The Jeep Wagoneer is a luxury 4×4 produced and marketed under the Jeep brand, which was owned by successive automakers from 1962 to 1991. Described when it was introduced as a station wagon body style, the innovative concept by industrial designer Brooks Stevens over time pioneered the luxury "sport utility vehicle" (SUV).
Initially briefly available with the choice of rigid or independent front suspension, and optional rear-wheel drive only, the 4WDWagoneer stayed in production for 29 model years (1963–1991) with an almost unchanged body structure, making it the third longest-produced single generation car in U.S. automotive history.
The Jeep Wagoneer evolved to create the luxury 4×4 market segment starting with the 1966 Super Wagoneer model.
The Wagoneer made its debut seven years before Land Rover launched its Range Rover in Great Britain, 18 years before Land Rover introduced a four-door version, and 24 years before that marque appeared in the US.
Kaiser years
With competition from the "big three" automakers advancing on Jeep's four-wheel-drive market, Willys management decided that a new and more advanced vehicle was needed. Conceived in the early 1960s while Willys-Overland Motors was owned by Kaiser Jeep Corporation, the Wagoneer replaced the original Willys Jeep Station Wagon, originally introduced in July 1946 and in production until the 1964 model year.
It was introduced in November 1962 for the 1963 model year as a successor to the Willys Jeep Station Wagon that had been built since 1946. Although sharing a pickup truck chassis (like its predecessor), the Wagoneer had a sophisticated station wagon body design, that was more carlike than any other 4×4 on the market. Compared with offerings from GM, Ford, International Harvester, Toyota, Nissan and Land Rover—which were producing utilitarian work-oriented vehicles with spartan truck-like interiors—the Wagoneer's luxury set it apart. Together with the Gladiator, the revolutionary Wagoneer SJ platform included an advanced overhead cam straight-six engine, and offered features unheard of at the time in any other mainstream 4WD vehicle, such as independent front suspension, power steering, automatic transmission, a factory radio, and optional air conditioning.
Like its long-lived predecessor, the new 1963 Wagoneer took shape under industrial designer Brooks Stevens, while Willys' engineering staff handled the technical development. To appeal to mainstream consumers, the Wagoneer received a relatively low stance and car-like manners. The lower entry height was accomplished with a transfer case and a compact running gear design. Suspension tuning gave it a good ride, but because it was developed as a truck, it could haul and tow as needed. Development took three years and cost around US$20 million ($ in dollars).
At its introduction, the Jeep Wagoneer had no direct competition. For comparison, it took another eight years for Land Rover's Range Rover to start in only a two-door body style. It took until 1981 for the four-door 4×4 to be developed and Range Rover sales in the U.S. began in 1987.
1963–1964
The original Wagoneer is a full-size body-on-frame vehicle that shared its architecture with the Gladiator pickup truck. At first, it offered many body types, suspension, and drivetrain options. Available as both two- or four-door wagons, the two-door could be had as a "Panel Delivery" model with windowless sides behind the doors and double "barn doors" in the rear instead of the usual tailgate and roll-down rear window.
Early Wagoneers were powered by Willys' new "Tornado" SOHC six-cylinder engine, which had debuted in 1962 as an option for Jeep's previous Station Wagons. The engine developed and was noted for being fuel-efficient for its day. Both a 3-speed manual and automatic transmission were offered, each available with either 2WD rear-wheel-drive, or part-time four-wheel-drive without a center differential, but with manually locking front hubs. The Warn hubs were utilized to engage or disengage the front wheels, to switch the drivetrain between two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive mode.
Like on the original Willys Wagon, independent front suspension instead of a rigid front axle was again offered to give the Wagoneer a more car-like ride and handling. The original Wagoneer featured independent front suspension (IFS) as standard on the rear-wheel drive models and was optional on the four-wheel drive, for either $135 or $160.