A Legend Is Made: How The Jeep XJ Changed Everything 

This is seriously one of the best automotive documentaries I’ve ever watched. Hope this gets a million views!

We own a 2001 two door. It has almost 200k miles on it. Sure it's had a lot of work done to it, but it just won't die. It's amazing. We often joke that Jeep stopped making them because they last too long!

This video is amazing! I am so proud of owning a Cherokee. Congratulations to the creator!

This makes me miss my XJ. Had a 97 4 door SE, which I sold for a 99 2 door Sport. Both were manual,4.0, 4WD. That 2 door was exactly what I was looking for for years, just for my girlfriend at the time to roll and total. I still miss that 2 door. And no, we didn’t break up because of the accident, she cheated on me years after that. What a mistake. 😢

I own an 88 Comanche, and it had a pretty hard life before I got it. And yet it's never let me down. Fantastic video.

Let’s not forget about the way ahead of its time AMC Eagle/Concord. It shared some running gear with the Jeeps and was a precursor to the modern day crossover

Great content!! Nothing better than an XJ.

inline I-6 one the best engines I put 215k on mine

This was the documentary that the XJ deserved!!! I love my ‘98 Sport! So much fun and reliability! Helps that it still looks amazing too! Thanks for the video!

I bought my 97 in 2012, and its been my daily ever since. Its made 4x trips across the country, i brought my daughter home in it, brought both of my dogs home in it. 215,000+ miles and still going. Get compliments all the time, and everyone has a story about an xj. Literally my dream car. Fun fact, my second dr3am car was designed by the designer of the xj, the ford gt40

2000 jeep Xj owner here! Just surpassed 200,000. Waiting for many more miles to come

My first vehicle was a 1992 Cherokee Laredo. Currently have a 1998 Cherokee Sport (4.0L, AX-15, 6" lift with 33s and 4.56 gearing, Rubicon t-case) just passed 20 years of ownership and 200k miles. 3 treks across the US coast to coast, wheeled up and down the east coast, Moab and the PNW, and still drive it everyday. One of the best vehicles ever built.

This made my pride in daily driving my XJ even better.

12:59 I was waiting with excitement for the video to get to the legendary 4.0… but seeing that footage, as if the engine is descending from God… man that put a huge grin on my face. Absolutely appropriate imagery. I hope you don’t mind me using that in my upcoming Jeep project video.

I've had 3. Awesome vehicle.

I love my 2004 WJ with that iconic 4.0 and selectrack. It all started with the XJ!

XJ became an iconic collector piece! I still remember before Covid you can buy a decent shaped XJ for less than 5K, and now any XJ you found online could cost you over 9K.

Nice work! Wish they would bring that design back. I had two of them. I switched over the the Liberty after my 97 Cherokee was damaged beyond repair. I really loved the inline 6 engine. That thing was bomb proof.

Daily driver is a 2001 black limited, stock unmodified original with 274k miles. Just completed a 1200 mile overlanding trek in the northwoods. It did the trip without complaint. XJ's just keep going and going. Everything still works, and works well. Odd thing about mine is its a Diamler (MercedesBenz). THE reason the XJ was killed off. I've owned three. One highly modified and one kinda mid modified. The ride and handling on an unlifted XJ is just fine. Plus, on my most recent trip, the 4.0 was getting closer to 22mpg fully loaded carrying a kayak and bike. Looking for the elusive 2door manual trans that everyone wants. I enjoyed your video, great content!!!

Awesome video. Love the XJ's, have owned a 93 near on 24 years.

This is a really great mini doc. Been having small issues with my xj lately but this video makes me remember why i love it

Just checking in, remember me when you get famous.

I just bought my fouth XJ... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM... An icon thats part of automotive history. Its now a true legend.

I just bought my first XJ, a wrecked 2000 with only 155kmi. Got all the damage repaired and now driving it daily. I couldn't be happier. I started my Jeep collection with a JK on 38s, and I'm so happy this XJ is my second.

This is one of the best, most comprehensive videos on the history of Jeep and specifically the XJ I have seen. My family has had several xjs since the early 90’s. Our current 01 XJ just crossed the 200k mark and is running strong! I hope the creator of this video continues going over the history of other cars like the Porsche 924/944 and how the car saved Porsche from bankruptcy.

I first must say you did a masterful job on this mini documentary of Jeep, your hard work didn't go unnoticed. I didn't know a lot about jeep after purchasing a 96 one owner Cherokee last month. I was lucky to buy after original owner passed away and his family didn't care. Was garaged it's whole life with 90,000 miles. I gave 4,000 for it and so far run awesome. Didn't know if i paid to much or not, but your brilliant doc makes me feel a little more proud.😊

I love my black 97 county, it’s still very reliable and I’ve brought both of my kids home in it.

6:57 Those Paris-Dakar XJ's are badass!

Absolutely the best documentary video I've seen. They never should have stopped producing it. The new Cherokee is a disgrace to the legendary Jeep Cherokee name!!!!

I have owned three XJ's That 4 in line is unbreakable

Beautiful homage. Getting ready to turn over 270,000 miles, and she is still my daily driver.

I have a 98 Cherokee I rescued from service lot purgatory. I fixed it up and have spent the last 2 years modding and restoring it. I prolly spend way too much money and time on it but its taken me from the tops of mountains to work and everything in between. Has 170k on it and hasn't let me down despite my addiction for beating the hell of it. Long live the XJ🙌

Great Job on this video! Now I'm going to go and hug my XJ!

Ive had 3 XJs. Currently have a '99. My first was a 98. I had it for years, and my ex wife got it in the divorce. I bought it from her yesrs later with 301,000 miles on it and very rusty. But still ran like the day i bought it. The second was an 01, i bought it and drove for a year then gave it to my son when he turned 16. He drove it through college, getting into 2 front end collisions along the way. When he moved to New Mexico, he left it with me. I replaced the grille, bumper, fender, lights, did aome rust repair, and repainted the damaged areas. Sold it for $500 more than i oaid for it 8 years earlier. I kept the $890 i put into it and sent my son the rest. The 4.0 is one of the most reliable/bulletproof engines ive ever dealt with. Very easy to work on, very reliable. All 3 were 4 wheel drive, and my only complaint if i had to complain about something is the front half shafts. They seem to eat U-jounts every 30-40,000 miles. Not great on gas, but excellent vehicles. The one i have now is just a 3rd car, sits a lot, but its perfect for all the 2 tracks and rough terrain here in AZ.

Now that compact unibody trucks are coming out to the market, you should do a video on the Jeep Comanche, the first compact pickup with a unibody construction. Jeep led the way for that as well.

Tremendously good video. I’ve never owned a Cherokee but I have owned 2 CJ-5’s and two Grand Cherokees. These models are truly iconic and have two buddies that still swear by them.

Xj and zj. I recently found a 96 ZJ and I'm rebuilding it. I could have easily bought a running newer Jeep but Jeeps went downhill shortly after the 90s. My recent experience with newer vehicles has me hating them so badly. That I am willing to spend a lot of money and time rebuilding this ZJ.

Dad buys a 87 pioneer 4.0 liter 4 door light blue one in 2007, costed like $2k... Everybody sayed, thats a mistake! you will never get parts for it. And they were right... for a moment... But our blue XJ continued rolling and rolling... Then XJs gained popularity over the years and WE can get, not only OEM parts, nowadays theres a LOT of stuff. Then everybody wants one... Now everybody who sayed "hey thats a mistake" back in 2007, wanted to buy our blue XJ for more of $10k. Dad is so proud of his car and he says, "till i stop breathing that thing is mine" Grettings from Costa Rica, Pura Vida! 🇨🇷

I had a 1988 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 4 door Olympic Anniversary Edition with 4.0 liter inline straight 6 cylinder

Nice!

We owned 4 XJ's over the years great cars Jeep started the SUV market in 1946 with the Willy's wagon.

Had 2 of them ! They were great.

A relative gave a 2000 XJ to my family a year ago. The 4.0 had a cracked cylinder head, but a replacement was inexpensive, and now the little beast has proven capable and indispensable. Legendary for a reason!

Great video! Still have my 98 XJ! I remember being so disappointed when Jeep relaunched the new Cherokee into a crossover vs a remake of the XJ. I think it was a missed opportunity!

I had a red 88 2 door 2wd 4L ho 5 speed ;) tweed interior too. I was amazed at its 0-60 pretty quick for a jeep

My granddad owns a 92 Comanche and I have an 01’ Cherokee that my mom purchased new, and gave to me a couple years ago

We had these for patrol vehicles when I worked for an Indian police department, excellent excellent vehicles

I got a 96 XJ with 267,590 miles it don’t smoke or leak. Runs like a Swiss watch. If they only would have made them out of aluminum I think they would last a lifetime.

I cried, went outside and hugged my XJ. 😊

I own a 2001 Cherokee Sport. 226,762 miles today. Here is the repair service history since I bought it new Christmas Eve 2000. 3 Water Pumps. Always replace with Mopar The following gaskets are once except valve cover twice ; Intake manifold , exhaust manifold , valve cover Two alternators One AC Compressor 7 Batteries 4 windshields 1 Power Steering pump 4 sets front brakes- 2 sets rear brakes 1 set Motor mounts That is all I have had to do to my amazing Jeep XJ. It was paid in full in 2005 and has saved me tens of thousands. I will drive it forever

The most significant improvement to the XJ was the 4.0 L paired with the Aisin-Warner 4 speed automatic. With my son due to be born in 1987 we test drove the 1986 Cherokee and although it had 4 doors it was so slow with the 2.6 L and an automatic that you wanted to get out and push to get better acceleration. We bought one of the first 1987 Cherokees (it had an immediate recall for sticking throttle body butterfly) and a seal leak in the transfer case, but after those teething problems it proved to be a reliable daily driver for over 20 years. Both of our children learned to drive in that vehicle. In 2009 I traded it in with 228K miles during the "cash for clunkers" program and got $4500 for it. I have since purchased a 1989 Cherokee (I found I really missed the Jeep.)

I still miss my 1989 2,1 Diesel with MT 😢.

My '92 was still running good when I sold it with 350K miles. Love those 4.0 XJs... 😍

Proud owner of an '89 XJ here!

Amazing video and passion, release another one soon please! Great work. My dad just to have a 1999 red brand new I really miss it. I cry a little bit with some imagine in this documentary. Great work

The greatest vehicle ever devised.

had a 92, loved that little guy, so much so I just bought a 01 to replace my 98 Grand Cherokee that was wreaked. I went to look at another car at the used lot walked by the jeep and something just said halt look at that buy it, so I did. Its nicer and cup holders in the center console who'd of thunk, our 92 we had after-market folding ones on all the doors. driving it brings back memories. the box on wheel Cherokees never die.

My ‘96 stone white ex-fleet SE has 320,000 miles -original engine & transmission. My daily driver and it’s been my steed to prudhoe bay, Alaska, 16 years in Seattle, pulling a camper trailer across the country several times and back to Indiana now. It’s nearly rust-free, due to liberally applying FluidFilm every fall to the underside before the northern Indiana winter salt party begins.

Awesome video bruh!!! Congrats!!!

98 Xj Sport with 322k on it. Original engine and transmission and i beat on it every day. I've owned it for the last 10 years and will never sell it. if the 4.0 ever dies it will be rebuilt. Great documentary for a great vehicle.

Keep these awesome videos coming bro!

I bought a 1993 Cherokee new so my wife could drive to work for four hours then on to school to finish her nursing degree. It was our newest vehicle so it got used whenever we went somewhere together. With good tires it could push through snowdrifts up to the headlights. I had to take her out and convince her to mash the throttle instead of hitting the brakes. LOL. In four years, the 93 had 150,000 trouble free miles. She was getting nervous about the miles, I wasn't, but to give her peace of mind we traded in for a 1998. But this one we upgraded. Cruise control, ABS, power windows. It drove and felt just like the other one. One year in March Wisconsin got some wet snow mixed with freezing rain. She was determined to drive home in that. She drove I-90 from Madison to Beloit at 9:00PM. There were cars sitting on the interstate crooked in the lanes and could not move. They were stuck in the mix of crusty snow and frozen rain, could not move. She said she was only going about 5-10 miles an hour and weaved back and forth around those stuck cars. I joked with her next day, I bet 200 people hit dealers that week trying to buy a Jeep Cherokee. We should have kept it.Several years later it had about 170,000 miles and she wanted to trade again. They had stopped producing the Cherokee so we test drove a Liberty. I liked the extra foot room and head room but I missed the torque of the 4.0 engine. But then I learned there was a diesel option with almost 300 pounds of torque so we ordered one of those. It has been good to us. It is now 17 years old and has 280,000 miles on it. Looking back, the Cherokee was just the right vehicle at the right time. This ad makes me wish I could find a rust free one from out west and add it to our Jeep family.

Them 4.0s were great

Very well done. Keep up the good work.

XJ was thee best jeep loved them.

great vid, my mom had two xj from the 80s up until the early 2000s, i always loved that car, keep up the content i’m definitely subscribing

I own a 1996 xj... I had 3 of them in the past and i knew some facts about the history of this, in my opinion legendary car. But this is the best documentary about a classic that rounds the origins and european touch of it's design. I congratulate you for doing this beautiful documentary about a beloved piece of engineering. Thanks.

I knew I loved my xj as soon as I was finally able to drive it lol. I bought it not drivable so....... I put 2k miles on it after the first round of upgrades then broke a piston skirt. I'm about to receive my 4.7l stroker engine and on top of that another round of upgrades will be installed. It's been sitting for 8 months now and I still love it. I go give it a hug sometimes and tell it I'm not mad, I understand, I get tired too, my 3 year old cried the day I didn't take him to his grandmother's in the morning the day the engine died. Xj=freedom, if they made a current version they would sell em all

‘87 2 door 4.0 XJ here. Still runs like new…. It’s gotten a lot of lowlife attention though. Stolen once, and no less than 6 attempts since. I intend to keep it cause new Jeeps aren’t Jeeps. Had a 2019 compass that spent more time in the shop than the XJ ever did.

300k 34 years factory internals all six of my connecting rods spun the bearings. My first vehicle have had it for 7 years Bought it and it had been wrecked today not a single dent and im replacing the motor. Been the best vehicle ive ever owned Tons of adventures and stories in that thing. Heres to another 34 years of life out of the ol boy.

great video thank you!

OMG. You really hit a homerun out of the box! I do vids like this too and man I am impressed! Love the Joe Isuzu clips!

Hah. I commented on another video when this video got privated. Watched it again when it came back and again now. This video will never leave me wanting for more. At the half way mark I'm already here wanting to work on mine regardless of the snow of on ground.

284 million built. I owned three of them. I loved them.

I agree 100% with all of this. The XJ really did shape cars around the world. Its simple and great looking and useful. Everyone should own a Jeep cherokee, and not the new not cherokee. I wish Jeep would bring back the XJ, but that will never happen. I am just happy to own one of the best vehicles ever made!

I've owned, salvaged and Frankensteined many of them. Great work bud, ya even gave me goosebumps a couple times Thanks

Amazing production value. Best of luck to you on RU-vid!

I love my XJ it’s a true beast

I love my XJ

Nice video!

Oh how i miss my 1999 xj sport.

Great job on the video!

Thanks for this wonderful documentary. I love my 96 XJ 4 liter, its a great car.

I don't care that they're not as safe, economical, or full of electronic gadgets as new vehicles. I just wish vehicles were still affordable, light, simple and rugged like this.

Very cool history of a very cool car. Thanks for this vid. Look forward to seeing more from you in the future! I'll def susbscribe.

Awesome vid, learned a lot about my daily driver!

Really great video on the XJ. Hell, it tugged a little at the heart strings. Growing up in the 80's these things were everywhere. It's like it defined a generation. The Explorer outsold the XJ once it hit the scene, but the XJ was and is the blueprint for the modern SUV. The mid 80's CJ's will always be my favorite Jeeps, but there's no denying what the XJ represents.

Good going

i look forward to driving mine to work today

Great show and documentary . Today's crossovers can Thank the Early 80s Jeep Cherokee XJ body for it's popularity and existence . 😊

I live in Wisconsin and when I had drivers ed in high school we used jeeps for the range part of our class. I always took the pick-up (I think it was called the Comanche). I really liked that truck! I found out later that you could buy the vehicle you drove in class at a discounted price. Man, I wish I did that instead of buying a used up old Buick.

Good stuff

Awesome job bud.

Man, so cool. Dad recently brought a 94 one, that had just come from Switzerland so not much rust there. 2.5i manual, pretty rare eco spec. Such a cool box.

well done

My 97 XJ 235k still running

that green and beige cherokee country wow! thats the one my dad had and the car I learned to drive in! my favorite suv and trim of all time!

I just bought a 1998 Limited in the UK 2 days ago for £1800. It's in mint condition but has a coolant leak. The previous owner took delivery of a new Land Rover Defender and doesn't have the space on his drive. I've wanted one of these for years and now It's reality 😊

So wise , Thank You . I Really like my Cherokee , I do miss my 4 door . As a point Mine has 235,000 Miles Rusty but Trusty

Hats off to the Cherokee XJ for proving that offroading is not just an activity; it's a way of life.