I’m always happy to find obscure special-edition vehicles during my junkyard travels, the rarer the better. Today, our Junkyard Find is one of just 2,821 Freedom Edition XJ Cherokees sold for the 2000-2001 model years, now residing in a car graveyard near the Tesla factory.
This truck isn’t as rare as, say, a Datsun 280ZX Black Red Edition, an Olds Cutlass Calais Wyoming Centennial Edition, or a VW Golf Etienne Agnier Edition.
It appears that American Jeep shoppers during the XJ’s final two years could get another seldom-ordered special-edition package in addition to the Freedom: the 60th Anniversary.
The XJ Cherokee was designed by François Castaing and his crew of French engineers after they were shipped over by Renault as part of the French government’s bailout of “just small enough to fail, in the view of the U.S. government” American Motors. It debuted as a 1984 model.
It was a runaway sales success and supercharged the process of turning Americans into a nation of SUV drivers. XJ production continued even after its successor, the much grander Grand Cherokee, hit showrooms. The final XJ Cherokees were 2001 models.
DaimlerChrysler needed to clear out the remaining XJ inventory, so the Freedom Edition was created to help with that goal. It was based on the Sport trim level.
It included 16-inch alloy wheels (missing from this truck), black-painted bumpers and fender flares ( …
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Author: Murilee Martin
