Shop for a 140 with an upgraded engine. Originally certified with a 140-horsepower Lycoming O-320, supplemental type certificates boost the horsepower to 160—providing extra performance and useful load.
The confusion stems from the fact that the AOPA article refers specifically to the
1964 year model of the Cherokee 140, which
as built had lower horsepower and lower gross weight than the 1965 and all subsequent models.
A little historical perspective on the Cherokee 140 ... In the early 1960s, Piper’s only two-seat trainers, the tube-and-fabric Super Cub and Colt, didn’t offer much competition to Cessna’s modern, all-metal 150. Piper was developing a new trainer, the attractive low-wing, two-seat PA-29 Papoose, which featured a new-technology, plastic-composite construction. Before certification, however, it became painfully apparent that the plastic airframe was not ready for prime-time — or even direct sunlight — and the project was abandoned.
So to supply their dealers with a ”modern” trainer as quickly as possible, Piper in early 1964 took the full four-seat Cherokee 150, moved the aft cabin bulkhead forward, removed the rear seats, baggage compartment and baggage door, moved the tachometer redline down to 2450 rpm and repitched the prop to produce only 140 hp, and called it the “Cherokee 140”. The -140 was intended for fleet sales to flight schools, unlike the Cherokee 150, which was marketed as a family airplane for private buyers, competing head-to-head against the Cessna 172. The -140’s gross weight was also initially limited to 1950 lb, so that, like the C-150, it could be operated in the utility category at full gross weight. The 140 hp limitation made it more palatable to flight school bean counters, in comparison to the Cessna 150’s frugal 100 hp. Piper also quoted performance at an “instructional cruise” power setting of 50%. Cherokee 140 base price was $8500, only $1000 more than the smaller, lighter ‘64 Cessna 150D.
A year later, Piper re-thought the Cherokee 140’s role. In 1965 power was re-upped to 150 hp (simply by re-pitching the prop and changing the redline on the tachometer back to 2700 rpm), and gross weight increased to 2150 lb (equal to the Cherokee 150). Temporary snap-in rear-seats became an option (“2+2 Cruiser”), but those filled what had been the two-seat -140’s baggage area. Beginning with the 1969 Cherokee 140B, the options list included a molded plastic rear cabin bulkhead, which formed a tiny baggage area and hat shelf behind the snap-in seats, but there was still no exterior baggage door. The -140’s snap-in rear seats offered even less legroom than did the permanent rear bench seat of the Cherokee 150/160, which itself was not spacious.
The early Cherokee 140s can be converted to 150 hp and 2150 lb MGW, per Note 6 in the Type Certificate Data Sheet:
