1980 Jeep Cherokee Chief. Only 41,000 miles.

Description for Jeep Cherokee 1980

1980 Jeep Cherokee Chief

For sale by private owner

This Jeep is located in Calgary Alberta Canada.

There are NO import/export restrictions. Please don't write to me asking what is involved with bringing this truck to the States. Answer is simple, nothing.... It requires nothing at all. It is antique status, domestic build, and free to travel.

We are the 3rd owners of this unique and low mileage Chief.
The gentleman we bought it from was the second owner, and had owned it the longest.


The story of'Ol Jeepy's (as we have called it) history and mileage is an interesting one. It's a bit of a long read but, if you are a real buyer, interested in knowing the vehicle you are potentially bidding on; perhaps you'll appreciate the background and nuances.I'll start with what I know.... as far back as I know. Back in 1984, the owner of a small roofing company was working on a house along with his employees. Across the street, they saw a man struggling with the weight of a brand new RV trailer sinking down the back of his Cherokee Chief. Being a rather friendly fellow, the roofing company owner went down from the roof, across the street. A conversation was initiated. Seems the owner of the Jeep was dismayed at it's inability to hold the tongue weight of the new trailer he had just purchased. The roofer suggested that perhaps what he needed was a 3/4 ton pickup. The Jeep owner knew but, was upset because his Jeep had only 20,000 miles. Within minutes, an impulsive deal was struck and the roofing company owner had bought himself a low mileage Jeep for a goodprice. The new owner was happy with his purchase but wasn't necessarily a big fan of the outlandish Cherokee Chief stripes. The Jeep was nearly new, and they were peeling from the edges already. He went to remove them, and.... Disaster. With the vinyl decals, some paint came off. He went to peel some with a heat gun and razor, and it gouged the paint more. To get it fixed, he took it to Maaco (Mistake-oh) and they gave the bottom 18-24" a horrific paint job. It was blotchy, mismatched, and poorly masked. It looked awful. He was so upset with this experience, it gave him such adis-tase, and he hardly ever drove the Jeep again. The Jeep was tucked away and mostly remained in an area between his house and shop. When webought it, it had only 30,000 miles.
Since we've owned the Jeep, we'vebrought the mileage up to just over 41,000 miles. This was between my wife and I. She loves driving'OlJeepy as much as I had. The seats are very comfortable, the suspension is nice and soft, and it's such a fun and cool looking vehicle. We have some beautiful collector cars we seldom ever take out so it was great to have 'Ol Jeep to enjoy on a more common basis.
Anything we've done, and money we've spent, has mostly been maintenance repairs for upkeep. The exception would be an Aluminum Edelbrock intake manifold, Edelbrock carburetor, and performance camshaft.
Other maintenance has been preserving longevity and appearance. The body, as very common with these Jeeps, showed some rust in the Flares. Fortunately, it was very minor but nevertheless, required repair before becoming a nuisance problem. Improper maintenance repair of wheel flare rust in these has been a major cause of demise. Was a time when these were not collectible, vintage, or trendy at all. People didn't look after these too well. They were utilitarian. Many didn't make it through the uncollectible phase. I didn't want ours fallingvictim to consequences of Father Time. The rust wasn't enough that you could cover with your finger, but if you jammed a screwdriver hard enough, it'd likely go through in a couple spots. I had any failing metal cut out in it's entirety and new metal welded in. I wasn't as concerned about rust that we could see. I was mostly concerned about what didn't see. Our goal was longevity! With that in mind, we opted to have the whole lower area of our Jeep stripped to bare metal for exposure. Fortunately, it was better than expected. Still, everything was prepped, treated with a proper"etch" primer (doesn't adhere just to the surface....It chemically etches into the metal), just to be sure.
We had the bodyshop finish the flares and lower area (up to the 1stbody line) with a truck bed-liner material. It will resist chipping and is incredibly durable. I'm told you can bang at it with a hammer or even throw big rocks at it and it will not chip. This is a costly and premium product that requires special application. The flares were done in black, and the lower body colour matched in the factory grey. This is not simple rubberized undercoating from a can.... Application is done hot, at a specialized facility (that does brand new truck bed liners). Cost to do a lower area in two-tone was $1800 alone. The middle section was repainted with normal single-stage paint. Total cost for these maintenance repairs was over $5,500. Seemed like a LOT for a little rust that you could cover with a few coins but, as mentioned.... Our goal was longevity and eliminating any fore-coming rust that we could not see.
Once addressed, the Jeep looked so good but, something was missing. Looking at it now, we saw the wheels that were on there held back the Jeep's appearance. For wheels and tires, we chose polished modular wheels in a 10" width. The tires aren't too tall but, look very wide. The fat tires suit the"big and beefy" look and stance of this Jeep perfectly. The offset was chosen to line up with the edge of the factory flares perfectly. Together it looks absolutely dazzling! The red trim rings are a product designed to protect expensive wheels from curb rash. These aren't the cheapie snap-on rings. The tires have to be aired down, separated from the bead of the rims, then the rings are installed. After, the tires are then reinflated and rebalanced. Product and install of just the trim rings was upwards of $450. Seems a lot, but.... Wow! What an improvement to tying together the whole colour scheme. Pictures can't illustrate how well the tires/wheels fit, how nice the colours work, and how proportioned it is. I'm very happy with the outcome.
I did notpersonally like the original black and grey factory colour scheme. Jeep enthusiasts and purists will notice that the new stripes we had made are not 100% factory in appearance. We could have ordered a cheapie stripe kit from a number of places but, the original black/grey combination all over this Jeeplooked somewhat"drab”. It was just, well..... in a word "Blah". To me, itlooked like a black-&-white television; unhappy and unlikely. I normally prefer originality BUT, forsaking this for shear appearance sake.... We decided to add some white and red. It looks a lot LIVELIER now, especially with the shiny wheels. I'm very happy with the look.
We used to get some routine compliments on this Jeep now and again, but... now it's absolutely commonplace. The amount of people that stop and look at this old Jeep is truly remarkable. As eluded to earlier in the description, we have a small collection of classic and muscle cars. I've noticed nothing grabs peoples attention like this Jeep. To me, it's inexplicable. Everyone, whether they're car lovers or not, seem to gravitate to this old Cherokee. I've parked it outside the window from where I exercise, on a busy street, and watched people stop and walk all around. Some even park, walk up, and take pictures. If I was to surmise explanation, it would be the sharp red highlights on the bland palette of black/grey/white, on a popular brand vehicle brand that is widely recognized; yet a classic model that is absolute vintage in it's purest form.
I'm very proud of this Jeep and my wife is especially not happy about selling it, but she understands—space constraints and other cars we've added to our collection mean it's got to go. It's either park it outside (which would be an incredible disservice) or, the listing you see before you.

And that's about all the information I can really think of. I tried organizing my thoughts for everyone in an easy-to-read (abeit slightly lengthy) format. I'm somewhat the anti-salesman, don't have a sales pitch, and tried taking the nicest pictures I could with my wife's phone but imagine there's a likelihood I have probably missed some information. If so, I apologize in advance and welcome any inquiries. I'll certainly try my best to help.
UNRESERVED:This Jeep is being soldUNRESERVED. Starting price is 250 dollars. Asides from helping arrange your shipping, I have no time to take 99 more pictures, or have 2-hour long conversations. Questions from genuine buyers are welcome and I will try my best. I won't be taking any additional pictures so please don't ask. If you know what you are looking at, you know what it is and can see my description is an honest one as can be. It's probably a misnomer to say I don't care about price, but I am knowingly sacrificing dollars to put more emphasis on a hassle-free and quick sale. As such, I am not going to get into long drawn out discussions as to whether it's a 6.5/10 condition, or 7/10. Let's just call this a 1/10. Perspectives vary so, for ease of sale, please disregard everything else and assume this Jeep is an awful wreck salvage-value project vehicle that is needing everything. My goal is to avoid insincere and zero-feedback bidders who will not follow through with their commitment. My other goal is to find somebody genuine, who will really appreciate 'Ol Jeep.
Also, very important....review our feedback please.Each is for a 40+ year old vehicle!

During our relatively short tenure on eBay, we've figured out2 very important things arecommunicationandprocedure. We have a little procedure. Our little procedure focuses on communication. It goes as follows:

• After auction, we ask for your buyer's information.
• You supply.
• We fill in transfer papers and scan/send to you.
• You confirm spelling and information correct.
• You go to your bank, and send funds.
• We validate receipt.
• We begin on shipping,
• ...keeping you informed every step..
• You receive your cool vintage F100SPORTCustom pickup,
• You leave us a fabulous feedback,

We're not interested in Paypal or deposits... I realize I'm somewhat the anti-salesman and have taken intentional strides to heavily under-represent this vehicle. That's fine. Of importance to us right now is a smooth sale to a genuine buyer. If you are bidding, please be serious as I am and understand our adherence to this little system/procedure. It's to help both of us. If, for any reason, you cannot adhere to this procedure, please let us know BEFORE BIDDING. OR,....IF YOU HAVE ZERO FEEDBACK OR ARE NEW TO EBAY YOU MUST CONTACT ME BEFORE BIDDING.Otherwise, I will cancel your bid.


DELIVERY:...to most states and destinations is in the $1500+ range. Please keep that in mind. Budget for at least this amount. Texas and Florida, and other far southeastern states, are obviously a bit more at minimum $2250-ish. Any required inspections, certifications, registrations, paperwork, or anything else are the buyer's responsibility. I don't know the rules in each particular state so, am selling as per Alberta rules. My wife has become pretty good at setting up shipping and, is happy to assist. Rest is up to you. Payment is by bank transfer, US account to US account. As stated, I don't ask for Paypal. Once payment is received, everything else is ready to proceed from there. I believe putting this Jeep unreserved will easily make up for any shipping costs. Somebody is likely to get a heck of a deal.
PICKUP:....not really recommended. See our procedure. I'll elaborate. It's a 40 year old, mostly original Jeep. Old vehicles are unpredictable by nature. I'm not the seller that'll tell you that I wouldn't hesitate to drive it across the country. I”m not, and I won't say that. I just simply will not risk someone being unhappy and wrecking my feedback.
CALLS:If you'd like to speak over the phone, I'm happy to hear from you. Please write and we'll make arrangements.
If you are fromOVERSEAS,please know we have shipped long distances several times. We are happy to assist. Since beginning to narrow down ourinadvertent collection a couple years ago, we've sold to England, France, Germany, Holland, Slovenia, as well as theMiddle East and New Zealand. If it says anything about what kind of sellers we are... We have sold 6 (six !!) to one gentleman alone in Holland, 2 to another, and 2 to one fellow in England.




Ibelieve that covers everything. We've narrowed down our over accumulation of toys and are now done. 'Ol Jeep represents the last vehicle we are selling. I think someone will be very happy and proud.
Kindestregards, good luck, and happy bidding!