When AMC created the substantially lighter and more efficient compact XJ, it was intended to replace both the SJ Cherokee and Wagoneer. It obviously didn’t turn out that way, with the latter, as it just refused to die. But from 1984 to 1990, both the XJ and SJ Wagoneers were sold side-by-side, with the SJ adding the “Grand” prefix to minimize the inevitable confusion.
The XJ Wagoneer never sold well in comparison to the huge success of the Cherokee. And they’re getting rare on the ground, but William Garrett shot this well-preserved example in Palo Alto, CA.
There were two XJ Wagoneers; just the plain version and the Limited, with full-on fake wood planking. The first two years (1984-1985) shared the same front end as the Cherokee, but in 1986, it got the stacked headlights, which looked a bit less than organic. But then so did the “wood”.
This looks mighty familiar, as its the same color as our 1985 Cherokee. The seats are nicer, with bolsters and leather, and the door trim is different, but otherwise the dash and steering wheel are the same.
1987 was the first year for the new 4.0 L six, which rather rocked the compact SUV market when it arrived. With 173 hp (177 in 1988, and then 190 in 1991) it blew away all of the anemic four and V6s in both the other domestic and Japanese competition. The heavier Blazer S-10 had to do with 110-115 from its 2.8 V6, as did previous Cherokees. Slugs. And the Bronco II with its 115 hp 2.8 V6 was just slightly sprightlier, but the 4.0 Cherokee and Wagoneer just walked away from them. I used to wish we’d waited two years to buy ours.
Not a fan of the woodie Wagoneer, but the Cherokee was just brilliant. I saw one next to us in traffic the other day and Stephanie and I both commented how it still looked good after all these decades. A truly timeless design.
My ode to the XJ Cherokee is here: “AMC’s Greatest Hit, Thanks To Renault”
A nice find. These are becoming rarer even in Cherokee form, at least unmodified. On the other hand there are still far more on the roads than contemporary S10 Blazers, let alone Bronco II’s. By the way, the 2.9 Ford V6 which replaced the 2.8 in the Bronco II and Ranger in 1986 had 140 hp. Still less than the new-for-1987 AMC six, but much better (with EFI) than the GM and earlier Ford 2.8 sixes.
I’ve got the last year (2001) of the “baby” Cherokee (that I’ve owned since 2014) in the same Patriot Blue. I looked at the XJ Wagoneer in early 1984 but the dealer had a screaming deal on a left over 1983 CJ7 so I bought that instead.
I still have a crush on the 4.0 version of the XJ, one that I never converted into ownership. I still occasionally wonder if finding the right one could make a good daily driver for me even at this late date.
A former neighbor had one of the later ones and I always wondered if he would ever want to sell, but he was not very friendly so I just admired from afar. My sister’s 1993 with the 5 speed would have been the one I wanted most of all.
I have a 1993 Jeep Cherokee Sport XJ. Its the 4.0 , 2WD. It has about 189k miles on it and I use it as a daily. I’m looking to sell it if you’re still looking.
…and worked several bits less than well. These were the miniature 150 × 92mm units GM swore up and down work better and glare less than larger lamps (despite the pesky laws of physics politely raising their hand and going “Nuh-uh!”).
With that kvetch out of the way: wow, this one is quite well preserved!
Not to mention the deletion of the amber rear turn signals from the regular Cherokees!
I figured everyone would just take that as read, coming from me 🤪
Back in the early 90’s. a co-worker had a Limited like this one. He had a minor collision that broke the grille and he liked to never found a replacement for it. I’m sure it’s next to impossible to find a nice replacement today. In that regard, these Jeeps truly were limited.
It’s funny how things work out. Supposedly the next Cherokee will get a Wagoneer variant again. Let’s see if it goes better this time than it did back then.
I don’t know what this says about my tastes but when I was a kid I thought the XJ Wagoneer was exotic, probably just due to its scarcity over regular Cherokees in hindsight. I don’t have any issue with the woody treatment though, to me fake wood is no better or worse than racing stripes, two tone paints, carbon fiber accents or anything else, but the Wagoneers were too uniform, they seemed to have a very limited color pallet whereas regular 80s XJ Cherokees seemed to have more personalized variety.
I took this pic a couple of years ago, but the neighborhood, directly adjacent to Stanford, has been a treasure trove of curbside classics, which to my eyes is a little odd given how expensive it it. More to come in the Cohort.
Probably the College Terrace neighborhood – the old and relatively smaller houses appear to match. Streets are named after colleges and universities, such as Wellesley, Bowdoin, Yale, Princeton, Amherst, etc.
You are correct, sir! Good eye
I greatly prefer the look of the larger headlights on the Cherokee. These small rectangular lights always looked beady eyed to me. This was especially obvious in the late 80s Chevy trucks which usually had a black trim piece around the light unit.
These were semi common in the mid 80s but I lived in an affluent area where these were the “tough” alternative to a Volvo wagon. Even so the Pioneer trim was much more common.
Nice, nice find. I bought one of the earliest XJ Wagoneers made, an ’84, made in October 1983, when the production line had only been running for about 2 months. It was full of strange engineering shortcomings. AMC definitely was still working the bugs out of the model in those early months.
Mine was a base model , analogous to a well optioned Cherokee. Ten years ago I came across a well preserved ’86 Wagoneer Limited which for some reason had the base 4 cyl engine. I lacked the $600 to buy it, a move I regret as these are fine machines.
Later I bought a 5 spd. 4 liter 1990 Cherokee, also a nice machine but I got tired of front end work required to keep the Death Wobble under control. My V6 Wagoneer never had Death Wobble, perhaps because there was much less weight on the front axle.
I own a 93 XJ Country. I just replaced everything on the front end. I had the dreaded death wobble from worn out ball joints. New front end tightened it up & back like new! I forgot how pleasurable it could be to drive? I’m second owner so never drove it new. Now I know. I will drive this Jeep till the wheels fall off it! Then fix it & drive off again! I get comments all the time? I can’t believe it because the rockers just rotted through, no clear coat but straight & runs great! Real peppy engine. It’s been a great Jeep!
They cribbed the front end from the 65 Rambler Ambassador?
I actually like the stacked quad headlights and was coming here to say I think they’re an example of this done right, along with the first-gen Chrysler minivans.
I almost never saw these Wagoneers around, even when they were new, but given the shared platform, I think Chrysler did an admirable job of creating something slightly different out of what they already had.
Here’s my 1987 Wagoneer Limited- bought new by my Mom.