WHAT IS IT?
The Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) was sold from the 1993 through 1998 model years. It was an upmarket and more luxurious take on the Jeep SUV and was a great success for the brand with reportedly more than 1.6 million produced. Based on a unibody (as opposed to a separate body and frame), it offered a more comfortable on-road ride without sacrificing the Jeep brand’s renowned off-road prowess.
WHY THIS ONE HAS BEST ONE ON THE PLANET CHOPS
These were fairly common vehicles and helped to define the nascent luxury SUV market. However, most were used as family vehicles, saw heavy use in inclement weather, or were used and abused offroad. So, finding extremely nice examples isn’t particularly easy going on 30 years later. As a 5.2 V8 Limited, it offers all of the bells and whistles, with only a larger 5.9 Hemi V8 option that year missing from this one. This example is for sale on Facebook and the seller says it was originally sold in California before being parked at a Colorado vacation condominium. Now with only 29,000 miles it looks (and is claimed to) smells new. The “Char Gold II Satin Glow” paint looks showroom fresh as does the leather interior with wood grain trim.
The ZJ helped to define the nascent luxury SUV market
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For better or worse, this might have been among the last Grand Cherokees produced by an independent Chrysler before the Daimler “merger of equals.” It’s incredibly clean, the sort of car that you could proudly take to RADwood or daily (if you can deal with high-teens gas mileage). And while it’s certainly at least 97th percentile, I’d want to see more than a partial shot of the underside before making the final call on this one.
I’ve owned two Jeep Grand Cherokees. One 1997 TSI and one 2000 GC. Both were great. No problems. I’m pretty impressed with the condition of this one. Great color. Still holds up today.
Great rigs, I sent my son off to college in Montana in a doppelganger to this one. Purchased it off Craiglist for $4200 from the original owner who was moving to assisted living. It survived -40F Montana winters, 2 feet of unplowed snow and cost me less than $1000 over 4 years.My son fondly named him “Jensen” and apart from its 14 mpg average fuel consumption, there was nothing not to like! I sent this to him for nostalgia, maybe I should buy it for him… As a tech bro in Silicon Valley, he tastes have moved up market but I am willing to bet a nickel in a few years he will wish we had bought this one.