Jelp needed: Cherokee XJ rare interior

Hello everyone,

My name name is Alin and I`m from Romania. Last summer I`ve bought a white 1991 Jeep Cherokee XJ from Austria that proved to be a bucket full of rust (although I paid a premium for it because it was advertised as a rust-free survivor with 130.000 km, but that’s another discussion). It`s a white 2 door version with the Renault diesel engine that was initially sold as a two-seat commercial vehicle for taxation reasons.



Anyway, under the seat covers I discovered that the rear seat is not matching my burgundy (Cordovan) front seats (it`s actually a cloth/vinyl grey bench from a Laredo), and because I`m completed restoring the car (the rust issue was already fixed), I`m looking for a matching rear seat. The problem is that I couldn’t find anywhere a Cherokee with a similar interior, not even e single picture on the internet. I`m searching for months now, but I simply don’t want to change the full interior with a more common one just to match the seats with the bench.





So I`m asking for your help: have you ever come across to a similar looking upholstery? I`ve seen the same pattern in grey, but never the burgundy one. Please reply if you know anything that could help. Thank you!

Couldn`t insert pictures in this thread, so I`ll try links:

https://ibb.co/bKqgtZt
https://ibb.co/rwjnDXF
https://ibb.co/nRhDPBG

I saw one being parted out with burgundy interior near Kansas city not long ago, so they are still out there here in the states. Can't imagine what shipping would be though.

Could a local upholsterer obtain the materials and recover the seat you have?

It`s impossible to find the same fabric to make a custom rear seat for this interior.

Also, there are three or four types of burgundy fabrics and seat pattern (the way the fabric and the vinyl are stiched together). I know all the other tipes, I can easily find a replacement for the whole interior, but I really want to keep those front seats and find a matching rear seat.

The real problem with shipping from the US is finding someone who's prepared to do it rather than the cost - although it won't be cheap, but Dorsetjeep used to send interiors back to the US, so it can't be prohibitive.

Here is a question for you. Is it right or left hand drive? They should interchange by bolting in, but every right hand drive I've seen has head rests in the rear seat, lhd does not.

All that really needs to be shipped is the seat cover (or covers--bottom and back).

What the OP probably needs is for someone to get lucky and come across the right interior in a junkyard, pull the covers off the two parts of the back seat and ship them to him. Probably also needs the levers for the release as those are color matched to the interior. It is a bit more work involved on each end, but probably worth it in comparison to the packing and shipping cost for an entire bench seat.

Great idea about shipping just the covers. I have friends in the US that can help me with the shipping (NY, MI), so all I need is to find a similar looking rear seat.

The Universe is always listening!

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...&key=SURkcFljeHR6MkNwdlIwaUFDVDlYMGs5XzhWdEt3

Unclewolverine said:

Here is a question for you. Is it right or left hand drive? They should interchange by bolting in, but every right hand drive I've seen has head rests in the rear seat, lhd does not.

Click to expand...

I thought about headrests almost as I hit "submit" because US spec. XJ's don't have them whereas everyone else does, regardless of whether they are RHD or LHD because it seems all export models, are EU compliant. However, that may not be a problem, given the age of this particular model, depending on relevant Romanian regs.

Shame OP's American contacts aren't in Kansas City.

It's sold already, I checked. I just remembered it because I'd never seen an xj with red interior before.

One of my friends had an 86 xj with Chevy v sick engine it had the red interior same as the picture it was a 4door model it was the pioneer edition according to the emblem on the front fender.

Aparently, there are several types of interior fabrics in this Burgundy color. There is one with checked pattern used between 1985 to 1988, the there are some pretty common in the 1990 - 1993 Cherokee. But non looks like mine.

I`ve searched on car-part.com, there are hundreds of Cherokees there from junkyards, didn't find one that looks the same as mine. But I`ve seen several Base or Sport versions with the same pattern of the fabric and design of the seat, but in Tan or Grey. So I have the only 1991 Cherokee Base with Burgundy interior in the whole world?!

So I have the only 1991 Cherokee Base with Burgundy interior in the whole world?!

Left. The only 1991 with burgundy interior left. It was probably never a very popular option and it's rare I even see anything older than a 94 for sale. But I also live in the rust belt where it's unusual to find even an 01 that's not completely eaten away

Or rebuilt. Because it had a hole in the trunk bigger than my head.

The car lived its first 30 years in the alpine region of Austria, so it eat salt on a regular basis.

Masinistul said:

Aparently, there are several types of interior fabrics in this Burgundy color. There is one with checked pattern used between 1985 to 1988, the there are some pretty common in the 1990 - 1993 Cherokee. But non looks like mine.

I`ve searched on car-part.com, there are hundreds of Cherokees there from junkyards, didn't find one that looks the same as mine. But I`ve seen several Base or Sport versions with the same pattern of the fabric and design of the seat, but in Tan or Grey. So I have the only 1991 Cherokee Base with Burgundy interior in the whole world?!

Click to expand...

Hm. I wonder if the grey version could be dyed to get it close to your interior's color. It may not come out a perfect match.

Could be something to experiment with on the grey seat you have - if it doesn't work, you can always get a nice seat cover to put over it like the previous owner had.

I think this might well be a job for "Red Mistress" - he's in Texas here in the U.S., but he seems to be a d Master of finding N.O.S. and rare OEM parts", stuff most of the rest of us either never saw before or thought long-since lost to time. He might have some ideas on where to look/how to replicate...

Dying wouldn`t work because usually the fabric is made from already colored thread. That`s why there are some back and white accents in the fabric that give it a nice wooly touch. Dying would make it look all red/brown plain color.

Now I`m starting to consider searching for a similar looking fabric, seems more plausible than finding a matching rear seat...

I know this is a long shot, but there's a seller on ebay, autochampoftexas that sells OEM-looking seat covers. It looks like they're making these themselves, so they must have access to some OEM-spec fabrics.

Here's a listing for the passenger seat bottom cover for mine so you can click over to the vendor. (They're very proud of them, but, TBF, the OEM seat covers are pretty complex to build I suspect):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185196229159

Maybe reach out to them and see what sort of resources they have?

I Can keep an eye out in the yards in California when I make it out to the yards. What you have is specific to the HO (91-93) I believe and I agree not a color that I have come across too often in my jy hunting. I have seen the earlier 88-90 plaid styling much more often and that is what I have in my 88.