The Jeep Grand Wagoneer was a mainstay of the SUV universe for decades. Built off of the basic but tough J-series truck chassis, they command incredible money on the market today and in so many ways were the machines that really served as the harbinger of what the SUV market would look like today. When the gas guzzling, lumbering Grand Wagoneer got cancelled, people kind of lost their minds. In order to fill the void Jeep quickly came up with a solution. Simply take a ZJ based Grand Cherokee and outfit it with a V8 engine, all the luxury options, woodgrain, and call it a Grand Wagoneer. It may have been too true to the original, but it got the job done and filled the void.
With the announcement of the new Wagoneer brand from the company formerly known as Jeep, FCA, Chrysler, etc, we think it is fun to look back and see how that name has been used in the past. Ironically, the new Wagoneer has more in common with the OG version than with the one below because it will be built off of the Ram chassis with many adjustments like four wheel independent suspension and other cool stuff.
People love to take the ZJ series Jeeps and make them into gnarly off-roaders. They are capable and they are definitely tough. If you did that with a factory Grand Wagoneer you’d have a wheeling machine with the grunt of a fuel injected 318, the plush softness of your grandmother’s couch, and the exterior paneling of your 1980s childhood.
What’s better than that?!
