Street Comanche #51?

[fiatslug87]

This information is from TheJeepNut's Zoho.com site. Thanks to TheJeepNut for allowing us to use his content.

 

Well we know this one existed as late as 2004....

From a posting on the TurboBuick.com  forums:    87Natty posted: Old07-13-2004, 01:58 AM

 What's a Jeep Street Comanche?

My friend has one sitting in her garage, and it says "Al Unser Street Comanche - 51/100"....

but the last activity on the account was 2010.  I'm trying to find the poster...

Same username on the  t6p.com  forums posted 07-10-2004, 04:25 PM

My friend's dad has one sitting iin the garage, #51 out of 100. As far as I knowm it's a 5 speed, straight 6 with a Dana 44.

Neither post resulted in any helpful information...

2012Oct08

I found some links that got me to a flickr page where I left a message for the poster of the above but have not made contact.

2013Jan12

Got mail back from the poster on the Buick forum!

...I think you emailed me about this months ago and it got lost in the shuffle? I haven't seen the family in a few years, but from what I remember #51 belonged to a friend's dad, his brother either bought #50 or #52. #51 is in the Chula Vista area of San Diego, and his brother's truck was either totalled or stolen, something awful happened to it. #51, the last I saw it was running...

#51 CONFIRMED!

Thanks to the guys on the Comanche Club list that found an open ad on Craigslist for #51.Looks like the info that I originally found has been confirmed and the truck is now for sale as of March 2015 in southern California.

Lots of discussion has ensued due to the content of the ad.

First controversy of course is the year advertised for this.  It's thought that all of these trucks were based on 1987 model year base pickups.  I'm attempting to confirm with the owner what the VIN reveals and/or the body tag.

The second most controversial image is of the dash plaque.

Al Unser "Street CoMManche"

51 of 100

Really?... all other tags seen to date do not misspell the model name of the truck.  That's just cheezy....

All other tags seen also have the format  #xx of 100  including the number sign.

My thoughts about the plate are these:

IF all the plates WERE originally mounted by the Archer Brothers during modification (and I'm not sure we know that) then we could assume that they would have all been exactly the same.  But Archer COULD have made plates to dealership spec, although I can't imagine THEM letting something like the misspelling slide.

Just doesn't sound like something a team that's used to tight tolerances and quality control in everything they do would let get by them.
OR the dealership either replaced the originally mounted Archer plate or when they made their plate locally, decided they could capitalize on the Unser name and in their zeal to feed their egos and line their pockets, didn't bother to ensure the thing was correct before slapping Unser's name on the dash proudly.
OR a private owner replaced the originally mounted plate customized to their liking but failed at spelling and/or proofreading in the formative years of their life....
But I don't think the current owner replaced it.  The original post I found on the Buick form was a 3rd party person relating a story he'd heard from an acquaintance some time previous about this "Al Unser" street comanche.  THAT post was in 2004.  If the current owner was trying to fleece someone with a faked or modified plate, we wouldn't have this snippet of history that's +15 years old.  I'm thinking that the original owner bought it that way.
The REAL question in my mind is WHY after all these years, has no one has corrected it?  They're really just engraved plates, easily reproduced at any trophy shop.   The only reason I could see that the original owner WOULDN'T replace it, is that it came to him from the dealership that way and he wanted to leave it original.
Considering the use of Al Unser's name....  I don't see the Archer Brothers, Walter Voss, or Chrysler using Al Unser's name without some paperwork involved.
So what are we left with as options or motivations for this gold plated anomoly?
Option #1 - carelessness by a professional racing team.
Option #2 - greed by a car dealer
Option #3 - personal pride
I'm leaning toward it being a screwed up dealer-installed plate.  As for the Unser name.... easy to explain..
Roger Penske has or had dealerships forever all over California.... guess who used to be a star Penske driver back in the 80's?...  And Penske likely had rights to the Al Unser name as the race team owner.  Remember that line above?
... capitalize on the Unser name and in their zeal to feed their egos and line their pockets...
Always follow the money.
Perhaps all the plates were dealer installed?  Only one of the Archer Racing team folks could ever tell us for sure.
I personally couldn't tolerate the misspelling and would have it replaced with identical lettering but correctly spelled at the VERY least.
Unlike with printing money, the misspelling on THIS plate isn't going to make the MJ worth stupid cash THAT's for sure.
Only people can do that.
I'm just hoping that the seller finds a buyer who is conscientious and wants to maintain it's original look 'n feel if not totally OEM.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[89 MJ]

On 8/18/2020 at 11:19 AM, fiatslug87 said:

This ad says that this Comanche is an 88. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought all SMJs were 87. Were they spread out between 2 years or did this just have the same typo 3 times? In any case, this looks like it was a VERY nice example of a SMJ.

[Pete M]

I've only ever known them as 87s

[neohic]

6 hours ago, Pete M said:

I've only ever known them as 87s

Correct. Only ‘87s. 

[ogjeep]

That Badge isnt original either. 

[Wraybon]

I am the original owner of the #51 and yes it was an '87 I sold it to Ford dealership in '97. I loved that truck!! 

[Pete M]

1 hour ago, Wraybon said:

I am the original owner of the #51 and yes it was an '87 I sold it to Ford dealership in '97. I loved that truck!! 

Neat! 

But did it always have that weird dash badge? That's not the correct one.