Junkyard Find: 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport Freedom Edition

I'm always happy to find obscure special-edition vehicles during my junkyard travels, the rarer the better. Today, our Junkyard Find is one of just 2,821 Freedom Edition XJ Cherokees sold for the 2000-2001 model years, now residing in a car graveyard near the Tesla factory.

This truck isn't as rare as, say, a Datsun 280ZX Black Red Edition, an Olds Cutlass Calais Wyoming Centennial Edition, or a VW Golf Etienne Agnier Edition.

It appears that American Jeep shoppers during the XJ's final two years could get another seldom-ordered special-edition package in addition to the Freedom: the 60th Anniversary.

The XJ Cherokee was designed by François Castaing and his crew of French engineers after they were shipped over by Renault as part of the French government's bailout of "just small enough to fail, in the view of the U.S. government" American Motors. It debuted as a 1984 model.

It was a runaway sales success and supercharged the process of turning Americans into a nation of SUV drivers. XJ production continued even after its successor, the much grander Grand Cherokee, hit showrooms. The final XJ Cherokees were 2001 models.

DaimlerChrysler needed to clear out the remaining XJ inventory, so the Freedom Edition was created to help with that goal. It was based on the Sport trim level.

It included 16-inch alloy wheels (missing from this truck), black-painted bumpers and fender flares (faded to gray on this truck), bright grille and headlight bezels (missing from this truck), bodyside molding delete and a combination CD/cassette radio (missing from this truck).

Four colors were available on the Freedom Edition: Silverstone Metallic, Flame Red, Stone White and Solar Yellow. The TONKA badge is aftermarket but looks correct on a Solar Yellow Jeep.

After the 9/11 attacks and the Global War on Terror that followed, DaimlerChrysler went for patriotic- and military-sounding names for many of its U.S.-market vehicles badged by Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler. Liberty! Patriot! Crossfire! Nitro! Magnum! Avenger! The Cherokee Freedom Edition mined that vein before it was cool.

The final owner of this car appears to have put in some work on the cause of American freedom, if we are to go by the stickers on the hatch glass. That's a sticker representing the "Jump Wings" parachutist badge above a sticker representing the Basic Explosive Ordnance Disposal badge.

There's also a sticker representing the 82nd Airborne Division patch.

The engine is the 4.0-liter AMC straight-six, rated at 193 horsepower and 231 lb-ft of torque.

Amazingly, the 2.5-liter AMC straight-four engine was still available in the XJ for the 2000 model year, helping to confuse parts-counter employees who tended to think they were dealing with a GM Iron Duke or Chevy 153 Nova engine.