The Jeep Comanche (MJ) was an innovative compact pickup with strong engines, high capacities, and optional four wheel drive — using a unibody structure (albeit with a “uniframe,” pictured below). The Comanche was based on the unibody Cherokee/Wagoneer (XJ), using their optional Command-Trac four wheel drive system (base configurations were rear drive). It could shift on the fly from two to four wheel drive, at any speed. The Comanche had a standard six foot bed, with a seven foot long bed optional.
The new Cherokee/Wagoneer had been introduced in 1984, and was far ahead of its (few) body-on-frame competitors. It was shorter in length than the first-generation Cherokee, and was over a thousand pounds lighter, checking in at a svelte 3,100 pounds. From this remarkable vehicle, well ahead of its time and its competitors, came the Jeep Comanche pickup. It had a lower overall height and bed height than Chevy or Ford pickups — yet, it had more ground clearance.
The Comanche shared its assembly line, so building more Comanches meant sacrificing production of the highly-profitable Cherokee and Wagoneer. That, and competition with the Dodge Dakota — after Chrysler acquired AMC — are probably the main reasons why the Comanche was eventually dropped.
In 1986, its second year on the market, a 1987 Jeep Comanche set a speed record at Bonneville of just over 144 mph. A special prepared, two wheel drive Comanche, powered by a modified 4-liter fuel-injected straight-six, set nine United States and four international records in Bonneville time trials. The highlight was its record average speed of 141.381 miles per hour, in a two-way dash over a one-mile measured course; its peak speed was 144.028 mph.
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