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Rare Olympic Edition: 1988 Jeep Wrangler

This 1988 Jeep Wrangler is, first and foremost, a clean survivor. Things step up a notch when you factor in it’s one of an incredibly few remaining Olympic edition models, issued to commemorate the 1988 Olympic games, and sold as a special edition trim option. The YJ chassis Wranglers are already on the upswing value-wise, so a clean example will always command collector attention – but throw in a surviving example that retains its original Olympic graphics, and collectors are likely to take notice. Find it here on craigslist for $12,589 with just over 113,000 miles on the clock.

Now, I get it – you’re already rolling your eyes at yet another special edition model that is little more than a graphics package. Yes, this is true. But given most Wranglers that are this old have already been through years of abuse or are hideously modified, perhaps the special edition trim is what led its owner to keep it on the pavement. The color combo is sharp, too, as red and gold just go incredibly well together. The seller has copied some text from a Jeep message board indicating that the Olympic models were disassembled and rust-proofed coming off the line, but I’ve seen no other supporting evidence of this.

Well, that is, other than the fact that this example appears to be rust-free. But why take what amounts to a sticker package and go through all of that extra work? It doesn’t make much sense to me. The interior does look quite nice, even better than the 100,000+ odometer reading would otherwise suggest. The seller notes it has a new soft top and tinted windows, the latter of which may have helped preserve the cabin at the high level it presents in. Of course, if it’s resided in Colorado since new, it would have likely survived in fairly respectable shape anyway.

The truck is, at its core, a clean YJ with the preferred combo of the inline-six and manual transmission. While I would take my survivor Wrangler wearing the awesome Islander graphics, the Olympic trim is far rarer. Given how many trucks were likely repainted or lost their graphics kit to sun exposure, finding one with the Olympic trim still clearly visible makes it a standout – but is it worth the asking price the seller has placed on it? Hard to say, but clean YJs are super hard to come by. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Ikey H. for the find.

Comments

  1. Avatar photo Howard A Member

    I’m not sure how rare it is out here, there’s a zillion of these, price seems average, usually, these have 250K + miles on them. I never heard of an “Olympic” Jeep, I’m not sure that means a heck of a lot to most folks, it’s just a clean YJ.

    Like 2
  2. Avatar photo Bob Mck

    I have a YJ loaded Sahara edition with 53K garaged miles. If this is worth $12K, I wonder what mine is worth.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar photo Ron

    I have a 89 Wrangler cleaner than that with less miles. I’ll take 13k 😁

    Like 0
  4. Avatar photo Foster Busby Member

    Yes, there was an Olympic trim pack, had one, first year Wrangler, last year carbureted 258 ci

    Like 1

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