Jeep Wagoneer Performance Portfolio 1963-1991

Jeep announced the Wagoneer as a 1963 model and to replace the elderly Station Wagons which had been its line-up since 1946. Yet the Wagoneer was in many ways a very different model, with styling more akin to a conventional car-based estate, and with road performance which was quite different to that of its utilitarian fore-runner. The Wagoneer line remained in production until 1991, although by that stage it had been partially side-lined in the Jeep range. Seen in its latter years as an elderly owner's 4x4, it had been laden with extra convenience equipment and, after the introduction of a Wagoneer version of the downsized Cherokee in 1984, it became known as a Grand Wagoneer. Meanwhile, an inspired piece of marketing after AMC bought the Jeep marque in the early 1970s saw the introduction of a sporty two-door variant called the Cherokee. From 1974 until the downsized Cherokee arrived for 1984, this was the model which did more than any other to uphold Jeep's credentials in the sport-utility segment of the 4x4 market. As these marvellous old magazine articles show, the Wagoneer, Cherokee and Grand Cherokee were available with a huge variety of options. What they also show, of course, is the strangulation of power outputs by emissions control regulations in the early 1970s - a time of great confusion in the US motor industry. Jeep followed the admirable practice of quoting nett figures from the beginning (unlike the rest of the US automobile industry), so the 140bhp of the original Tornado six can be compared directly with the 110bhp of the final emission controlled 258ci six. Models covered: 6 & 8-cyl. Wagoneer, Cherokee S, Cherokee Chief, Custom, Super Chief, Limited, Laredo & Grand Wagoneer. 140 pages, 375 illus. SB.