Yeah, this was before the suv boom in the early 90’s. We had a couple of wicked snowstorms in the Northeast and suddenly car companies realized the money that could be made. I bought my 94 grand Cherokee right before this boom. It is still my favorite car I’ve ever owned.
I want one of these so bad. And the 13/18 mileage isn't that bad really, I thought it would have been worse. That's on par with most of today's SUV's. And it's funny, even then there was confusion of V6 vs I6 (straight 6 ), I'm pretty sure the 4.2L is a I6, and the precursor to the 4.0L.
Yes the 4.2L is a straight 6. Not very popular in these Jeeps though, most were equipped with the 360 V8. Pretty economical even with today's fake fuel economy numbers. The Jeep was steel and had a full frame...many of today's SUV's are nothing more than fiberglass, plastic, and well there isn't a frame, you wreck it, it flies to pieces you just clean up the mess with a broom and dustpan.
AMC was surprised to learn that Grand Wagoneers shared the garages with porshces, lambos, and Ferraris. they were very popular as winter vehicles for the top 10% wage earners back then.
@extremedrivr Jeep being a sister brand to Fiat and Renault is pretty much where the same spot they were in during the first half of the 1980s. People forget that the Eagle, Cherokee XJ and Grand Cherokee were developed under the Fiat-Renault/AMC Alliance. The unibody came from a Fiat Fiorino pickup and all Jeeps manufactured between 1985-1986 were technically built by Renault. This isn't their first rodeo together.
The Grand Wagoneer is my absolute favorite 4-wheeler, with the classic woody wagon body and go anywhere construction, it is one of the most classic American SUVs with plenty of prestige.
The Tall Deck AMC 360 got around 18mpg highway/13 city. Average should've been 15-16mpg. Of course, if you ran Premium gas per AMC's recommendation, you could add another couple of miles per gallon, but most people ran Regular and bitched about the poor fuel economy. I had a solid average of 21 mpg from Austin, TX to El Sobrante, CA doing 65mph on the interstate pulling a trailer with two Honda motorcycles. That was on 93 and 91 octane Texaco, and minimal air conditioning. Driving like a maniac in stop and go city driving with the A/C on full blast and 87 octane, I'd get about 12 mpg.
The Wagoneer is the grandpa of the all actually SUVs. In my house had a 1979 Wagoneer Limited, with two tones paint, (beige with brown) . It new in that year 1979, and I had oportunity to drive with almost 14 years old, smooth and quite driving. A beautiful vehicle.
Can you name the truck with four wheel drive, smells like a steak and seats thirty-five.. Canyonero! Canyonero! Well, it goes real slow with the hammer down, It's the country-fried truck endorsed by a clown! Canyonero! (Yah!) Canyonero! [Krusty:] Hey Hey The Federal Highway comission has ruled the Canyonero unsafe for highway or city driving. Canyonero! 12 yards long, 2 lanes wide, 65 tons of American Pride!
@@waterheaterservices you have to admit, AMC did pretty good for only having spare parts from other manufacturers. I’d take an old mid 70’s Jeep with a straight 6 in a heartbeat
Kieran Curtis....you are absolutely out of your mind...AMC did their best to ruin the Jeep nameplate...Kaiser, and Willys before that, made REAL Jeeps, AMC made junk, and as just one example of this, just look at the AMC 20 rear end in their first year of production, compared to the Dana 44 used in the last year of the Kaiser....
Kieran Curtis. You're 100% correct. Chrysler has ruined Jeep, but I think Renault would have done the same thing to Jeep if it still owned AMC currently - the Cherokee would be based on the Mégane and not the Alfa Romeo Giuliettia in this case.
I love the old Wagoneers, body designed by Brooks Stevens, they were produced for about 30 years with little changes. Very practical. My dad bought one new in late 66 and last year gave it to me, over 300,000 miles on it. I grew up in that car. I had a beat up 73, a 78, and84 Grand. Now have two 67's and a rolling 70. Practical and stylish, not the most fuel efficient. I remember when gas prices went up in the 70's and 80's at times the small CJ's held their value but good used Wagoneers could be gotten cheap. I sold my 84 Grand, in fairly good shape with new tires for $800 several years back. During Obama's cash for clunkers I saw in a news report, someone draining the oil and pouring something into the engine of a nice Grand Wagoneer to lock it up before sending it to the crusher. Sickening. Look what they fetch today in good shape!
You can have one, if you can find one and have fairly deep pockets. They're worth a small fortune now, although less expensive than a 4-5 year old similar SUV.
The Kaiser Jeep Wagoneer was the first "SUV" with IFS. It was discontinued after the first year, 1963. The SJ platform was originally created to fill the all-weather station wagon segment that didn't exist. Henry J Kaiser was trying to offer a vehicle that would do everything a mid-size wagon would do but in a foot or two of snow.
Seeing this brings back fond memories of my dad's unstoppable '75 Cherokee. 360 2V, three speed manual with the stick sprouting from a mountainous tranny hump, rubber floor mats, 8-track tape deck, and you had to get out and lock the hubs to put her in four wheel drive. I think we put something like 200,000 on it before selling it in 1987 and replacing it with a new Ford Ranger pickup. The body was really going by then, but the guy who bought it still got another few thousand miles out of it.
5:12 "The standard 4.2 liter V6 does a full third better" on flat terrain with only 1 person in the thing. With a full passenger load in hilly terrain that INLINE 6 would be so overmatched that it would probably burn more fuel than the V8 would
Who could have ever guessed these would gain cult status and command premium prices, even for rusted out, well used examples today. Back in the 1980s, it seemed like such a dated design. Today, that's part of its appeal.
Chrysler, GM and Ford cars and trucks are almost the same in terms of technology and styling from the late-70s to the early-90s, look at an early 90s Buick and tell me the same car could have been produced 20 years earlier.
[Redacted] - Really... I don't know if cables would have worked any better, though MAYBE they would... I WILL agree though, that changing a flat would about suck, but that applies to trucks, as well... BTW, LOVE the AMC videos!
My old 1978 and 1981 Chevrolet pickups were the same way! Flimsy tailgate hinges. Didn't bother me at all. If they hold the gate, then who cares if it's a little flimsy? Nitpicking at its finest lol
These were pretty much standard fare for the day and they are not hinges anyway. They are merely support straps to keep the tailgate level. The actual hinges are thick steel stampings on the lower edge.
FYI the gear grinding is normal in those transfer cases. Also, if it happened to have the owner's manual you should have read the shifting instructions where it says to be rolling 2-3mph shift transmission to neutral then shift to low range or vice versa. Most vehicles you have to be at a dead stop, not so with the Jeep Transfer Cases back then. Hmm, 13 city 18 highway. That's what my 2008 Toyota Tundra 4x4 5.7L truck got. Goes to show the new stuff isn't any better. I'd love a Jeep Grand Wagoneer if I can find one in good enough condition without an astronomical price. Found one last year for $7500 and it looked like nobody ever used it for anything, can't remember the mileage on it but it looked brand new inside and out...whoever owned it took excellent care of it. That 360 V8 is a great engine, and it certainly can get the Grand Wagoneer moving pretty quickly...imagine that same engine in the 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee...the only year Jeep offered the Grand Cherokee with the 360 :(.
Thats about what my 02 Explorer 4x4 w/ 4.6L V8 is rated at too. Seems like even with all this emissions stuff it doesn't help at all for improving economy. Plus they're so heavy with all the safety equipment.
My 98 Grand Cherokee 5.2 will grind like that if shifting when stopped. I agree the only proper way to do it rolling very slowly and doing a "Firm" but not violent shift. lol
Those old Wagoneers almost single handedly kept many mechanic shops open through the eighties and early nineties. Then the K car came and took its place.
Another version of your classic series to go along with your Throwback Thursdays. That's a good thing considering the hundreds and hundreds of reviews you've done over the decades. OK, my guess for this Thursday's Throwback, especially with a short wheelbase as mentioned (and 4-wheel drive), sounds like it could be a Subaru. Since the focus has been on unusual vehicles lately, I will say the Subaru Brat - that funky, pick-up/car thing. :-)
Cool. I'll probably pull cut it back to 1 or 2 per week until I find a more time friendly way to digitize this old tape...But as of now I've got a lot done and I'm anxious to get it seen.
Own a 1991 Grand wag Final Limited 1986 Grand wag and a few J10's they truly are the most comfortable yet rugged offroad family rigs u can get ur hands on
So this is where cars went wrong, the birth of the upscale SUV segment. I had the chance to own one of these but my dad crushed it without asking me when he was finally ready to let go of it. 141 ft. braking was pretty great back then.
I used to work for AMC back in the day. They were pretty good reliable trucks except when the vacuum motors would rust up for the 4WD and the tailgate glass would pop out of its track.
' like old time vehicles were the best than lousy today 1990 to now... but sadly... this car JGW dont have one thing - 1-- two amber yellow lights on the rear taillights for turning signals... wooden tape on the body is a not looking good and not pretty
@@johncotter1600 And the engine, and the axles, and the transmission, and the transfer case...basically, NONE of the mechanicals were the same. (Hell, Kaiser used Buick engines!)
