This Jeep Cherokee was a true pioneer – In the Wild

In the early 1980s, we mainly knew Jeep as a thoroughly American car manufacturer that made very capable but also somewhat rough off-road vehicles. Jeep’s image changed significantly with the arrival of this second Cherokee, known as the XJ generation. That was quite a step after its predecessor. It was no longer a body-on-frame, no, this was Jeep’s first car with a self-supporting body. It was also the first all-new Jeep since 1963. You can see it as one of the founders (if not the founder) of the modern SUV. After all, it stood its ground next to the asphalt, but was also very suitable for daily use on the asphalt. You could also dress up the Cherokee quite luxuriously.

All in all, it ensured that, even though it was still a nice beast with large engines, we also saw something in it here in the Netherlands. With this model, Jeep managed to achieve real success in our part of the world for the first time. It was also available here for quite a long time; about eighteen years. In other parts of the world even longer, in China the Cherokee XJ was even sold as BAW Qishi until 2014. In the Netherlands it stopped a lot earlier; here he made way for his much rounder successor in 2001. If you spot another one, it will soon be with us for a quarter of a century. They can last a long time, but are now becoming somewhat rarer. In any case, AutoWeek forum member Escher spotted this nice, typical example from 1995.

You saw him like that quite often in his time; in green, with gold accents and with these wheels underneath. Like many of its peers (and as it should be with such a Jeep), it has a scrape here and there. However, the condition generally seems to be quite neat. What probably helped is that the Cherokee has been with its current owner for at least ten years. If you take good care of it, such a Cherokee can be a loyal companion for life. That seems to be the approach here too, nice!