On a recent Saturday, the family wanted to go see a local Civil War reenactment. While walking across the grounds going to see the “battle”, I spotted this Grand Wagoneer sandwiched between two red Tauruses (Taurii?).
Something about finding this Grand Wagoneer seemed appropriate.
Only a brief century prior to the 1963 introduction of the Wagoneer, the United States was in the midst of its Civil War. Talking to several of the reenactment participants, many avoided modern items in favor of the simpler lifestyles found in the 19th Century (excluding 1861 to 1865).
This Jeep was parked in the participants area. What better vehicle in which to travel the country and live a simpler lifestyle?
The original Wagoneer was available with such options as an overhead cam V6 engine and automatic transmission, items rarely seen on a 4×4 in those days. These vehicles proved wildly popular and lucrative for Kaiser Jeep, AMC and later on, Chrysler.
The platform upon which the Wagoneer is based is the longest running Jeep platform as it was used from 1963 to 1991. In light duty vehicles, only the Dodge Ram Van lasted longer, from 1971 to 2003.
As these Jeeps lasted for years with only minimal changes, it is hard to determine the exact model year. However, one source I found stated a rear window wiper became standard for the 1989 model year. As this vehicle doesn’t have one, it would have to be a 1988 or older model. [ED: The top trim woody version was the Wagoneer Limited from 1978-82, as this one is a Grand Wagoneer, it must be a 1983-85 model; ’86’s got a new grille.]
Despite the body shell being mostly unchanged for 20 years, this was still an attractive 4×4 in the ’80s. It was as close to an American Range Rover as you could get. You’ve got to give Brooks Stevens (who also penned the beautiful 1962-64 Gran Turismo Hawk) his due; this was a timeless design. And who could forget that great scene in The Great Outdoors, when John Candy has a little bear trouble with his maroon Grand Wagoneer?
Perfect car for Texas. Since it’s over 25 years old the smog police won’t inspect it annually. They will check to ensure that you have not stripped it of the devices that strangle your engine (and perhaps your soul), however, they won’t do a tailpipe sniff.
I have a 1991 truck that I have to endure it about three more years. I wouldn’t mind shifting to one of these. Come to think of it, I’ll bet the 4.3 and 700r4 in my truck would go right in there. Hmmmm.
Oh, well. Excuse me. Time for the nap.
The early 230 cube OHC six was an inline, not a V6. I think “wildly popular” is something of an overstatement, Even in their best year (’78) production never broke 30,000, and I’d hazard it wasn’t much more than 10,000 a year when Kaiser was building them.
I dunno, when I see these grilles, i think coffin nose Matador. I’d take the earlier 70’s look or final Chrysler design over these late AMC models. But a nice vehicle nonetheless… rode nicer than any fs Bronco or Blazer. That AMC 360 was a great running engine too. Not sure if I’d pass up a Suburban for one of these… tough choice.
Yeah this was definitely the weakest grille amongst the 5 or 6 different ones the Wagoneer wore. I still think it’s perfectly OK, although to be honest – if I had one of these model years I’d probably find the time to swap over one of the later ones, which were very sharp IMO. I’m pretty sure they’re all interchangeable going back to 1963…
There is a thriving Full Size Jeep Association (ifsja.org) that adores these things–I’ve even thought of getting one, myself. When maintained well, they’re classy throwbacks. These got driven to the summer house well before Range Rovers got driven to the summer house. (People I went to college with who had these, inherited them from Dad when he got a Range Rover.)
There was one of these (same color exterior and interior) but from the end of production parked on the local Buick GMC dealers lot a few years back. It had 165,000 miles on it but was absolutely pristine from a cosmetic perspective. I was obsessed but didn’t have money to back up that obsession. I watched the asking price fall from $6500 to $4500 before it vanished.
For me the obsession centers around the fact that these vehicles were almost as if Jeep had tried to build a Rolls Royce and this is what they came up with. 😛
i’m not the patriotic type but these cars make me proud to be an american.
During the ‘Hummer’ craze a decade or so ago, I always thought Chrysler would have done much better if they had put this vehicle back into production, rather than the exceptionally lame Commander.
Or maybe the Commander was intended to be some sort of retro Wagoneer and the execution just wasn’t there. As stated, the Wagoneer always had a rugged, everyman, bargain-basement Range Rover feel to it.
The Commander, not so much.
There were any number of factors running against it. First, the engineering was obsolete – the model was launched in 1962. Second, it was heavy and fuel-thirsty, even by SUV standards.
Third, it was NIH…the original Wagoneer was designed by Willys, three auto-companies back. The principals were long gone. Auto design is an ego thing, as many art-based industries are; on a big project like this, others would want to leave their mark.
It would need excessive revamping to meet expected fuel economy demands; it would share no parts with modern cars. It would even need reworking to use engines currently available. And, at the end of that, there would be immediate demand from us old farts who remember the original…and then little if any. New buyers with no memories of it would be unimpressed.
That’s almost identical to my old Waggy. I was lucky enough to have had the Porno Red interior.
Even with all its faults (rotted frame, lifter tap, heavy body rust) it was a great truck. I originally bought it as a parts rig for my 83 Cherokee and wound up plating it and driving it for almost a year while I replaced the Cherokee’s floors.
If you’ve never driven one, you need to. The turning radius is unbelievably tight, the ride is superb, it handles reasonably well and for a heavy beast it can scoot. The best part is that, other than height, its overall dimensions are close to those of a Panther Wagon.
I like this maroon color (seems like most GWs were the dark blue, another nice choice – or white) – but I looooove<3<3<3 the brighter red one like what Skyler drives on Breaking Bad, a show that frequently uses color as a symbolic element… and also featured a 4WD Tercel and Pontiac Aztek.
That show has some of the best use of vehicles of any series I’ve seen, I almost shed a tear for the Aztek when it met it’s demise last season, it was as much a part of the show as Walter White or Jesse. The episode where they destroy the motorhome also kind got me.
I’ve always hated the Aztek, but what a fantastic choice for Walter White’s car. It’s as ridiculous as the notion of a mild-mannered chemistry teacher becoming a ruthless drug dealer. Which is what makes it work. (And I’ve enjoyed seeing the wife’s SJ too.)
I love the sequence in this video where they show us a Jetta, a Caprice and then a GMC pickup… very clever!!
Not to mention the old Subaru, the beat up 70’s Corvette and as a bonus there is a Colonade Malibu sedan in the parking lot.
This sequence with Mikes old Chrysler 5th Avenue is one of my favorites too.
Just the vehicle to slide on down to the Blue Ox for an Old 96er.
Another way to narrow down the year is by the steering wheel. This style (which I love) is early..83-85-ish. After that, it became more of a GM-style of the times.
Wow.
Make mine a 1966 Jeep Super Wagoneer please!
YES!!
If the Waggy/Grand Wag could have had a Military Rank it’d have to be Colonel.
Ahh how memories fade. I remember a 74 Waggoneer in our family that, after only 4 years, absolutely refused to run, and so it was dumped. Horrid build quality on these things, very unreliable. But, they were and are beautiful cars.
There’s at least 1 company out there that does rotisserie style restorations of these cars and makes them better than new.
http://Www.wagonmaster.com. For only $45 grand, you too can relive the dream… Actually, I remember another c ompany that literally makes them perfect, but charges even more.
These were really solid, well-built machines. My best friend had a 1970s model that I helped him to work on a few times. You had to keep the whale oil supplement fresh in the center differential (full-time 4×4) or it would bind up and cause loud popping noises during sharp turns.
My favorite models were the 1980s ones fully loaded, and I remember the showroom stickers on these things being $28-30K. They were ahead of the SUV craze by at least a decade.
My favorite movie memory of one of these is in What About Bob, when they are at the doctor’s vacation house up north of the city.
These were the first “luxury” suv’s, I recall an article that stated that Jeep Grand Wagoneer owners had the highest average household income of any domestic manufacturer, topping even Cadillac and Lincoln.
The Grand Wagoneer always struck me as America’s answer to the Range Rover.
There’s an outfit out there whose website I’m too lazy to look up right now (ETA: ok, it’s http://www.grandwagoneer.com/) that completely, meticulously refurbishes these beasts, and the results are beautiful, if not ridiculously expensive.
These were assembled & sold as the Cherokee in Australia in 2 or 4 door form, without the wood trim, from 1981-86. My uncle had a 1983 model that they took around Australia, across the Simpson Desert, up to Cape York etc. To get an idea of how hard core use this was, at one point in the Kimberleys in northern WA he noticed the roof was moving, there was a half-inch gap between the windshield & pillar! When he got to the next decent town he contacted Jeep and they said “half an inch is acceptable, but we recommend you remove some load from the roof” – the roof pillars are designed to move rather than flex/bend/crack. He got 14mpg (US) on the highway and 10mpg with their 30′ caravan. Bad enough mileage that they did a 6000mi trip in their runabout Suzuki 800 hatch at 50mpg rather than use the Jeep!
He now owns one of the last of the line type, and despite it being even less practical now for their use, does not want to get rid of it.
I remember riding in the earlier Jeep when visiting them – one quirk was the auto trans shifter was still on the left-hand side of the tunnel. It was easier to get the centre passenger to operate it.
Yes, I was about to say these were assembled down here but you beat me to it :). I live on the Gold Coast and they were fairly popular around here (along with the Renegade). I think they were the only American Cars that you could by new in Australia at the time. I quite like them. The last one I remember seeing in the flesh was one owned by a fellow I knew who used to use it to tow his wife’s drag car.
Yes and Ford supplying some parts for the Jeep (CJ5?) was the reason they built the 4×4 Falcon ute in 1972.
For someone criticised as the evangelist for planned obsolescence, one only has to look at Brooks Stevens’ masterful and timeless designs to realise that planned obsolescence doesn’t mean making intentionally poor products. If only the US car industry had got that fact *before* they jumped wholesale into cost (and quality) cutting. Until recently, Mercedes-Benz autos were good examples of timeless design too. Land Rover, of course, is the king (if you can manage to ignore the Evoque).
When my brother was living in Alaska I helped him buy one of these – 1975 or 1976 iirc. I went around to dealers in Tacoma and South King county and got three or four bids for him. He bought from a dealer that had been doing a lot of Alaska business. His wagon was similar to the one shown here, but tan with brown leather seats. Next time I saw the car after he’d moved back to Washington his three Australian Shepherds had pretty much laid waste to the interior, but in general it was a good rig for him.
I’ve loved these since I first became aware of them as a kid in the early 80s. The kids whose parents who owned them were the ones you had to be nice to so they’d get you into the country club so you could use the pool during summer break.
This is one of a handful of vehicles I keep an eye out for to pick up used and restore, but most of the examples I’ve found are either hopelessly beyond reasonable repair (usually rusted to bits) or being sold at a premium that would make Barrett Jackson blush, and often both rusted and overpriced.
That’s the difference in eras. My old man had one in the late 1960s…and in those days you didn’t see any at the country club. Unless the maintenance crew used one to plow snow with.
In MY era, it was a WORK truck. Our 1968 had painted metal all over the interior; only the dash had a thin veneer of padding. Rubber floor mats. My mother was embarrassed to be seen in it.
Times change, surely. Same car; half a generation apart; and two wildly different readings on its status.
Perusing the great digital library in search of replacement seals for our wonderful Wagoneer we lovingly call “The Beast”, your blog popped up with photos of a familiar looking labor of love… our 1985 GW. Yes indeed we were there as participants in the event ( though from the shots we arent able to ascertain which event we were attending) and for the very reasons you describe- there is no better way to travel across the country than in this wonderful machine of nostalgic simplicity. The shag interior carpet alone triggers flashbacks.
P.S.
When we purchased this beauty from it’s one time owner previous to ourselves, the deal included a 1968 airstream 🙂 Thanks again for writing of your appreciation for this classic we hold so dear.
Sincerely,
S & K Johansen