Stunning Hemi-Powered Jeep Cherokee Is the Perfect Restomod

By Brett Foote - August 6, 2023

Vigilante 4×4 is building arguably the perfect Jeep Cherokee with all new mechanicals, a flawless restoration, and a big price tag.

These days, restomods are among the hottest custom automobiles on earth, and for good reason – who doesn’t want to drive a cool-looking classic packing modern powertrains, suspensions, and amenities? It’s quite literally the perfect combination, and as such, there are plenty of people lining up to buy a restomod of some sort – as well as lots of companies building them. One of those outfits is Vigilante 4×4, which churns out some of the finest vintage Jeep Cherokee builds we’ve ever seen – one of which was featured in this recent video from AutotopiaLA.

Vigilante 4×4 actually specializes in building a few different kinds of vintage Jeep models, including the 1974-1983 Jeep Cherokee, 1964-1991 Jeep Wagoneer, and the 1964-1983 Jeep J-truck. The concept here is quite simple, otherwise – retain the original looks of those iconic models, but fit them with modern Hemi powertrains with outputs ranging anywhere from 485-1,000 horsepower, depending on what the customer wants.

Though it also offers inline-six cylinder options, the Hemi is obviously the way to go here, and customers can choose from a trio of options – the naturally-aspirated 392 that churns out 485 horsepower, or the supercharged 6.2-liter Hellcat powerplant that makes 707 horsepower out of the box, or more with some mods. Heck, they even offer the choice of fitting an old Jeep with the Viper’s V10, which can make upwards of 825 horsepower. That power can be routed either through the Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual transmission or the Bowler 4L80E four-speed automatic.

From there, Vigilante offers multiple choices of Advance Adapters Atlas transfer cases, Dana 44 and 60 differentials, and other beefy drivetrain components. Then there’s the long travel suspension and its Fox 2.0 coilovers and Baer brakes with six-piston calipers, which help the old SUV perform like a brand new one – or even better.

From there, everything else is completely disassembled down to the last nut and bolt and restored to perfection, the body is metalized and painted while the chassis is galvanized to prevent rust, then powder-coated. As one might expect, these masterful creations aren’t exactly cheap – with a starting price of around $295,000 – but for those that want the perfect new/old SUV, we doubt they’ll find one better than this.