Introduced for the 1963 model year, the Jeep Wagoneer was offered as the “world’s most sensible family car.” In what might be close to a record, the Wagoneer name survived through four successive auto companies (Willys, Kaiser, AMC and finally Chrysler) over a 28-year run (30, if you include the one-year-only 1993 Grand Wagoneer ZJ based on the Cherokee platform). Virtually no changes to the basic sheet metal were made over that period (ZJ excepted), but the grills, trim bits and overall “value proposition” certainly did change; always moving upscale.
While under AMC stewardship, and concurrent with the introduction of the Cherokee, the vehicle picked up the “Grand” prefix. While the significant portion of Grand Wagoneers wore dinoc woodgrain sides, one could still order a plain-sided model from the factory, should they find the faux paneling a bit pretentious.
The Grand Wagoneer, despite its constant upward climb toward Ultimate Luxury, never actually wore the Brougham moniker. For three years starting in 1981, however, you could indeed order a Wagoneer Brougham with added trim and convenience items above those of the Wagoneer Custom.
1986 brought quite a few changes, including a new instrument panel bedecked with woodgrain overlays. I was just able to make out the text of the white label above the speedometer, and found it quite fitting for this vehicle:
Jer[emiah] 6:16 – Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.
Ask for the old paths, indeed!
The presence of a rear window wiper and tailgate cap peg this as a 1989-91 model. 1991 models could be ordered with an optional “Final Edition” badge on the dash (which this car does not have). Only 1,560 Grand Wagoneers were produced the last year, so they’re fairly rare at this point.
“Styled for beauty, built for duty!” was the rallying cry from the ad men. The Grand Wagoneer remained an incredibly capable 4wd vehicle throughout its production run (and indeed, our subject car had an orderly “bad weather kit,” including tow strap, in the back), and yet somehow managed to adopt many of the defining characteristics we associate with Broughaminess here at CC. For the man who could get past the cognitive dissonance and who wanted to dabble in both worlds – function and form – the best option, the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, came out of Toledo.
The car (Heinserberg) Walter white’s wife drove! 😛
You can still count me as a fan. I’m sorry that I never got the chance to buy one of these, however rusty Indiana may not be its best habitat. We did a full writeup on one of these here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1989-jeep-grand-wagoneer-dorian-gray-goes-to-horse-country/
Ed & JP: excellent pieces on an iconic vehicle. The allusion to Wilde was particularly well-played.
My recollection of the 1980s involves these sharing garage space with either a W123 or W126 Benz, as they invariably seemed to do. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind either or both in my present driveway. Make mine a W123 wagon, please!
I once rode from Sarasota, Florida to Atlanta in a GW as a boy. Though hardly unusual in that era, I recall being pretty smitten with the acres of faux wood, deep cut pile carpeting, and that Jensen audio system, IIRC?
I don’t see these around SRQ much these days, but used to see them outside of Gainesville here and there when I lived there a few years ago. I would love to snatch one up if I ever came across a rust free example for a fair price.
I owned one for a few years in the ’90s. I still miss it.
One was mentioned on the Golden Girls last night, 80s episode. Something about a cat being found under a Jeep Wagoneer. 🙂
Philhawk mentioned Bill Harrah’s Jerrari in the Dorian Gray article. As soon as the Cayenne was launched, I immediately thought of it.
My attitude to the Jeep has changed; would still prefer an early 2 door Range Rover but a Wagoneer from any year would be interesting.
I love these. The woodgrain is an eyesore, and whitewalls on ANY 4×4 are a crime against humanity. But this is just a classier cousin to the Cherokee Chiefs and J-series trucks that I love! Unlike the luxo soccer mom SUVs of the past 20 years or so, these things are all beef underneath. When I see on of these, my mind instantly starts painting it flat black, lifts it 8 inches, adds 15 x 10 slot mags, chops off the rear roof SUT style, adds nasty bumpers and works up that 360 into a 400 hp + monster breathing thru straight sidepipes!
If you’re going to insist on calling it a brougham, then I’ve owned a brougham. I’ve owned three Jeeps in my lifetime: Two 2000 Cherokees, and a 1990 Grand Wagoneer (given to me by my in-laws). I absolutely loved that car, helped by its determination to drag me home from Philadelphia to Ashland, VA with a dead alternator. In a screaming rainstorm, where I was running with no lights and one swipe of the wipers every three miles down I-95 to try and preserve the battery.
It made it, with the clock dead, and the battery flat, up onto the driveway of the Ashland Chrysler/Jeep dealer only to finally die 40 feet from the entrance to their service department.
And yeah, we weren’t talking yuppie mommie car. My late wife was a real estate agent until 2006 (when her health went), and those Jeeps came home mud caked from new home sites on a daily basis. She probably logged more off-road time than most rednecks. The Cherokees were for ordinary customers. If Patti felt she needed to impress a potential customer, the Grand Wagoneer came out.
Cars like that you love. Unfortunately, it had spent 14 years in Bangor, ME and I was on a constant race with rust. I kept it for two years, at which point the rust go too far ahead of me.
And this is a close to a brougham as I will EVER get.
In high school, my best friend’s father was an exec at AMC, and in (1983/1984?) one of these (burgundy, replete with Di-noc siding, in Limited trim, no less) replaced the beige/woodgrain Eagle wagon as his company car. Mr. Tepper drove a boring, old white Spirit coupe, as a commuter, so the Wagoneer really belonged to Mrs. Tepper.
At that time, in heartland suburbia, this was really what a Cadillac wanted to be/should have been: luxurious leather interior, solidly well put together (they’d been building them for 25yrs – all the bugs worked out), had enormous presence (compare this to a contemporary front wheel drive Fleetwood), and easily priced appropriately. Within 6mos, Mr. Tepper Had been Laid off (AMC in it's death throes), and 6mos after that the Wagoneer was gone… replaced by a very used early 70s LTD sedan, red with white vinyl top.
Mrs. Tepper was not pleased… at all.
Although I never rode in it, I was well aware of all the luxury features, especially the fantastic stereo w/tape deck (envy!, in the early 80s).
Mr. Tepper got a job at Oldsmobile (pattern here?), and later went to work for BMW. He now has a very hot '57 Chevy for a toy… or so I’ve been told.
But I stand by my assertion (and Skye’s) – to impress, in it's day, this really was a Cadillac in sheep's clothing.
> solidly well put together (they’d been building them for 25yrs – all the bugs worked out)
I beg to differ. These were terrible rusters right to the end. Lots of exposed seams on the body that were just covered with sealer and paint when new. Once that cracked and road salt and moisture got in, it was all over.
Also the wiring had issues, mostly for the sake of saving a few cents per vehicle on the cost of copper. Some harnesses were so short that they were under tension, which led to the insulation cracking and broken wires.
That always seems to be a problem when old body engineering outlives the rest of its generation. When these came out in 1963, it was certainly no worse than the stuff built by a lot of other companies. But there had been a lot of lessons learned in rust resistance by the 80s that this Jeep could not take advantage of without a thorough re-engineering of the body. The same goes for the Dodge B series van that rusted in 2000 pretty much like it did in 1971.
Ahhh… the Grand Wagoneer… truly grand.
I’ve always wanted one of these ever since I was a little kid. They were always the rich family’s car in late-80s and early-90s movies. Just such a timeless design, that truly looked good with the wood siding.
You can also count me as a fan of the 1993 ZJ Grand Wagoneer. Although nowhere near as iconic, it was still all the luxurious and capable, wrapped in the Grand Cherokee’s great sheetmetal.
Am I seeing chrome strips applied as a hiding mechanism, or gray/silver paint over bodywork? Either way, it looks like they took the easy approach when dealing with its rust issues.
Or easier, I should say – the truly easy (lazy) way would have been to ignore it!
I would say this was a sign of things to come. Some of the Broughamtastic elements have gone by the wayside (hood ornament) but I think the sort of people who would buy the Brougham versions of cars back in the day now buy SUVs of one sort or another.
I’ve owned two Eddie Bauer edition Ford Explorers now (a 93 and a 2002) and I’d say they had some of the old Brougham spirit in them. A designer edition with special color scheme, electric everything, all the bells and whistles (for their time), fancier interiors and you could pull a pop-up camper or a fishing boat with them. That, and seeing that most of their owners were probably soccer moms and old people that had no real use for 4×4 or any real towing capability and you have the evolution of the Brougham.
Also, go look in the ghetto sometimes and see what sort of rides get pimped out these days. Escalades and Navigators usually…
Given AMC’s remarkable ability to freshen almost any platform, I was surprised they didn’t try to bring these more into the 80s stylistically. While maintaining key styling cues that took advantage of their long heritage. I think if AMC had downplayed styling elements that made these look dated, they could’ve sold better, later in their careers. Perhaps justifying their existence to Chrysler.
I’ve done a very quick Photoshop mockup of how I think this baby could have been brought in the future. While still paying homage to it’s heritage. I apologize for the roughness of the photo editing. First off, I would suggest removing all the chrome, except in small details, like the door handles. And going body color, on all the window frames. I would also simplify the wood paneling detail. Most importantly, I would have tidied up the rear quarter panel, making it look more modern looking. And less early 60s like. These would have been cheap tweaks.
Overall, I would have aimed to create a big, brawny brother family resemblance for the Cherokee. I think this fresh version would have sold well in the 90s, if they could have managed to hold on that long…
As a previous owner (“downgraded” to a Suburban), I often dream of using real wood trims on the GW, definitely not as practical but better looking.
I fully agree. It would have made these highly desirable to own.
Closer to as intended above… A bit more polish on the bumpers.
There’s no such thing as a cheap tweak when you haven’t got two nickels to rub together.
Haha, that’s hilarious, and entirely true!
Daniel, really appreciate the Photoshop stuff.
I think the appeal of the 1963+ bodyshape was the canted leading and rear edge in side view, giving the Jeep a dynamic profile. Lose that aspect and this is just another LaForza.
Thanks very much Don. Glad you enjoyed. Oh I know, I really did a hatchet job on the front and rear. I didn’t want to spend too much time. I felt it was important to simplify some of the lines and I was very fast and harsh with the front and rear. I also wanted to apply better integrated bumpers.
It was the chrome window frames, that I needed to update more than anything!
If one needed precedence for the case of retaining the basic Grand Wagoneer with only minor updates to keep abreast of current styling trends, one need only gaze upon the Jeep Wrangler. That’s really all that’s been done to that vehicle for, what, half a century, and sales are still quite solid. While everything else has been changed/updated, it’s still the same basic vehicle, up to and including such anachronistic touches as a fold-down windshield (has anyone ever actually done that on a new Wrangler?).
Truth is, Jeep fans are a die hard sort. If they ever pussified the Wrangler TOO much, the whole market would revolt. The Wranglers very success is that it has only made the modern concessions where it absolutely HAS to. But then, that’s also why its probably the most all around capable vehicle you can buy in America.
I never owned one, much to my sorrow, but really liked the style from start to finish. If that statement doesn’t date me, nothing will!
Surprisingly, Chrysler continued to use the American Motors 360 (with 2 barrel carburetor) in the Grand Wagoneer all the way into 1991. I know in 1989 The Mopar 318 and 360 V8s used in Dodge Ram trucks and vans had fuel injection. They could have used those engines instead of the AMC 360 since they put out more power. 170-190 vs 144 hp.
I wonder if that was because of recertification costs?
It wouldn’t surprise me if right to the end they were using up 360s that had been sitting on palettes since the Matador went out of production.
Funny….my dad has had that same theory. I think the Waggy bodyshells and running gear were sitting around in such numbers that it was cheaper to build/sell them than NOT to.
That’s very interesting regarding the AMC-sourced 360.
Not only were they still using the AMC 360, mated to a Chrysler Torqueflite 727 automatic, but the carburetor and emissions controls on the 360 were all sourced from Ford!
My friend with the GW looked into swapping in a Chrysler 360 when his AMC 360 was beat, but decided it would be too much work. The AMC 360 has a different bellhousing shape and bolt pattern, so an adapter and/or custom machining of the transmission case would have been required.
There is/was a company that made bolt-on TBI units specifically for the GW. It was basically a General Motors TBI unit with the required adapters (intake manifold, throttle linkage, etc) and the ECU pre-programmed to the ideal operating parameters for the GW engine. My friend had one of these installed when he had the engine overhauled.
No mention of the 1966 Jeep Super Wagoneer here, the first luxury SUV probably ever.
You are right, this would be a fascinating topic for a full CC. Now, someone just has to find one.
Not a fan. All I see is a body that lived about 10 years longer than it ever had a right to tied to a 70’s gas hog of an AMC boat anchor of an engine putting out a mere 144 HP that was trumped even by a lowly 305 during the 70’s with a Quadrajet making up to 160 horses. The electrical system was tricky and the bodies quickly disintegrated in the rust belt so I rarely ever saw one years ago let alone today. Why Chrysler didn’t swap out to there much more powerful and efficient 318 is anybody’s guess.
The SJs were (and are, in some places) old-money vehicles, much like the W123 300TD wagon…I still see these being driven now and then, well-maintained, with the stickers of exclusive prep schools and colleges on the tailgate windows. This is a truck you drive to the weekend or summer place, especially in New England.
There is company I found online once that specializes in restoring and reselling these. It would be one of those if I hit the lottery dreams to buy one. I always thought they had a presence.