Bronco II's and S10 Blazers are a rare sight around here. The Cherokee can still be sighted pretty regularly, including the 2001 in my driveway. The Cherokee became a legend when it got the 4.0 straight 6. The Blazer eventually got a 4.3 V6 which was a great engine, but they're still a rare sight.
You see lots of Jeeps like that because they were the same body style from 1984 until 2001. The S10 Blazer and Bronco II were dropped or changed body styles a decade earlier. The number of 2.8 & 2.5 powered Cherokees are very rare.
If you mean the shifter for the transfer case it was better it's why the rock crawler guys still use them today It is a direct link between the driver and the transfer case and does not rely on electric or vacuum solenoids to shift.
Its so great to see how far some trucks have become. I owned an 89 S-10 and loved it at the time. For the time these were 3 good trucks. It was the start of the SUV for passenger car use. The s-10 was a good vehicle at the time and the 4.3L completely changed the whole performance aspect of the truck
counterclockwise123 Ignorance, pure ignorance. The S-10 Blazer and S-15 GMC Jimmy rusted out much faster than the Bronco II. My neighbor still has an '88 Bronco II and it looks brand new. I sold one abut 4 years ago and it was rock solid 25 years later and ran like new. I sold one of my XJ Cherokees 3 years ago and it was in decent shape as well for being a 1985 but the 4.0 inline 6 was shot. My neighbor had an '87 S-10 Blazer that had rust holes big enough to put your fist through before it was 6 years old. She paid $4000 on bodywork and paint to save her beloved Chevy, only for the engine to thrown it's crankshaft out the oilpan 6 months later before it even had 60K miles. Like A Rock.
Joseph Rogers Not with your eyes open you don't. I've been up and down the U.S. East Coast and I hardly ever see S-10 Blazers. I see plenty of Cherokees and and Bronco IIs but not Blazers. Sure, there are guys who off-road with all the aforementioned vehicles but as far ones I've seen actually driving on the road, all we see in our neck of the woods is Broncos and Cherokees.
+Joseph Rogers Seeing an S-10 Blazer is a rarity due to them rusting out. I'm a regional tractor trailer driver and I see quite a few Bronco II's on the road.
Growing up, my Mom had both the S-10 and the Jeep. I also had a newer Cherokee for a few years. The S-10 was nice (I learned to drive on it) but for me the Jeep is the best. And I see a lot more Cherokees on the road than S-10s or Bronco IIs.
I love my 86 GMC S-15 JIMMY. It just depends what little SUV you like really! All were nice in their day, I just like the the S-10 Blazer/GMC S-15 JIMMY the most! 👍
Can’t believe how much I enjoy watching this. Since I wasn’t even born by the time this cars were introduced. I own a 98 Cherokee and man I love it. Looking forward to getting a 84-89 wagoneer with the wood trim pretty much like the one on the video, with the 4.0L.
1984 was the year before I was born, but watching this I fell in love with the woody jeep. Just bought a 1992 Briarwood with the 4 litre HO for daily, extremely rare to find especially because I'm in Italy! It's a wonderful car, couldn't be more happy...except maybe with that 21 slot grille :D
It's a girl wagon buddy. They are worth too much money. You can get a modern Jeep Commander for the Wagoneer looking body but not available in wood trim
I see a whole lot of S-10 Blazers of the early to late 80's, and 90's that people have dropped V8's in them. I always liked them back then especially in the two tone with those uniroyal tires!
It's not just that though, they handle astronomically better, they're much safer, much more powerful, unbelievably comfortable, and assembled a hell of a lot better.
The more crap you add to a vehicle, and the emissions shit they add make an engine work harder thus lowering fuel economy. SUV's that are smaller than the ones in this video are lucky to get the same fuel economy in the real world...many people drive well above the speed limit and today's speed limits are anything but efficient, so as a result anything about about 60mph you are burning more fuel.
My 88 s10 Blazer has the 4.3 with 319,000 original km on the engine. I love it too. Just did a restoration on the entire body cause I live in an area where vehicles rust out. The restoration is on my channel if your interested.
The 4.3 is the toughest V-6 GM made and the specs are the same as the tried and true 350 engine, aside from having 2 less cylinders. The all around package is pretty reliable too. I have 3 of them and they have all been great for me. Turn key and go transportation. You can't go too far wrong with your S-15. It's the same thing as the S 10, but sporting the GMC badge. It sounds like a score actually with that amount of mileage for the price. I would grab it in a heart beat ! It may even have the G80 locker diff. Look at the options decal on the glove box. If you see G80 it will be great in the snow too.
Thanks, I ended up grabbing it, I'm taking it to certify, hopefully everything checks out. The tranny is the 700r4, but there is a bit of a clunk or un-smoothness shifting from park to reverse and drive. I think it may be driveline play or u joint rather than the actual transmission as it shifts fine on the road, have you experienced this? The clunk is not really too loud or violent, but enough to sound metallic and rock the suspension of the truck.
IKR. I have 94 Blazer (last year of the 1st gen) and a Saab 9-3 Aero. Despite having more than twice the displacement of 9-3, that Blazer has about the same MPG...
I had an '84 S10 Blazer back in the day with the 2.8 that I picked up cheap because the made in Mexico crankshaft was broke in two. I rebuilt the engine and kept it until the wife rolled it into a ditch when the road was covered in ice. That 2.8 was the biggest dog of a motor I have ever owned, and on a steep incline could not keep up with the flow of traffic.
Neither the 2.8 nor 4.3 were race engines, but both had good low torque for offroading and towing. The 4.3 was known as a good engine to pull a bass boat to a lake like High Rock in NC, and I thank some of the Bass Pros had them on TV.
Ironically, the Jeep Cherokee/Wagoneer had the same 2.8 V6 used in Blazer as an option from 84-86 before switching to it's now famous 4.0 inline six in 1987.
What is really beautiful is that AMC (RIP) took that great inline Six and made as equally great 2.5 4 cylinder. If they did that in the first place they could have avoided the purchase of the Iron Dukes. Good Lord I miss AMC. They gave cars/Jeeps charm and personality more than any other. Except the original Honda Civics and Accords.
When Dodge dropped the 4.0 from the line up "Jeep" ceased being "Jeep" became another Dodge model. Poor powertrain and iffy electronics are now standard on all models.
Absolutely loaded, these were $31K in 2019 dollars. Modern vehicles need to explain themselves. Nothing earth shattering relative to tech on equivalent high end vehicles in 1984.
LoL Right...like anti lock brakes, airbags, back up cameras, infotainment systems, ect, ect, ect. Not suggesting vehicle prices aren't stupid expensive these days but to suggest people aren't buying a more complex piece of equipment for their money is absurd.
@@hippiebits2071 Really? You don’t realize this vehicle also included features that were considered “advanced” for the time? You’ve missed the point completely 🙄🙄🙄
I say the finish was Cherokee, Blazer, Bronco II. I own a Cherokee and the 4.0 H.O. is a beast, NP231 transfer case is pretty tough, AX15 is reasonably tough and the Dana 30 front axle is great as well, the only weak point on the Cherokee is the Dana 35 rear axle that chrysler replaced with a 8.25 axle.
1. Bronco 2. Jeep 3. anything besides a GM product Back when these SUV's hit the market there were more GM dealerships in my area but even with more of them being sold, there were by FAR, like a ratio of 5:1, more Bronco 2's and Jeep XJ's still on the road decades later. Don't forget that they made the Jeep and S-10/S-15 longer so naturally there "Should" be more out there still. *GMC S-15 Jimmy/Chevrolet S-10 Blazer----Last produced in 2005 *Jeep XJ Cherokee----Last produced in 2001 *Ford Bronco II----Last Produced in 1990 Does this make sense to you why you have seen fewer Bronco 2's? I live in the rust belt where 4wd is a must and even though they stopped making the Bronco 2 eleven years before they quit making the Jeep Cherokee and fifteen years before they stopped production of the Blazer/Jimmy, there are still about 8-10 Bronco 2's still on the road and in good shape within a 30 mile radius of my house. The only S-10 Blazers I see are the 2000 and newer ones and still there are very few left. I've only seen a couple 80's era Jeep XJ's around here and they were all rot boxes for sale "As-Is" on Craigslist and they were not road worthy. I see a few late 90's to 2001 XJ's on the road but they are falling apart.
Jim Garrison ONLY Jeep XJs falling apart are in the rust belt for sure...or lived there in winter salt/DE-Icer.I Lived in Chicago and Dallas. XJs with 300k are common in Texas(and Southern states) on 2nd or 3rd a.c. compressor but generally bulletproof I6!
I see bronco 2s all the time. I can't remember the last time I saw any model year of the blazer or jimmy on the road. See lots in the junkyard rusting away but never on the road.
would of loved to see what a 4runner back then would of stacked up next to those offroaders. and why didnt they use a 2 door cherokee instead of a four door wagoneer?
A 4x4 V6 Blazer was my first car. Given to me by a family friend. Unfortunately it was so rotted out and full of squirrel and mouse nests, it never saw the road again. Time was not kind to this generation of vehicles if even remotely ignored.
This is awesome! As an owner of an '85 Blazer, I've been waiting for a retro review on one. Now I know how my 4WD shifter lights should work.... Anyways, who placed first, second, and third here?
tytotheler92 Should have been '85 not 85' (85' = eighty-five feet). You abbreviate model years by putting the apostrophe before the last two digits. 1985 = '85.
The Blazer is best offroad and towing and a good ride on and offroad, the Wagoneer was the best handling and family vehicle 4 door, the Bronco was a decent vehicle.
I have had three Bronco IIs. My first a1984 2.8 carb automatic. Horrible lack of power but you did not want to go too fast with those horrible brakes. My current 1984 Bronco II has a FI 5.0 and solid axles. Ah,... much better!
I just bought an 85 blazer for $500 delivered to my house. Best case scenario, it needs fuel pump, muffler and exhaust, new tires, hood latch, fix the rear gate (it won’t open) and a few other things such as air intake preheater hose and air filter. I’m estimating at least $300 more to get it in good condition, not counting paint and getting it insured and inspected.
I would take any of them, but I would place it imo in this order jeep, ford, chevy. I like the drop down tailgate down gate on the chevy though. I wish my explorer had that
For this one, I think Pat Goss should have contributed a feature on "four buh fours" such as why to use locking hubs, when to use 4x4 hi or lo, and his favorite subject, tires
These engines are so anemic at altitude. Getting up the Loveland Pass or to the Eisenhower Tunnel was a wheezing challenge when new and would seem laughable in today’s high horsepower era. Now we have routinely available 4-cylinders with 400HP!
Maybe so, but if a lot of horsepower was necessary or useful off-road military H1s would all have 700HP vs their 190. High horsepower when offroading at 5mph= broken u joints, driveshafts, and cracked transfer cases. Low end torque is king off-road.
Dad had a 2.5 84 Cherokee Pioneer 4dr, 4.3 88 Blazer 2dr. And a 4.0 90 Cherokee Laredo 4dr. Loved them all. The paint on the 2 tone black and silver paint on the Blazer looked terrible from new and the silver started flaking off after a year. Typical GM for the period. He owned it for the least amount of time.
If you look at a lot of those vehicles that had the spare on rack,..most of them have the tail gate pushed in because they couldn't see where they were backing up to. I like to see out my back window for safety reasons. My 88 S10 Blazer has it standing up inside on the drivers side. It doesn't take up much space and is still a perfect spot beside the spare for my 105 lb German Shepard to ride with me. I don't miss the space it takes up. Besides I have a full size truck as well if I want to haul a bigger pay load.
The 2.0L Blazer was a one year wonder. Would be crazy to see a survivor! Was a reworked Cavalier motor btw, Unlike the later 2.2L which used the same block for FWD and RWD.
One of my favorite cars: Ordered a brand new 1985 Jeep Cherokee Chief in metallic blue with black Cherokee Chief decals/stripes. It needed a little sorting after we received it. A fair amount of assembly defects, but the coachwork inside was flawless and held up well over 15 years and 200,000 miles, and all the accessories worked to the end. The salesman at the dealership at the time said DO NOT order the 2.8 litre Chevy-made V6 option...they were known for expensive oil leaks. We followed his advice to buy the 2.5 litre cast-iron Jeep made four banger. Their speed trial in this episode made me laugh: I LOVED our Cherokee but it was slooowwwww...and that was with a 5-speed stick. Still, it averaged 20 MPG in mixed driving (never burned a drop of oil), had the Renault-made gimbled seats in front that were very comfortable, and the 4WD never gave us any trouble and made it run like a champ in the snow. Jeep was on the ropes financially at the time (Chrysler bought them in '87) and yet I was amazed at their innovations and build quality. And yes, the salesman was right: a number of our friends jumped on the bandwagon at the time and bought Jeeps, and ALL of the ones with the Chevy V6 developed oil leaks plus other engine problems. Our Jeep four banger was completely trouble free....but did I say it was sloooooowwwww?
Gearing. With 3.55 gears, they were dogs. With optional 4.11s, they were not at all slow, especially with the 5-speed. I'd bet the test Wagoneer had 4.11 gears. I would expect a 2.5/auto/3.55 to be kind of painful to drive.
That was a great test. Motor week should do testing on new cars like this. The reviews done with cars.com are very disappointing. Watching these old reviews shows that motor week has lost it's way. This test gave me the exact info I wanted on these vehicles and shows them driving more. New episodes have a lot of quick cuts that results in us really seeing less. i know thats to make it feel fast paced but it doesn't really help. New reviews don't seem to answer all the questions that this old review covered. Granted new vehicles mostly look the same and are not as interesting to compare as these old SUVs were, but I miss the old motor week. With that being said, keep posting these retro reviews. The vehicles in this test are still very popular today and are starting to become collectible. Sadly, automakers these days care more about building what they think we need and instead of building what we want.
the bronco ii is hilarious, but that s10 blazer is really clean. can't say i've seen too many and i don't even live where it rusts. not suprising to see the cherokee win though, it basically invented its segment "the SUV" and you could give it credit for being more in line with todays crossover vehicles
xXxSikMLG360 NoScoperxXx I dunno the modern reviews seem all about styling and basic performance. The few ive seen on TV (I don't do TV anymore so im sure I missed a lot) seem to lack the in depth performance testing. I actually LOVE that they do limit testing on handling and multiple different tests on performance in these old videos. Plus I like the shaggy looking people poking about and messing around in the car while dude talks about it. The modern motorweek, the ones ive seen, are all about carbon footprint and other stuff I could care less about and seem to lack the raw performance testing, as well with the functionality testing. I want to see how fast in a solom modern cars can go, and what they look like (body roll ect), id love to see emergency brake tests, I want to see them do the 0-60 but also add the passing performance tests ect. Don't care about touch screen apps or iphone adaptors or how green it is.
If the tires are not smoking, the driver doesn't need a helmet, and the car isn't being abused...its just not an interesting car test. Im still laughing about the carbon footprint part of the modern tests btw....plants breathe carbon what does everyone hate plants and want to make them suffer?
its strange seeing these 4x4 rust free lol
Also not spewing smoke all over the place.
Dom The Suplexer smoke and oil
I just saw a Blazer just like that in basically new condition in northern california.
I've got several rust free vehicles but I'm a Floridian.
My bronco ii is rust free
"it always felt firmly attached to the terra firma" while the Bronco is basically going airborne...
Frank Burns the Bronco II's also had serious roll over issues
Hahaha...I was thinking the exact same thing!
I love bronco’s 4Runners pathfinders blazers Cherokee’s wagonners in the 80’s
S10 blazer 4Runner. Cherokee bronco II in the 1980’s
Bronco II's and S10 Blazers are a rare sight around here. The Cherokee can still be sighted pretty regularly, including the 2001 in my driveway.
The Cherokee became a legend when it got the 4.0 straight 6. The Blazer eventually got a 4.3 V6 which was a great engine, but they're still a rare sight.
You see lots of Jeeps like that because they were the same body style from 1984 until 2001. The S10 Blazer and Bronco II were dropped or changed body styles a decade earlier. The number of 2.8 & 2.5 powered Cherokees are very rare.
I would be terrified to slalom around cones in a bronco II
It wasn't built to handle like a Miata stupid bitch...
@@Poohdaddymagic yeah but any car should be able to do the cones with all four wheels on the ground
@@Poohdaddymagic Poor Patty obviously never got to drive a bronco II, I feel bad for you
@@Poohdaddymagic miatas r cool
@@farmcentralohio ill be buying one soon, if i drive safely are they actually deadly
I miss all the old style shifters for 4x4 . I know they took up room but i kind of liked them.
If you mean the shifter for the transfer case it was better it's why the rock crawler guys still use them today It is a direct link between the driver and the transfer case and does not rely on electric or vacuum solenoids to shift.
Its so great to see how far some trucks have become. I owned an 89 S-10 and loved it at the time. For the time these were 3 good trucks. It was the start of the SUV for passenger car use. The s-10 was a good vehicle at the time and the 4.3L completely changed the whole performance aspect of the truck
Rarely see a bronco II. Still see jeeps and rusty Blazers all over.
counterclockwise123 Ignorance, pure ignorance. The S-10 Blazer and S-15 GMC Jimmy rusted out much faster than the Bronco II. My neighbor still has an '88 Bronco II and it looks brand new. I sold one abut 4 years ago and it was rock solid 25 years later and ran like new. I sold one of my XJ Cherokees 3 years ago and it was in decent shape as well for being a 1985 but the 4.0 inline 6 was shot. My neighbor had an '87 S-10 Blazer that had rust holes big enough to put your fist through before it was 6 years old. She paid $4000 on bodywork and paint to save her beloved Chevy, only for the engine to thrown it's crankshaft out the oilpan 6 months later before it even had 60K miles. Like A Rock.
Joseph Rogers Not with your eyes open you don't. I've been up and down the U.S. East Coast and I hardly ever see S-10 Blazers. I see plenty of Cherokees and and Bronco IIs but not Blazers. Sure, there are guys who off-road with all the aforementioned vehicles but as far ones I've seen actually driving on the road, all we see in our neck of the woods is Broncos and Cherokees.
Jim Garrison you ever think the people didn't take care of them??, salt and snow and dirt breaks down cars.
Jim Garrison Inline six was not available until 1987. The 1984-86 2.8L GM V6 was a POS!
+Joseph Rogers Seeing an S-10 Blazer is a rarity due to them rusting out. I'm a regional tractor trailer driver and I see quite a few Bronco II's on the road.
I love how their off road testing consists of driving through tall grass.
JD: "Pricing starts at....
Me: "Hold on, let me bring up the inflation calculator"
"HOLD UP. WAIT A MINUTE. DON'T STOP, GET IT GET IT.....!!!!!". LMMFAO😅
Growing up, my Mom had both the S-10 and the Jeep. I also had a newer Cherokee for a few years. The S-10 was nice (I learned to drive on it) but for me the Jeep is the best. And I see a lot more Cherokees on the road than S-10s or Bronco IIs.
I love my 86 GMC S-15 JIMMY. It just depends what little SUV you like really! All were nice in their day, I just like the the S-10 Blazer/GMC S-15 JIMMY the most! 👍
About half of the old Cherokees are rock crawlers now.
At least they're still being used. Not as many Bronco II/S10 Blazer crawlers out there.
It better be modified as a rock crawler with higher tires since the differential sits very low to the ground
Albeit with something more than the 100 hp Hurricane motor. whew, that some output!
@@garage779 Better than the anemic V6s that were available (unless you're towing and the small gains in torque help)
Never missed this show back in the day. A buddy bought an '88 Jimmy new....and I was so jealous!
That Blazer looks good with the ''Fall Guy'' colors.
It is hard to beat an XJ. They were much better when they got the 4 liter inline six though.
YES!
Tony Helton and even better, the 4.0 HO ( High Output )
The 2.5 can go the speed limit
I want the 2 door!
@Robert story Why not a fan of the ZJ. I had one and loved it.
Can’t believe how much I enjoy watching this. Since I wasn’t even born by the time this cars were introduced. I own a 98 Cherokee and man I love it. Looking forward to getting a 84-89 wagoneer with the wood trim pretty much like the one on the video, with the 4.0L.
1984 was the year before I was born, but watching this I fell in love with the woody jeep. Just bought a 1992 Briarwood with the 4 litre HO for daily, extremely rare to find especially because I'm in Italy! It's a wonderful car, couldn't be more happy...except maybe with that 21 slot grille :D
It's a girl wagon buddy. They are worth too much money. You can get a modern Jeep Commander for the Wagoneer looking body but not available in wood trim
The 4.0 was available starting in 87
I love my Bronco II (1984)
I love these retro reviews.
The runaway at the drag strip is hilarious.Slap the windshield and run boy! Got my clipboard and stopwatch. lol
Many many years later bronco2 is a beast 🚜🤗
Clearly the best at off-road because of its steep approach angles
Those old Jeeps are tough!!!
That Jeep 😍😍😍
I see a whole lot of S-10 Blazers of the early to late 80's, and 90's that people have dropped V8's in them. I always liked them back then especially in the two tone with those uniroyal tires!
I always wanted a bronco 2.
love the bronco 2 with the 2.9 v6 thats a fun truck and the snow is nothing to it
35 years later and little SUVs get 18 mpg lol so much for technology.
+asssface2000 Its because new vehicles weigh so much more.
ThomasXp
and have more H.P. but its still rediculous. they should be able to do all 3 things
It's not just that though, they handle astronomically better, they're much safer, much more powerful, unbelievably comfortable, and assembled a hell of a lot better.
Ford Model T's in 1908 got 21 mpg also over 100 years ago.
The more crap you add to a vehicle, and the emissions shit they add make an engine work harder thus lowering fuel economy. SUV's that are smaller than the ones in this video are lucky to get the same fuel economy in the real world...many people drive well above the speed limit and today's speed limits are anything but efficient, so as a result anything about about 60mph you are burning more fuel.
Imagine going back to 1984 and telling these guys that these are all you can buy in 2020
I have an 88 S15 Jimmy and love it!
I had a 90 S10 Blazer. I sold it for $400 with 325,000 miles on it and no muffler.
I still have my blazer it's the 2.8 and it still runs good I love it!
My 88 s10 Blazer has the 4.3 with 319,000 original km on the engine. I love it too. Just did a restoration on the entire body cause I live in an area where vehicles rust out. The restoration is on my channel if your interested.
My S-10's 86 and 88 are throttle body injection and I had never had a problem with cold starts down to minus 10 - 12 cel..
yes, sorry I meant tbi, alright that's good news I may give it a shot haha
The 4.3 is the toughest V-6 GM made and the specs are the same as the tried and true 350 engine, aside from having 2 less cylinders. The all around package is pretty reliable too. I have 3 of them and they have all been great for me.
Turn key and go transportation.
You can't go too far wrong with your S-15. It's the same thing as the S 10, but sporting the GMC badge.
It sounds like a score actually with that amount of mileage for the price. I would grab it in a heart beat !
It may even have the G80 locker diff. Look at the options decal on the glove box. If you see G80 it will be great in the snow too.
Thanks, I ended up grabbing it, I'm taking it to certify, hopefully everything checks out. The tranny is the 700r4, but there is a bit of a clunk or un-smoothness shifting from park to reverse and drive. I think it may be driveline play or u joint rather than the actual transmission as it shifts fine on the road, have you experienced this? The clunk is not really too loud or violent, but enough to sound metallic and rock the suspension of the truck.
I loved my 89 blazer. 4.3 2wd and 26mpg. I had an 02 blazer and it got 16mpg!!
IKR.
I have 94 Blazer (last year of the 1st gen) and a Saab 9-3 Aero.
Despite having more than twice the displacement of 9-3, that Blazer has about the same MPG...
I had an '84 S10 Blazer back in the day with the 2.8 that I picked up cheap because the made in Mexico crankshaft was broke in two. I rebuilt the engine and kept it until the wife rolled it into a ditch when the road was covered in ice.
That 2.8 was the biggest dog of a motor I have ever owned, and on a steep incline could not keep up with the flow of traffic.
Neither the 2.8 nor 4.3 were race engines, but both had good low torque for offroading and towing. The 4.3 was known as a good engine to pull a bass boat to a lake like High Rock in NC, and I thank some of the Bass Pros had them on TV.
Check out those sweet white lettered tires! Now days, people put the white letters in.
I still rock them out!
Ironically, the Jeep Cherokee/Wagoneer had the same 2.8 V6 used in Blazer as an option from 84-86 before switching to it's now famous 4.0 inline six in 1987.
What is really beautiful is that AMC (RIP) took that great inline Six and made as equally great 2.5 4 cylinder. If they did that in the first place they could have avoided the purchase of the Iron Dukes. Good Lord I miss AMC. They gave cars/Jeeps charm and personality more than any other. Except the original Honda Civics and Accords.
And after owning both the Jeep with the 2.8, and a GMC S-15 with the 2.8 they both had bad rear main seal problems.
Typical of the 2.8 .
When Dodge dropped the 4.0 from the line up "Jeep" ceased being "Jeep" became another Dodge model. Poor powertrain and iffy electronics are now standard on all models.
I've had them all, there all great. don't see the Broncos around here up north outside of Boston anymore. I loved my S10 , all around a great vehicle.
Absolutely loaded, these were $31K in 2019 dollars. Modern vehicles need to explain themselves. Nothing earth shattering relative to tech on equivalent high end vehicles in 1984.
Forget loaded. I'll take a Cherokee...A/C, 5-speed manual, tinted glass, AM/FM, 15x7 steel wheels, rear limited slip, and swing-out tire carrier. That's it.
LoL Right...like anti lock brakes, airbags, back up cameras, infotainment systems, ect, ect, ect. Not suggesting vehicle prices aren't stupid expensive these days but to suggest people aren't buying a more complex piece of equipment for their money is absurd.
Steel is a lot more expensive nowadays
@@hippiebits2071 Really? You don’t realize this vehicle also included features that were considered “advanced” for the time? You’ve missed the point completely 🙄🙄🙄
@@conduit242 Exactly what is your point???
i remember the 2.8 liter of those yrs sounding like a prop plane taking off.
I say the finish was Cherokee, Blazer, Bronco II. I own a Cherokee and the 4.0 H.O. is a beast, NP231 transfer case is pretty tough, AX15 is reasonably tough and the Dana 30 front axle is great as well, the only weak point on the Cherokee is the Dana 35 rear axle that chrysler replaced with a 8.25 axle.
DiabloDrift my 4.0 HO is given hell along with my AX15 and NP231 lol.
270k and still going.
Offroad it atleast once a week.
My neighbor had one of these blocky S10 Blazers until it completely died. By that point it was basically all rust.
1.Jeep
2.blazer
3.bronco
you almost never see the bronco's anywhere anymore! but Jeeps and blazers all over the place.
Juan Lopez I've never seen one of those XJ Wagoneers in my life, but I've seen the Cherokees everywhere. Even my dad owns a Cherokee.
1. Bronco
2. Jeep
3. anything besides a GM product
Back when these SUV's hit the market there were more GM dealerships in my area but even with more of them being sold, there were by FAR, like a ratio of 5:1, more Bronco 2's and Jeep XJ's still on the road decades later.
Don't forget that they made the Jeep and S-10/S-15 longer so naturally there "Should" be more out there still.
*GMC S-15 Jimmy/Chevrolet S-10 Blazer----Last produced in 2005
*Jeep XJ Cherokee----Last produced in 2001
*Ford Bronco II----Last Produced in 1990
Does this make sense to you why you have seen fewer Bronco 2's?
I live in the rust belt where 4wd is a must and even though they stopped making the Bronco 2 eleven years before they quit making the Jeep Cherokee and fifteen years before they stopped production of the Blazer/Jimmy, there are still about 8-10 Bronco 2's still on the road and in good shape within a 30 mile radius of my house. The only S-10 Blazers I see are the 2000 and newer ones and still there are very few left. I've only seen a couple 80's era Jeep XJ's around here and they were all rot boxes for sale "As-Is" on Craigslist and they were not road worthy. I see a few late 90's to 2001 XJ's on the road but they are falling apart.
Jim Garrison ONLY Jeep XJs falling apart are in the rust belt for sure...or lived there in winter salt/DE-Icer.I Lived in Chicago and Dallas. XJs with 300k are common in Texas(and Southern states) on 2nd or 3rd a.c. compressor but generally bulletproof I6!
Nah, that's a bronco 2 and bronco 2's were utter crap!
I see bronco 2s all the time. I can't remember the last time I saw any model year of the blazer or jimmy on the road. See lots in the junkyard rusting away but never on the road.
I have an 03 blazer 2 door i have had restored over the last year but a pre-95 like the one in this vid would have been absolutely incredible
I have a 92 4 door in the process of getting a 350 crammed into it
6:00 that's a rough shift into low.
LOL. True.
I felt that one
Yeah because you have to put it in neutral first lol
I’m definitely not a Ford guy but I gotta give it to the bronco as far as engine goes, that 2.8L is one tuff sob .
I oved my bronco 2. My stepdad had an s10 blazer. Spent more time in the shop than it did on the road.
I love my Bronco II.
DaRealCarlos \ At least he'll die happy, can you say the same?
And its carbed pinto engine
@@UA-camcensoredmyusername Pintos were 4cyl.
@@falconater68 its called a cologne 2.8 v6. Optional pinto engine. Doubt me not
TheRealCarlos \ little wider tires and you’re good.
I'll take the Jeep
ESTEBAN4WD I’ll take a poop
all day!
Chris Hamilton you’re shit
@@chrishamilton4447 good for u lol
I own an 89 Bronco II and have put the Ford 4.0L V6 in her
Joseph Tuggle how did it turn out. I just got a 89 bio and debating on weather I should put a 4.0 or 5.0 what do you think?
Did I miss where they declared the winner?
Jeep had to win, Blazer probably 2nd and Bronco II last
The winner was whichever you bought.
But the Jeep was the real winner.
@@bobcatracer When it cost 30% more it should be better.
blazers are really the coolest lol
The best looking one is the S-10 Blazer.
Blazer has my pick.
would of loved to see what a 4runner back then would of stacked up next to those offroaders. and why didnt they use a 2 door cherokee instead of a four door wagoneer?
DRugfree1987 that's what I was wondering
cuz the jeep gonna win either way, and the 2 door is exactly the same as the 4 other than the 2 less doors on it
At a guess: because the 4-door Wagoneer is what AMC sent them.
Like the ford broncos
xj was purpose-built unibody ground up as compact SUV, built until 2000s. Other 2 are shortened pickup trucks.
comanche
I'm guessing that the jeep came in first followed by the Chevy then the ford
A 4x4 V6 Blazer was my first car. Given to me by a family friend. Unfortunately it was so rotted out and full of squirrel and mouse nests, it never saw the road again. Time was not kind to this generation of vehicles if even remotely ignored.
All three of these became really nice vehicles in the late 1980's.
This is awesome! As an owner of an '85 Blazer, I've been waiting for a retro review on one. Now I know how my 4WD shifter lights should work....
Anyways, who placed first, second, and third here?
Holy crap! How do you drive an 85 foot long Blazer? Lol.
PantherP74 I have a feeling some joke here that i missed went over my head. lol.
tytotheler92 Should have been '85 not 85' (85' = eighty-five feet). You abbreviate model years by putting the apostrophe before the last two digits. 1985 = '85.
J.A.Grami Ah, yeah...you're right. That was a typo. haha.
Blazer is the best looking SUV here then the Wagoneer and lastly the Bronco 2
Victor montano The S10 Blazers looked good when they were new & shiny.
The Blazer is best offroad and towing and a good ride on and offroad, the Wagoneer was the best handling and family vehicle 4 door, the Bronco was a decent vehicle.
1:35 looks like an old Subaru and a Nova in the opposite lane!
"But hood seams very side to side" Yep both my Bronco ii's have that problem as well...
I have had three Bronco IIs. My first a1984 2.8 carb automatic. Horrible lack of power but you did not want to go too fast with those horrible brakes. My current 1984 Bronco II has a FI 5.0 and solid axles. Ah,... much better!
I've got a Bronco 2 XLT 1989 and it's going to be my New Old Bronco; 5 L HO, 5 speed Temac ,atlas transfer case plus etc It's going be sweet!
I just bought an 85 blazer for $500 delivered to my house. Best case scenario, it needs fuel pump, muffler and exhaust, new tires, hood latch, fix the rear gate (it won’t open) and a few other things such as air intake preheater hose and air filter. I’m estimating at least $300 more to get it in good condition, not counting paint and getting it insured and inspected.
I would take any of them, but I would place it imo in this order jeep, ford, chevy. I like the drop down tailgate down gate on the chevy though. I wish my explorer had that
For this one, I think Pat Goss should have contributed a feature on "four buh fours" such as why to use locking hubs, when to use 4x4 hi or lo, and his favorite subject, tires
These engines are so anemic at altitude. Getting up the Loveland Pass or to the Eisenhower Tunnel was a wheezing challenge when new and would seem laughable in today’s high horsepower era. Now we have routinely available 4-cylinders with 400HP!
Maybe so, but if a lot of horsepower was necessary or useful off-road military H1s would all have 700HP vs their 190. High horsepower when offroading at 5mph= broken u joints, driveshafts, and cracked transfer cases. Low end torque is king off-road.
Dad had a 2.5 84 Cherokee Pioneer 4dr, 4.3 88 Blazer 2dr. And a 4.0 90 Cherokee Laredo 4dr. Loved them all. The paint on the 2 tone black and silver paint on the Blazer looked terrible from new and the silver started flaking off after a year. Typical GM for the period. He owned it for the least amount of time.
@6:27 "it always felt solidly attached to the terra firma".
hes says as the front wheels are literally bouncing off the ground
It's a bucking bronco with short wheelbase. Driver is clearly driving faster in the Bronco II than the CHevy s10
give me that wagoneer hands down
13:47 Great place for the spare tire, very practical...
If you look at a lot of those vehicles that had the spare on rack,..most of them have the tail gate pushed in because they couldn't see where they were backing up to. I like to see out my back window for safety reasons.
My 88 S10 Blazer has it standing up inside on the drivers side. It doesn't take up much space and is still a perfect spot beside the spare for my 105 lb German Shepard to ride with me. I don't miss the space it takes up. Besides I have a full size truck as well if I want to haul a bigger pay load.
For some reason loved hearing “and from AMC..”
I see a lot more Bronco II's still on the road today (2022), than S10 Blazer's.
I just got in a 87’ S-10 Blazer 4x4 V-6 5sp manual with 35k miles!
10:55 SON OF A ..! way to slam into a car in front of you....T-BONE style.
I would still love to see the 1986 Compare-a-Truck road test.
Fun Fact: the Cherokee Wagoneer could run on "gasohol".
The 2.0L Blazer was a one year wonder. Would be crazy to see a survivor! Was a reworked Cavalier motor btw, Unlike the later 2.2L which used the same block for FWD and RWD.
Bronco 2 was very dangerous and ford knew it. Had a friend of mine killed in one right after graduating high-school. She was a sweetheart too
The narrator neglected to mention that the Jeep also had the only unibody design. The other two were body on frame vehicles.
Yes, and that's definitely worth noting!
I've had lots of fun with my B II, it has a 5.0 V8 and an f150 trans and transfer case.
People put 350 V8 in many S10 Blazers.
That clutch drop looked like the bronco 2 stalled lol
that would be quite a trick-it has an automatic transmission.
My buddy had a bronco ii when I was in high school. It was quite old and tired even then. He thrashed the ever living piss out of it.
All three are great vehicles.
One of my favorite cars: Ordered a brand new 1985 Jeep Cherokee Chief in metallic blue with black Cherokee Chief decals/stripes. It needed a little sorting after we received it. A fair amount of assembly defects, but the coachwork inside was flawless and held up well over 15 years and 200,000 miles, and all the accessories worked to the end. The salesman at the dealership at the time said DO NOT order the 2.8 litre Chevy-made V6 option...they were known for expensive oil leaks. We followed his advice to buy the 2.5 litre cast-iron Jeep made four banger. Their speed trial in this episode made me laugh: I LOVED our Cherokee but it was slooowwwww...and that was with a 5-speed stick. Still, it averaged 20 MPG in mixed driving (never burned a drop of oil), had the Renault-made gimbled seats in front that were very comfortable, and the 4WD never gave us any trouble and made it run like a champ in the snow. Jeep was on the ropes financially at the time (Chrysler bought them in '87) and yet I was amazed at their innovations and build quality. And yes, the salesman was right: a number of our friends jumped on the bandwagon at the time and bought Jeeps, and ALL of the ones with the Chevy V6 developed oil leaks plus other engine problems. Our Jeep four banger was completely trouble free....but did I say it was sloooooowwwww?
Gearing. With 3.55 gears, they were dogs. With optional 4.11s, they were not at all slow, especially with the 5-speed. I'd bet the test Wagoneer had 4.11 gears.
I would expect a 2.5/auto/3.55 to be kind of painful to drive.
The Jeep looked like a Lotus through the pylons compared to the other two.
That was a great test. Motor week should do testing on new cars like this. The reviews done with cars.com are very disappointing. Watching these old reviews shows that motor week has lost it's way. This test gave me the exact info I wanted on these vehicles and shows them driving more. New episodes have a lot of quick cuts that results in us really seeing less. i know thats to make it feel fast paced but it doesn't really help. New reviews don't seem to answer all the questions that this old review covered. Granted new vehicles mostly look the same and are not as interesting to compare as these old SUVs were, but I miss the old motor week. With that being said, keep posting these retro reviews. The vehicles in this test are still very popular today and are starting to become collectible. Sadly, automakers these days care more about building what they think we need and instead of building what we want.
I bought a Ford Bronco II new in 1985, what a mistake that was, this video reminded me of how weak the selection was in those days compared to today.
Are we just going to ignore the shifter tunnel trim piece coming apart as he was trying to shift lol??
yup,the loose boot moved with the shifter!?!..what was that!..ha!ha!...
my dad bought a bronco 2 for $75 from a friend of his after he rolled it. he scraped the body and got $100 and kept the engine
the bronco ii is hilarious, but that s10 blazer is really clean. can't say i've seen too many and i don't even live where it rusts. not suprising to see the cherokee win though, it basically invented its segment "the SUV" and you could give it credit for being more in line with todays crossover vehicles
As do I........the '80's will NEVER die, if I have anything to say about it!!!!!
Hey Motorweek can you post the full size Bronco review?
Jeep Cherokee 4.0 is the best,I'm still driving mine!
Those XJ Wagoneers are rare…
I like the Cherokee.
AH Yes, back when shorts were...short.
can you guys do this with modern cars?
We air comparos with Cars.Com and USA Today pretty regularly
xXxSikMLG360 NoScoperxXx I dunno the modern reviews seem all about styling and basic performance. The few ive seen on TV (I don't do TV anymore so im sure I missed a lot) seem to lack the in depth performance testing.
I actually LOVE that they do limit testing on handling and multiple different tests on performance in these old videos.
Plus I like the shaggy looking people poking about and messing around in the car while dude talks about it.
The modern motorweek, the ones ive seen, are all about carbon footprint and other stuff I could care less about and seem to lack the raw performance testing, as well with the functionality testing.
I want to see how fast in a solom modern cars can go, and what they look like (body roll ect), id love to see emergency brake tests, I want to see them do the 0-60 but also add the passing performance tests ect. Don't care about touch screen apps or iphone adaptors or how green it is.
bob loblaw
great comment
xXxSikMLG360 NoScoperxXx
If the tires are not smoking, the driver doesn't need a helmet, and the car isn't being abused...its just not an interesting car test.
Im still laughing about the carbon footprint part of the modern tests btw....plants breathe carbon what does everyone hate plants and want to make them suffer?
"Off Road Family Wagon" I kinda like that term better then Sport utility vehicle
Just a question. Would any of the '80's Driver's Choice installments be considered a Retro Review?!!! I would LOVE to see those again.