THE ORIGINAL SUV | 1963-1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer | Comfy, Cushy, Capable!
Mar 12, 2024
The thought of a do-it-all offroad rig usually falls short when it comes to combining capability and luxury with room for six. The one vehicle that did it from 1963 to 1991 is the subject of this episode of Hemmings Tested 4x4; the Jeep Grand Wagoneer.
Built during its lifetime by four different manufacturers, the Grand Cherokee stayed true to capability for its entire run with solid axles front and rear and offered uncommon luxury and passenger space. While it was originally marketed as a station wagon, the Grand Wagoneer replaced the Willys wagon and became the longest-running vehicle of its era.
So whether you are building a capable off-roader, a luxury throwback to drive to Cars & Coffee, or an overlanding adventure vehicle, the Grand Wagoneer checks all of those boxes with retro styling.
7:45
It's entertaining to find all these people, most who hadn't even been born when it was discontinued...who just luuuv them some Wagoneer.
Because many of them were/are clueless about the history of that thing. Starting with how they insist on calling it the SJ type.
I don't know if AMC or Chrysler started using that; but back in the day, Willys designated the body style the J-Series. I know this, because my old man had a 1968 - and a shop manual for it, that he needed quite a bit.
It was not, repeat NOT a luxury car (the term "SUV" hadn't been coined yet). Ours had a painted metal dashboard and rubber full-fit mats on the floor, not carpet.
It was noisy. It was rough-riding. It had no social status whatsoever. It was made by an independent maker without a fixed identity (brought to market by "Willys Motors" which a year later became "Kaiser Jeep").
It was seen as a collection of parts, not all of which seemed to work properly. The original overhead-cam six that Willys designed in-house, was a failure - mostly because of lack of resources to work out design issues. Willys, becoming Kaiser, gave up hope of running their own engine program and began buying Rambler sixes and V8s.
The AMC V8 of that time, and actually for all time...it/they were slugs. The last major change Kaiser did, was engineer in a Buick 350 V8. An unmitigated improvement (ours was so equipped) but that only lasted two years. AMC was buying the company...Henry Kaiser, of the Hoover Dam, Liberty Ships, and Kaiser-Frazer, had died in 1967 with little estate planning. All the Kaiser properties had to be sold to pay Estate Tax.
Then AMC took control, and for ten years, every change was negative. Thinner steel. AMC's sorry set of engines (the six, durable, had not yet been redesigned into the Jeep powerhouse of the future). Trying to sell more, AMC rebranded the Wagoneer as a "luxury" wagon. Jeep old-timers snorted; but somehow it worked.
It was a chaotic time, a chaotic run of a basically well-designed product that was offered by a succession of makers without clear vision for the product.