Car spotlight- Jeep Comanche (1986-1992)

1988 Comanche with the "Eliminator" trim
photo credit-Hemmings Motor News

There has always been a pattern when it comes to introducing small trucks and S.U.V's.  An automaker usually introduces a pickup truck one year, and an S.U.V variant would then follow the next year.  This was not the case for Jeep.

In 1984, American Motors introduced the Cherokee compact SUV, which was innovative for being offered in a 4-door configuration rather than just having two doors like GM and Ford were doing.  Realizing how big the compact pickup truck market was becoming, AMC chose to offer a pickup version of its Cherokee.  

Called the Comanche, the truck was introduced in 1986 at a critical time.  American Motors was in the midst of sinking into bankruptcy, and the only thing keeping it afloat was it's Jeep division.  So in a way, the Comanche was a good way to add in some extra cash.

One thing that car historians tended to overlook was how powerful these trucks can be.  While the Ford Ranger and Chevy S-10 pickups were struggling to crank 150 horsepower from their catalytic-converter strangling engines, Jeep introduced a new 4.0 liter Inline 6 engine equipped with fuel injection (which at the time was a new way to transfer fuel).  This made the truck not only more powerful, but also more fuel efficient (but then again it's still a truck, so the milage still sucked).

One thing I find unique about this truck was the way Jeep labeled their trim levels.  On a typical car, and we'll use the Toyota Corolla as an example.  To differentiate each of their models, Toyota used two and three letter combos such as "CE," "S" or "XR." (have no idea if any of these words stand for anything).  Jeep used more conventional, if not, more exciting words to describe it's various Comanche models, such as Pioneer, Chief, Laredo, Olympic (for the 1988 Seoul games) and my favorite one, "Base"

Even though the Comanche may very well have been the most modern truck at the time to wear the Jeep badge, the timing couldn't have been worse, as after just one year on the market, American Motors went under and all their assets were bought up by the Chrysler Corporation.  At this time, Chrysler's Dodge division introduced it's own mid-sized pickup, the Dakota.  So basically, what was meant to be the Comanche's main competitor was now it's step sibling.

Couldn't find a good image of the Comanche's interior.  So I
found this image of the Cherokee SUV (which is more or less
the same thing)

The Comanche and the Dakota ended up being sold side by side at the same dealership.  Even though the Comanche had several advantages over the Dakota, the Comanche never really took off and pretty much sat in the shadows of the Dakota.  This was due mostly in part to the Dakota's lower sticker price and Chrysler's efforts to make Dodge it's "truck" brand and Jeep, it's "SUV" brand.  The Comanche has grown to be so much of a nuisance that dealers were begging Chrysler to pull it from the lineup.

After limping along for several years, the Comanche's death clock ran out in 1992 after only a few thousand trucks were sold the previous year, becoming the last pickup truck to wear the Jeep badge of honor (insert patriotic music here...)