With a new 4×4 in our household courtesy of my wife purchasing a last-of-its-kind Nissan Xterra, complete with skid plates, off-road lamps and a locking diff, my mind has wandered into the need for a suitable 4WD for myself. That, of course, encourages looking for clean Jeeps like this one – a 1987 YJ with the 4.0L six-cylinder here on craigslist for $8,900. It looks damn near cherry, so be sure to go here if the ad disappears.
These Jeeps, like so many others, were used and abused and rarely cherished. Cheap to buy and cheap to fix if they broke, Jeeps of this generation are getting increasingly harder to find even as projects. Personally, my high school buddy would entertain me with his exploits off-road or really any hill he could find with his ’87 Laredo, which took untold amounts of abuse with barely a whimper. Fortunately, this example has seemingly escaped such a fate.
As you can see above, the interior is quite nice, far nicer than it should be in a Jeep from 1987. This is likely due to both careful ownership and only 50,000 miles on the clock. The seller has swapped on a Weber carburetor, and notes that the Jeep benefits from a complete brake job and new fuel system. Better yet, there’s no rust underneath and the paint is believed to be original (as is the interior). That’s just unheard of with Wranglers of any kind, especially ones over 30 years old.
White rally wheels are a good look for the Wrangler, but the spare shows perhaps a previous owner upgraded to more modern OEM wheels. With a robust 4WD system working perfectly and some expensive maintenance already tackled, this survivor-grade YJ seems like a fun way to blow $8,900. Would you spend that much on one of these or put it towards a later model purchase?
Nice rig. Not sure whats going on with the face painted on the doors though. It could be a pretty good deal as new Rubicons are starting at 40K. For some reason that number is hard for me to believe.
Well, you’ve heard of the Shroud of Turin, maybe this is the Wrangler door of Norfolk.
I’d take this over the 2014 Wrangler Unlimited that I traded in last month…at least I’d expect issues from a 31 year old Jeep.
Wranglers are ok and this one’s definitely a unicorn but if you feel you need a YJ – I’d definitely spring for one with fuel injection. The 4.0 really hit its stride once it got injected.
And if you’re into four wheeling where any kind of axle articulation is needed, these are not your first choice in stock form. Anti-sway bars and pan hard bars really helped these handle a lot better on the highway than their CJ predecessors but they suffered off road. I’ll never forget when we took my buddy’s YJ off road for the first time in the mid 90s. We quickly nicknamed it the “Plank” as the suspension never flexed. I could negotiate tougher terrain in my old Bronco with a Detroit Locker in back in 2WD than he could in ‘4WD’ (which was really 2WD at best).
I have the 4.0 HO in my 91 XJ. Great motor and I’m wondering how that carb would be on mine. Must do some research.
Far far worse, 1991 was the first year the UK got the 4.0, the 90 and earlier had the 4.2 with the carb.
1990 and earlier had 4.2 liter engines with 2 barrel carb.
It’s nice but not $9000 nice.. For that price I’d take a nice used 2005 4 runner and an old jeep to beat up.😂
My wife had one similar when we first started dating,. Hot country girl with long hair and a jeep! But hers was the Fuel injected and started developing problems. Many many problems. Would get a hot stall and die. Was random, sometimes start up again, sometimes not. We went over it repeatedly, 2 Shops couldnt figure it out, so her Dad and several of us went over it with a fine tooth comb. A forensics level exam Id’d 18 problems that COULD have been the cause including we even sourced another complete ignition and computer off a runner and that didnt solve it either. Problem got mildly better but still happened.
She finally had enough. We traded it in on her 1990s 4wd Ranger. We are now going to sell the dead ranger, but were glad to be rid of the headache.
Funny end note, Repo men showed up at her parents house mistakenly looking for the jeep. Seems whoever ended up with that Lemon told the dealers they were not going to keep paying for a dud. Not sure where it ended up, but If it were me,,I would swapped in a vintage engine as the rest of the jeep was cool.
She misses it,. Not the headaches or problems, but the jeep itself. Same color too!
The 87 had a 4.2, not a 4.0.
I’m betting it had the same rims on the truck as the spare until the decision was made to sell it. Threw on the originals and got some of their money back on the nice ones.
I had one of these for 16 years. Bought it new and sold it for more than I paid for it. You can’t do that with many cars these days.
Just picked up an 89 myself since my wife says her 2017 jku is too nice to take off road like we did her 2012 jku. A world of difference in every aspect. Still well supported in the aftermarket
Nice Jeep, but as usual, I don’t buy the 50K mile claim, even though, these did have 6 digit speedo’s. I’ve seen many Jeep owners that take great care with their vehicles. I don’t think it has a lot of miles, but engine mods, paint missing under radiator cap ( must have ran hot once), rusty underside, broken zippers on back cover, just doesn’t look like 50K. Maybe, but $5g’s buys a decent Jeep all day long out here in Colorado.
i think these were the rarer longer wheel base?
lill p/u area in back?
“Renegade”?
Great motor & H/W 5200, pinto, or Holley 32/36 carb. Wrks well on the gradients (w/an internal mod). Just hope ‘e didn’t link the 2Vs together like the 1 came in the shop2 wks ago. It’s a very nice progressive otherwise.
No pictures of the undercarriage?! Rust kills jeeps!