neohic

In case anyone was wondering what has happened to this between then and now... besides being listed again... Yup, there was this: http://comancheclub....-ahhh-its-back/ ... and then there was some other stuff in the background. As the story goes, the truck was sold to Sterling during the good old days of racing. The truck indeed was given to his son to drive as long as the race engine was removed and the axles were swapped as well. That all happened. The truck went into disrepair and was parked at a repair shop where Robert Hoemke found and bought it. Then it sat... and sat... and sat until it found its way to ebay the first time around. He got tons of crap from people saying that it wasn't the genuine article. Then it was authenticated by the Archers and all was supposed to be well with a for sure sale. Then it didn't... and then it didn't again. Now, I'm not so sure what'll happen next. Background story... Two days after the truck went on ebay the first time, I got in touch with John Archer, the current Archer brother in charge of Archer Racing in Duluth MN. The questions were asked if there were any components left over from the trucks. At first I got a shady response because someone else beat me to the punch a day before... Robert Hoemke. The plan was to sell off everything to him and keep it all as a package. Fast forward four months. I kept after him calling twice a week trying to get any kind of information out of John as far as what he still had sitting around. Finally! Velvet ropes parted, trumpets sounded from the heavens, and a glimpse of what was hiding in a Duluth storage attic was given. Parts... lots of them. See, the Archers didn't just race, but they also sold parts. Working very closely with Chrysler, they created a body kit based off of the sexy lines of the then brand new SCCA MJs. This would later grow into the Street Comanche campaign. Body kits were made and the dealer in California was scheduled to produce 100 just to see how they sold. They did. Eventually. Not in time for Jeep to think that it would be a good idea to keep the name going. The idea was scrapped but the fiberglass molds were not and the Archers kept the idea alive. Special orders could be made to build you own! More body kits were produced and shipped all over the country. And all was well! Then the mid '90s hit and things started to dry up. Production stopped and some left overs were put on a shelf. Things sold from time to time... but everything just mostly sat on shelves. Need proof? Like I said, I called and asked about what may be sitting around. What I found out was eye-opening to say the least. Side skirts (MJ and XJ), fiberglass leaf springs, custom spun coils, a single front spoiler and fiberglass hood, and much more. I wanted a cut of things! Sadly, plenty of others do as well. I was reminded by John that I wasn't the only one calling and writing emails weekly. That's awesome though! My thoughts were to get enough parts to put together a truck and share the brief history of the SCCA Comanches. Did I get it all? No... the idea is to share the history. What better way than to have others get their chance at the parts too?! I came. I saw. I heard stories of the glorious old racing days of the mighty Comanche racing team. Today, I met with John Archer. Awesome guy holding the keys to so many questions of the technology of the time! I spent plenty of time at the Archer Racing facility being nosy and having the opportunity to see what the inner workings of a SCCA racing team. It was kinda cool! John was very accommodating and open to all questions I threw at him! I was ecstatic!!! Definitely the "kid in the candy store" type of situation! I got what I was after and we parted ways. The thought of knowing what hides in an attic is amazing! Hopefully, the next person on his list will be as grateful. ... got a few parting gifts too.

Slight change of plans for the truck... ... more on that later.

Good looking truck! Simple... to the point. I like it.

Whoa... whoa... whoa. That truck in Minnesota winters? Sinner...

Sure looks like the frame had some length added to it. Is that a vertical seam right in front of the spring hanger? How much was added? Can't get over the awesomeness of this thing.

:bowdown: LOVE IT!!! ALL OF IT!!! :bowdown:

Where abouts in Minnesota are you? There's a few of us around these parts... not many though. Neat idea with the waste oil as well. I did the same thing on a VW Jetta a number of years ago. Welcome to the MN chapter of CC!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02JdSvvCKmk :laughin:

Nice! And another product of Minnesota as well... thanks for supporting us.

I need to be the first to say it?... Nothing wrong with a little man-scaping.

:drool: ... and welcome!

Be careful with that! In the past, I've heard to many people saying, "he runs real good!" as compared to the flip side of, "she needs a little work".

If I were on the lookout... I ordered a few sets when I did, you know, just in case... I'd go to a sign maker or anyone with a vinyl cutter. Have them measure it up and they'd give you a big sticker to slap on there in its place.

I dunno... looks to be an awful lot of space between the cab and the rear wheels.

Typically, I prefer to not view hairy fellas.

Seems as though the only vehicles of mine that I was naming were the ones that I ended up selling and regretted later. I stopped naming them... now I've got too many vehicles. :doh:

When I was working on mine, there was a guy on ebay that sold just the stripes without the faded section at the bottom. I could do some digging to find the seller, but last I looked, he wasn't around anymore.

Surprised this hasn't been posted again. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Archer-Brothers-Championship-Jeep-/230879258949?pt=Race_Cars_Not_Street_Legal_&hash=item35c179e945#ht_500wt_1183

I had a friend in college with a pet turtle. Messy little creatures, aren't they? He couldn't go longer than a week without cleaning out its tank before it pooped everywhere and stunk up the whole place. Seemed to be able to spray up on the glass too making it not only a smelly environment but also not very pleasing to look at. I see yours has gotten loose on your seat.

Only temporary. I've got hopes of working on it this winter in time for enjoying something new for summer. http://comancheclub.com/topic/23055-hopscotch-on-a-car-title-vw-dune-buggy-build/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIfOjkB17BA

It's nice to see you adding to this truck still!... which is good, because it appears that there is a little less of the truck than I sold you.

Thanks guys! Lots of "floating" siding to get an old, crooked house looks fairly straight. Spent the morning finishing up the garage. I put the seal up around the garage doors and it's not noticeably less drafty in there. I went over and priced out what it would be for insulation too. Really not all that much but I'll need to add some additional bracing to the roof trusses before I'll trust anymore weight than they already support. Nice and clean!... let's see how long that'll last. The new stalls are a little less nice to look at, but it's all very functional. I looks tight, but there's tons of room around the green ZJ and the covered up Eliminator. As far as the two and a half in the back, there's still nice walking room around everything. Still have some stuff to finish up in the house yet but I'm happy that I can go out into the garage and find stuff. First time since we've lived here! :banana:

Yeah... tell me about it! That's where they always rust out, right? :roll:

:agree: That's a great example of a different twist on body panels! I'd love to have an excuse to put a set on an MJ but I've got plans for all my trucks. Guess that means I'll need to get another someday... I think it would be a great alternative for our rusty trucks of the north. Yours looks great!