Jeep Wagoneer (SJ)

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.

Under a single generation, the SJ-series Wagoneer was produced for 29 model years (currently the third longest run in U.S. automotive history), as Jeep changed hands from Kaiser Motors to AMC to Chrysler. For its entire production, Jeep manufactured the Wagoneer in its Stickney Plant in Toledo, Ohio. Following a short-lived 1993 revival of the nameplate as a flagship version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee (again using exterior wood trim), the nameplate remained dormant for three decades until the introduction of the largest Jeep SUVs ever designed, the WS-chassis Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer.