable when it has three pedals. In the case of the XJ, the 4.0L is a powerful engine with 190 b.h.p. and 225 lb.-ft. of torque on tap, and the 5-speed only makes it better. I suspect this one will sell quickly as well.