Jeep Wagoneer

Jeep Wagoneer
Production period:	1963-1993
Class :	SUV
Body versions :	Station wagon
Successor:	Jeep Grand Cherokee

Jeep Grand Wagoneer (1991)

The Jeep Wagoneer was an earlier SUV that was manufactured under changing company owners from 1963 to 1991. It was known for being built without major mechanical changes for 28 years. Its OHC engine and its front independent suspension (both discontinued later), as well as various equipment details that had never existed before in a four-wheel drive vehicle (such as power steering and automatic transmission), made it revolutionary at the time. There was also a reinforced front axle. Compared to the offerings from International Harvester and Land Rover , both of which made small commercial vehicles with spartan, truck-like equipment, the Wagoneer was the first luxury 4 × 4. The first Wagoneer was built on the SJ platform. It was introduced seven years before the Range Rover .

A Wagoneer was also available as a luxury version of the 1984 Jeep Cherokee , which is on the XJ platform. As a result, the SJ-Wagoneer was renamed Grand Wagoneer .

The SJ-Wagoneer

SJ

Production period:	1963-1991
Body versions :	Station wagon
Engines:	Gasoline engines: 3.7–6.6 liters
Length:	4735 mm
Width:	1900 mm
Height:	1687 mm
Wheelbase :	2761 mm
Empty weight :	2048 kg

The beginnings

The car was designed in the early 1960s, when Jeep was still part of Kaiser-Jeep , and continued production under AMC or Chrysler . It was designed by Brooks Stevens . Development costs were approximately $ 20 million. Sometimes the name "Wagoneer" is confused with that of the Studebaker Wagonaire , a station wagon with a sliding roof, which was introduced in 1963 and also designed by Brooks Stevens.

The original Wagoneer was a large car with a separate frame, which was built on the principle of the Jeep Gladiator . The rear axle was rigid , but the front wheels were individually suspended. It was originally available with two or four doors, the two-door model was also available as a delivery van without a window behind the front doors and a split rear door instead of the usual one-piece rear door with a cranked window. In 1968 the two-door models were discontinued.

The first Wagoneer were powered by the new Willys six-cylinder Tornado engine with overhead camshaft and 3769 cm³ displacement. In 1966 this machine was replaced by the AMC-OHC six-cylinder with 3801 cm³. From 1964 to 1966 there was also a V8 from AMC with 5359 cc.

The super wagoner

1966 to 1969 appeared a special Super Wagoneer with a special AMC engine with 5369 cm³ and later with a Buick engine with 5735 cm³. The Super Wagoneer can be seen as the grandfather of today's luxury SUVs, as it was provided with many performance and comfort details, for example push-button radio, a steering column that can be tilted seven times, interior lighting on the headliner, air conditioning, electrically operated rear door, brake booster, power steering and an automatic transmission TH400 to be operated on the dashboard. In Iran, the model was built by the Jeep Company from 1967 to 1974 under the name Jeep Aho .

The AMC years

When AMC bought Kaiser-Jeep in 1970, the Jeep model range was refined and improved. From 1971 there were only AMC engines for the Wagoneer, from 1974 a two-door version as the Jeep Cherokee . In these models, the AMC engines were combined with automatic transmissions from General Motors and later from Chrysler .

In 1978 the best-equipped Wagoneer Limited was presented and met with great interest from buyers. Even the Super Wagoneer 1966–1969 wasn't that well equipped. The Limited, which was sold at the astonishingly high price of US $ 10,500 at the time, offered its buyers air conditioning, electrically adjustable seats, electrically operated windows and door locks, an adjustable steering column, cruise control, leather upholstery, plush carpets and - particularly exclusive - burl wood decorations ( Woodie ) outside. The Limited was immediately popular with those who wanted "a little more" and it sold very well from the start.

In Egypt , the Wagoneer was assembled from 1978 to 1982 by the newly founded joint venture of Arab American Vehicles and was also popular there. A version developed for the local market there was the Jeep J20 , which was particularly popular with tour operators and was often used as a desert vehicle.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the demand for Jeep vehicles (with the exception of the Wagoneer Limited) fell due to rising fuel prices, and so the six-cylinder with 4228 cc became the basic equipment, although the better-off customers continued to use the larger, more powerful V8 almost exclusively 5886 cm³ ordered, although this consumed more gasoline.

The Grand Wagoneer

Jeep Wagoneer (XJ model)

The Wagoneer and Cherokee names reappeared on the new, much smaller, self-supporting XJ models in 1984. The SJ Wagoneer was called the Grand Wagoneer and marketed as a luxury SUV, although it was technically unchanged. Despite its old age, the Grand Wagoneer remained popular. However, the management of AMC thought that a refresher would be needed if it was even light. In 1986 the dashboard, the radiator grille and the rear lights were revised and in 1987, when Chrysler took over the business, the sides of the vehicle were slightly corrected with imitation burl wood.

Chrysler, however, made almost no changes to the Grand Wagoneer and even continued to build it with the old AMC V8 instead of its own, modern V8 with gasoline injection. Chrysler only introduced a few new equipment details in the last few years of production (such as a shelf in the car roof and a rear window wiper).

The last 1560 SJ Grand Wagoneers were manufactured in the 1991 model year; In 1992 only four individual copies were built because they had already been ordered. Each of these vehicles had a “Final Edition” sign that was prominently placed on the dashboard. After 30 years of production, the age of the Grand Wagoneer finally ended.

Grand Wagoneer 1993

ZJ - Grand Wagoneer

Production period:	1993
Body versions :	Station wagon
Engines:	Otto engine : 5.2 liters (162 kW)
Length:	4488 mm
Width:	1758 mm
Height:	1650 mm
Wheelbase :	2690 mm
Empty weight :

After the Grand Wagoneer was no longer manufactured, the Chrysler management pinned its hopes on the Jeep Grand Cherokee , which was to replace both the smaller Cherokee and the larger Grand Wagoneer.

During the preparatory phase, they realized that both the Cherokee and the Grand Wagoneer were still very popular; but the cost of a major overhaul of the Grand Wagoneer would have been too high, whereas the Cherokee seemed viable with a few minor improvements. The Cherokee continued to be built until 2001, but after the Grand Wagoneer was discontinued, the company surprisingly introduced a new model after the start of the 1993 model year.

Chrysler tried to stay true to the real Grand Wagoneer and offered a Grand Wagoneer based on the new Grand Cherokee. With its 5.2-liter Chrysler V8, its imitation wood sides, its special plush seats and special soundproofing as basic equipment, the “new” Grand Wagoneer looked exactly what it was: an overly crammed Grand Cherokee. This Grand Wagoneer was smaller, had less interior space and lacked the imposing presence of the original. In addition, the wood imitations of these Grand Cherokee-based vehicles tended to peel off, and - unlike the older Wagoneers, you rarely find a 1993 Wagoneer with intact wood decor. The fans were not fooled and the 1993 Grand Wagoneer fell short of management's expectations in terms of sales. So the Grand Wagoneer finally died.

Trivia

The Wagoneer was occasionally used for rallies, mainly in the USA. Wagoneers took first and second place in the first Sno * Drift rally in 1973.
The Grand Wagoneer was one of the last cars to be sold with a carburettor engine in the US long after all other cars had been converted to gasoline injection. Only Isuzu with their simple pickup model still sold a carburettor version in 1993.
When production of the first generation Grand Wagoneer was discontinued, the model contained parts from all three of the major US car companies plus parts that Chrysler had acquired from AMC:
- Chrysler automatic transmission A727
- GM steering columns, switches and automatic transmission Turbo-Hydramatic 400 (during the 1970s)
- Ford carburetor and engine management
- AMC engines (the V8 with 5,899 cm³ displacement)
In Finland , Wagoneers were usually sold with a Valmet 411 diesel engine (4.4 liter displacement, 60 kW at 2200 rpm, 306 Nm at 1460 rpm) from the late 1970s. These vehicles typically consumed around 8.2 l / 100 km and, if the owner had a turbocharger installed, it was only 8.0 l / 100 km.