For all of the clean Jeep Wranglers we see pop up for sale in a given month, there’s hardly ever a meaningful ratio of Comanche pickups that also come up for grabs. Sure, the sales figures for a Wrangler versus a Comanche are lopsided at best, but you’d still expect more than a few Comanches to come out of the woodwork each year. This pickup is a 1988 model that shows no signs of rot or really any significant cosmetic flaws, and still bears some sweet period-correct decals as well. The seller has listed it here on craigslist for $8,900 and claims it runs great despite having over 200,000 miles on the clock.
The baby blue paint looks tidy and I suspect that’s an old-school dealer badge on the tailgate. The lettering on the tailgate is still shockingly vibrant and the same goes for the decal stripes going down the sides. Curiously, I swear I’ve seen that “Sport Truck” badge used on VW Rabbit pickups of the same era, so for which model are those decals factory-correct? Hard to say. The body looks incredibly straight going down the sides, so this Comanche clearly wasn’t used like the workhorse it was intended to be. I suspect this belonged to an elderly owner who purchased it as their around-town vehicle with the occasional load to haul.
The interior is a surprising combination of colors and features. I wasn’t expecting to see blue vinyl inside, and both the bench seat and the door panels show no signs of damage or high levels of wear. This is rather incredible for a vehicle with over 200,000 miles on the clock, and the likelihood of it being previously re-done seems low to me. Still, if it was a treasured vehicle as the condition would seem to suggest, it’s not surprising to see the interior still in a high state of preservation. The uncracked dash, the clean instrument cluster binnacle, and the rot-free door jams all point to careful, long-term stewardship.
While you might be looking for the 4.0L I6, this Comanche came with the standard engine, which was the durable 2.5L AMC inline-four, good for 117 horsepower and 135 lb-ft of torque. The seller doesn’t tell us much about the maintenance history of this engine but it’s a very simple machine that likely just needed fluid and belt changes over the years. With a manual transmission, standard 4WD, and an unkillable engine, this Comanche likely has many years left in it of reliable use, and hopefully the next caretaker keeps it out of the snow. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Jack M. for the find.
I’ve always liked these. Even in the late 80’s a 5 speed was optional on many vehicles and 4 speeds were standard ( no pun intended)( well…… Ok…… Pun intended!!!)
The only thing I’d change is the tires. I’d definitely have the stock size tires on here, especially with the 2.5 4 cylinder. But otherwise, wow, this was absolutely someones pride and joy, absolutely does not look like it has the miles it has. I agree with Jeff about this being an around town runner, especially not having an overdrive 5th for the highway. This is perfect for running erands and Home Depot runs etc. And, you have a classic Jeep pickup to boot. Great find here.
Be a nice AMC match for Howard’s 2.5 Jeep 👍
Very nice Jeep Comanche! I like the colors and have never seen to many in this color combo being a Jeep Tech since 1993 and have 4 Cherokees from the 1990’s in my family. It is nice that it is a manual. To bad it does not have the 4.0 liter engine.Still a nice one here and the shape of it is excellent for the miles on it.
Both the Comanche and VW pickup were available with “SPORTRUCK” (one word with one “T”) decals, but the VW version was different and much bolder — a wide stripe running along the middle section of the body from nose to tail, with huge cut-out lettering running along the entire door and extending further about halfway to the rear wheel arch.
I worked at a Jeep-Eagle dealership in Seattle in the late 80s and loved these trucks…this one is in amazing condition for 200K miles…seat is been reupholstered as that isnt the original design and the grille is installed upside down (the contour should match the headlight bezels)…great truck though!
Lovely! I remember when the Jeep Comanche was offered. I would’ve bought one had I been old enough to drive a car.
These are great, tough little trucks. 4WD was not standard (as stated in the description) in these but it was an option.
That is a mighty fine example & very well-preserved. I haven’t seen one of those in the wild since the college days, ~35 years ago. Someone’s going to get themselves a nice little truck.
Call me naive, but wasn’t the Comanche also available at the time with a six cylinder engine good for 4 litres of displacement, just like the Jeep XJ Cherokee?