In the immortal words of Maxwell Smart, "missed it by that much." I was all over this Cherokee like stink on a monkey. But I was one e-mail too late. I'm not bummed, though. It's restored a little faith in the online purchasing experience.

 For starters, it's a '78 Cherokee Cheif. It'd have the wide-track axles, disc brake Dana 44 front, and either a decent Dana 44 or Model 20 rear. I would've rebuilt the 360, added fuel-injection, and done some neat stuff for the transmission and T-case.

I had been hovering on-line all night checking new craigslist ads every 10 minutes or so through an RSS feed. I took a break to have dinner with the kids when the Cherokee ad came up. Here's why I'm almost happy about not getting it.

For starters, the guy's price is more than fair at $500. The interior is nice, the drivetrain is mostly complete, but it's a '78 and will have smog hurdles. His selling price reflects all that. Good for him. He also got right back to me after I e-mailed him. Good for him. He didn't try to get me to out-bid the first guy who contacted him and promised to come buy it this morning. Good for him. In short, after swimming in a sea of scammers and incompetents over the past month trying to purchase a Jeep project online, it's refreshing to know not all Jeep sellers are flakes.

So to the Cherokee's seller: thanks anyway. You're an honorable man. And to the Jeep's new owner: best of luck with your new project.