Good, Bad, & What's it for
This is a well-built Grand Cherokee that was made for one reason: desert racing. That's what it does -- and does well. While you could get away with daily driving, why would you? With the massive King shocks and custom-designed suspension, this thing would be a blast in the desert.
But even with all the hard-core desert race stuff in it, the wipers still work, the power windows still roll up, and it could be driven comfortably on the street if you were so inclined.
Holey Moley racing is George's racing concern, and we understand having those stickers on it. Also, he wants to preserve its heritage by keeping the numbers that the Grand Cherokee was entered in the Baja 1000 with. That said, we still think it'd be way better to strip all the stickers off and run it as a sleeper. Paint the aluminum window panel and no one would ever look twice at a world-class desert race Jeep.
The only thing that would freak us out with something like this is buying into a killer race rig like George has. Without the trial and error of slowly learning about the vehicle, there is a much better potential for spectacular disaster through overstepping limits. That said, the limits of this Grand Cherokee are probably out beyond where we'd feel comfortable pushing it.
As much as we'd love to put our hands on a Jeep like this, the upkeep would kill us just in shocks alone. We also like that so many of the stock creature comforts are intact.
We'd swap the race BFGs off the Jeep for something more streetable, and then we'd be able to drive it well in more places. And if we weren't aiming to meet class-restricted regulations, we'd build this Jeep around a 5.9 Limited ... as long as we're pipe dreaming.
Hard Facts
Vehicle:'94 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Engine:4.6L I-6 stroker
Transmission:Stock 42RE automatic with TCS converter
Transfer Case:NP242
Suspension:Custom front four-link with panhard bar in front and three-link rear
Axles:Dana 30 with trussing, 4.88 gears, Detroit Truetrac (front);Currie Enterprises 9-inch with 35-spline shafts, HD 35-spline pinion, 4.88 gears, Detroit Locker, custom trussing (rear)
Wheels:Eagle Alloy 15x8
Tires:35x12.5-15 BFG Baja T/A
Built For:SCORE Baja 1,000 and other desert flogging
Estimated Cost:$50,000