Jeep Wagoneer

Start with what the Jeep Wagoneer is: a 2-door panel truck / 2-door SUV / 4-door SUV with 230 CID Jeep Tornado engine, built from 1962 to 1991, in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Brooks Stevens.

The story

The Jeep Wagoneer is a luxury 4x4 produced and marketed under the Jeep brand from the 1963 to 1991 model years. Introduced as the replacement for the Jeep Station Wagon, the Wagoneer was the first Jeep model line completely distinct from the Jeep CJ. Designed as a truck-based station wagon, the model line became a progenitor of the modern sport-utility vehicle (SUV). Designed by a team led by industrial designer Brooks Stevens, the Wagoneer shared its Jeep SJ chassis with the Jeep Gladiator full-size pickup truck (later renamed the J-Series). Alongside the five-door wagon, the Wagoneer was also marketed as a three-door wagon and a two-door panel truck (effectively giving Jeep its own van).

After 1968, the Wagoneer was sold exclusively as the five-door wagon; the three-door wagon was reintroduced as the Jeep Cherokee for 1974. Along with developing a sport-utility vehicle smaller than the Chevrolet Suburban and International Travelall, Jeep conceived the Wagoneer to balance the capabilities and features of both an off-road vehicle and a premium-brand sedan or station wagon. The higher-content Super Wagoneer was introduced for 1966, upgrading the model line with features from higher-priced sedans. From 1971 to 1991, in line with flagship station wagons, the model line featured (simulated) woodgrain paneling on the exterior body sides. Following the 1984 introduction of the Jeep XJ Cherokee (which received a wood-paneled Wagoneer trim), the SJ Wagoneer became the Grand Wagoneer for the rest of its production. Over a single generation, the SJ-series Wagoneer was produced

What is underneath

The engine is 230 CID Jeep Tornado engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 4514 lb. Drive goes through a 3-speed Borg-Warner Borg-Warner T-90#T-90J / T-90J Manual transmission / manual / 4-speed manual / 3-speed General Motors / GM Turbo-Hydramatic / THM400 Automatic transmission / au. The wheelbase is 110 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Its place in the line

In the Jeep line-up the Jeep Wagoneer has a clear place: it replaced the Willys Jeep Station Wagon; it handed the line to the Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) / Jeep Grand Wagoneer Limited (ZJ) / Jeep Cherokee (XJ) / Jeep Wagoneer Limited (XJ) / Jeep Wagoneer (WS) / Jeep Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer (WS); the factory was Toledo, Ohio (Toledo Complex#Stickney Plant. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Alfa Romeo Giulia, the Ferrari 250 GTO, the Buick Riviera. Nearby in the Jeep catalogue sit the Jeep Wrangler (JK) and the Jeep Wrangler (TJ).

Owning one today

Buying one now means $43,400–$80,400 for a typical example, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $3,515–$5,160 a year. Insurance sits around $1,790–$2,780 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.