The Jeep Comanche pickup is always a head turner; pretty much everyone is familiar with the form factor of the iconic Jeep Cherokee, but when you add a pickup bed to the back, heads seem to start to explode. “Is that an S10 bed?” “How did you cut up the unibody to put a bed on there?” “Whaaaa…?” are all questions Comanche owners are used to hearing. This excellent looking example of a 1987 Jeep Comanche Chief is up for sale here on craigslist in East Vancouver, WA for $4795.

The Comanche was offered from 1986 until 1992, when Chrysler opted to refocus their pickup truck offering towards the Dodge Dakota instead. 1987 was the third highest year for production numbers on the truck, topping out at an estimated 28,000 units. The “Chief” designation was largely a cosmetic difference over other trim levels, but hey, who doesn’t love a cool set of decals! These, along with the paint, appear to be in pretty good original condition. These trucks are especially susceptible to rust along tops of the wheel wells; this one seems to be unaffected, but better photos and pics of the underside would be ideal if you’re an interested buyer.

Under the hood, this Jeep sports the venerable 4.0L inline six, about as good as it gets for a Comanche (although the 2.5L has it’s own staunch defenders). Pre-1991 models would still have the closed-loop cooling system shown here which was known to be a bit problematic at times, but conversion to the newer style open cooling system is an easy single-day project. Milage is listed at 152,000 – frankly, I don’t think higher milage on these trucks (and XJ’s for that matter) is much of a concern; for one, it’s not uncommon to find 4.0L engines still running fine at double the milage on this one. Second, even if it does blow up on you, replacements are relatively cheap, plentiful, and easy to swap.

Interior looks pretty good on this truck; like the exterior, it really shows it was well cared for by its two previous, elderly owners. Unless it was already replaced, the 5 speed transmission on this one would almost certainly be the Peugeot BA10/5, and one of the main downsides to this particular truck. Their propensity for failure is well documented and is pretty much a “not if, but when” type situation. Still, replacement with the superior AX15 transmission is economical and a fairly straightforward endeavor.

Aside from some damage to the front (easy to find replacements) and rear (not so much) bumpers, this Comanche looks like an excellent turnkey example with new tires to boot. Normally I’m not really a fan of bed toppers but I really dig the look of this one and think it really matches the aesthetic of the rest of the truck well. The turbine wheels look to be in great shape too and surprisingly still have all their matching center caps. Like all other vintage 4×4’s, clean and unmolested survivors are becoming harder and harder to find; this one looks like a solid truck with a ton of life left in it.