500 MJ Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Booooo!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 A couple off the top of my head: It's not in full race trim anymore. It's a 2.5L. True racing history uncertain. Crappy amaturish presentation, no in-depth pics. Listed, then set seller sets reserve. Semi-converted to street. Not worth the $$ as presented. Will not appreciate in value ever, bad investment. Besides us here on CC, nobody cares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 :agree: I really kind of expected, maybe the guy would contact me and see if we could work something out. He didn't, yet. Wonder how hard it would be to take one of the '89's i got and replicate what he has. Could probably do it for a lot less than a couple grand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexia Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 o_o I wonder if Archer Brothers would sell the original moulds. Better question, are they selling the left overs if we email them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Thats awesome Ben! and I want your hat!!!! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellaheep Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Why such a long winded story and no real answer????? Will Archer sell any of those parts? What's the scoop? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 o_o I wonder if Archer Brothers would sell the original moulds. Better question, are they selling the left overs if we email them? The only mold that remains is for the front spoiler. He actually gets questioned about that more than anything else. A few years ago, he had the mold touched up and had bunch made up. It costs him slightly less to have them made up than what he sells them for. With all the interest lately, he told me that he's considering having some molded. As for getting parts, there is a laundry list of people who contact him weekly and have been waiting for me to either purchase or step aside. Thats awesome Ben! and I want your hat!!!! lol Thanks BJ! I got two of them but the wife claimed the other. That's fine though... she understands that it's more of a "special occasion" hat. :D Why such a long winded story and no real answer????? Will Archer sell any of those parts? What's the scoop? It's not that he wouldn't sell the remainder of the parts, but if anyone is interested you just about need to take a number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 So from what I gather in your post here as well as the one in your new, edited build thread, you were able to score a complete set of body panels and springs to make a replica SCCA MJ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 So from what I gather in your post here as well as the one in your new, edited build thread, you were able to score a complete set of body panels and springs to make a replica SCCA MJ? :peek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Secrets, secrets are no fun.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Okay... okay... since the cat is out of the bag, I might as well say that I'm not building a replica SCCA MJ... because those all ran four cylinders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 A six cylinder SCCA replica is cooler, anyway :rock on: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 A six cylinder SCCA replica is cooler, anyway :rock on: A six cylinder stroker SCCA replica would be more cooler. :yes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrawombat Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 The man speaks the truth! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 Or even without a stroker and going from 3.07s to 3.55s with a limited slip and 225/55s? I know... 4.10s would be nicer, but an axle that was just about free is nice too. :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 If this all comes together I'm definently voting on the trucks name to be....."Archer" :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted November 19, 2012 Share Posted November 19, 2012 If this all comes together I'm definently voting on the trucks name to be....."Archer" :thumbsup: Way ahead of you on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheJeepNut Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Wow, Ben I'm so jealous! You've walked on hallowed ground!!! :bowdown: and ... welll, you got the Tshirt.a cap to prove it. :thumbsup: I've read this thread through a couple of times and the ideas / questions just keep coming.... I'm trying to read my notes from various conversations and research. I'll gather my thoughts and define the questions... :papers: I'm delirious right now... Would anyone care to throw out ideas for a non-journalism major that wonders how to find out if there are biographies or documentation outside the internet for Walter Voss or the Archer team as a team? I've spent many hours doing homework and just am not finding out much.... If I can get a little time next week, I'm going to the library to see if they can help me dig up some stuff. I've got some Mopar peformance stuff. and some old documents... jiminy... I'm trying to start the Street Comache build and then THIS comes along to consume my time... :shake: way to go Ben.... :laughin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Not a whole lot of documentation to go along with anything from the past. Talking with John, the Archers have been so involved with so many different circuits of racing that they really didn't keep much paperwork. Even talking with him about the truck that kept popping up on Ebay, it really wasn't even something that he or his brothers would consider purchasing back. They had their fun with it, and John was happy to see so many people wanting to experience their own fun now. Small update since I posted about my adventure, I've spoken with Robert Hoemke (current owner of the Sterling truck) and he doesn't plan to try and sell it again. There is currently a small chapter of vintage racing that is starting to accept more modern "vintage racers". Robert hopes to bring it up to current specs and put it back on the track. As for John Archer, he sold off a few more parts but is still sitting on most of it. JeepNut, if there's anything specific you'd like to discuss please feel free to contact me. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Perrine Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Having been a sports car nut for years, I can remember watching the Comanches run at an SCCA event in Dallas. I was interested at the time because my father had just bought the Comanche I now own. I was an SCCA corner worker, and I got to work a flag station on the main straight. The big, square box design of the Comanche was an "aerodynamic limiter" to the top speed. So, as was stated before, the Comanche drivers would work together. They would come out of the turn to the main straight, and the guy behind, because he was in the wake of the guy in front had more top speed. So he would slam into the rear of the guy in front, bumping the front truck's top speed up. Once the guy in front got the nudge, he could hold the speed. I don't remember who, but someone dubbed this "crash drafting". Seemed it only worked with the Jeeps though. The Ford guys tried it and after 3 laps they knocked the rear bumper off the front truck, and it took out the oil pan on the back truck. They had to red flag that practice session to clean the oil off the track. Corner worker credentials granted me access to any part of the race track, even when i was not working. I remember looking at the trucks in the pits. Somewhere I have 35mm prints from the pits at that race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Now thats some cool memories right there^^^ Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted December 16, 2012 Author Share Posted December 16, 2012 Somewhere I have 35mm prints from the pits at that race. FIND THEM! :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neohic Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 FIND THEM! :eek: That! You need to do that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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