# Jeep Grand Wagoneer (SJ, 1984-1991 Grand Wagoneer)
Source: https://fullysorted.com/research/models/jeep/grand-wagoneer
Publisher: Fully Sorted (fullysorted.com), collector car research
Last updated: 2026-10-01

## Key facts
- Make: Jeep
- Model: Grand Wagoneer
- Generation: SJ, 1984-1991 Grand Wagoneer
- Factory code: SJ
- Years: 1963 to 1991
- Body styles: 4-door full-size wagon (SJ body, simulated woodgrain on the Grand Wagoneer)
- Engines: 5.9-liter (360 cu in) AMC V8, naturally aspirated, 2-barrel carburetor on the 1987 car, 144 hp as quoted for 1987 (the usual Grand Wagoneer engine); 4.2-liter (258 cu in) inline-six, described by a February 1984 US newspaper test as the standard engine in the Grand Wagoneer test car, with the 5.9-liter V8 optional; 230 cu in Tornado overhead-cam inline-six, 140 hp, in the first Wagoneer of 1963 (Kaiser era, not a Grand Wagoneer engine)
- Production notes: No source consulted states a total for the whole 1963-1991 run. Wagoneer World's year-by-year page labels each Grand Wagoneer year separately: 20,019 for 1984, 17,814 for 1985, 17,254 for 1986, 14,265 for 1987, 14,117 for 1988, 10,159 for 1989, 6,449 for 1990 and 4,253 for 1991. Earlier Wagoneer years are listed under their own trims, for example 18,478 for the 1983 Limited and Brougham, and 1963 through 1973 are marked not available. RPM Canada and Wikipedia both give 20,019 for 1984 and a combined 14,265 AMC and Chrysler units for 1987, so those two years have independent support. The 1991 figure is the one in dispute. Wagoneer World gives 4,253 and says VIN and production verifications confirm it, rather than the widely referenced 1,560, and calls 4,253 still the lowest count for any Grand Wagoneer model year. The 1,560 figure is attributed only second hand: no page stating it was found, so the disagreement is between Wagoneer World's verified count and a popular number that this research could not trace. Wikipedia gives no 1991 count. Adding the eight Grand Wagoneer years in the Wagoneer World table gives 104,330, but 1985 through 1990 rest on that one table and 1991 is disputed, so no total is printed. No Final Edition count was found; Wikipedia says buyers of 1991 cars sold after Chrysler's February 27, 1991 announcement could choose a gold Final Edition dashboard badge, which makes it an option on late cars rather than a separate build.

## Summary
The Grand Wagoneer is the 1984 to 1991 version of a full-size Jeep wagon that stayed in production for 29 model years with almost no change to its body. It began as the 1963 Wagoneer under Kaiser Jeep, passed to American Motors in 1970 and to Chrysler in 1987, and its top trim, the Wagoneer Limited of 1978, was renamed Grand Wagoneer for 1984. Simulated woodgrain, leather, Quadra-Trac four-wheel drive and a 144 hp 5.9-liter AMC V8 defined it. A 1984 test car stickered at $20,764 and a 1987 car sold new for $24,521. Output peaked at 20,019 in 1984 and fell every year after; Wagoneer World puts 1991 at 4,253 and says the widely reported figure is 1,560, a gap this page leaves open. The 1984 to 1991 cars are what collectors chase; as of September 2026 classic.com lists a highest recorded figure of $88,000 for a 1989 Grand Wagoneer with 35,000 miles, against an average of $33,367 across the whole 1963-1991 Wagoneer family. A 2022 revival wears the name and is a different vehicle.

## Specifications
- power: 144 hp, as quoted for the 1987 Grand Wagoneer and again in a Hagerty buyer's guide
- engine: 5.9-liter (360 cu in) AMC V8, 2-barrel carburetor on the 1987 car; 4.2-liter six optional or standard depending on source
- layout: Front engine, rear-wheel drive with Quadra-Trac full-time four-wheel drive (introduced by AMC in 1973)
- torque: Not stated in any source consulted
- weight: 4,221 lb with the six and 4,451 lb with the V8 per a February 1984 US newspaper; 4,514 lb curb weight in Wikipedia's infobox for the SJ generally
- chassis: SJ body-on-frame full-size wagon, essentially unchanged in body structure for 29 model years
- wheelbase: 108.7 inches per RPM Canada; 110 inches (2,794 mm) per Wikipedia
- acceleration: No 0-60 mph time was found in any source consulted
- fuel_economy: EPA 12 mpg for a 1984 V8 automatic and 17 mpg for the six per a US newspaper; Hagerty's guide cites 13 mpg highway
- transmission: Three-speed automatic
- exterior_trim: Simulated woodgrain, marine teak sides on the 1987 car, with tan or cordovan interior trim options
- us_price_1984: $15,995 for a 1984 Custom Wagoneer; $20,764 sticker on a February 1984 Grand Wagoneer test car
- us_price_1987: $24,521 new for a 1987 Grand Wagoneer
- ownership_eras: Kaiser Jeep 1963-1970, American Motors 1970-1987, Chrysler 1987-1991
- ground_clearance: 7.6 inches, as stated in a February 1984 US newspaper test
- production_years: 1963 to June 1991 model years; last SJ Grand Wagoneer built June 21, 1991 at Chrysler's Toledo plant

## Notable variants
- Grand Wagoneer, 1984-1987 (AMC): The Limited was renamed Grand Wagoneer for 1984 with simulated woodgrain, Quadra-Trac four-wheel drive and the 360 V8. A February 1984 test car carried a sticker of $20,764; 1984 was also the strongest year of the decade at 20,019 units, with a cheaper Custom added mid-year and dropped after 1984.
- Grand Wagoneer, 1986-1987 revised interior: Wikipedia and Wagoneer World both record the 1986 redesign: a new instrument panel with improved climate control, and Wikipedia adds a four-part grille, power sunroof and fully revamped interior. The 1987 car listed at $24,521 new.
- Grand Wagoneer, 1987-1991 (Chrysler): Chrysler took over at midyear 1987. Wagoneer World records a clearcoat on all exterior paint options for 1988 and an overhead console with map lights, temperature and compass for 1989. Volume fell every year; the 1991 count is disputed (4,253 against a widely reported 1,560).
- Grand Wagoneer Final Edition: classic.com lists Final Edition as a fourth variant after Base Wagoneer, Wagoneer Limited and Grand Wagoneer; Wikipedia describes a gold dashboard badge offered to buyers of 1991 cars sold after February 27, 1991. No separate Final Edition count was found.
- Wagoneer Limited, 1978-1983: The first luxury Wagoneer, introduced for 1978 with real leather front bucket seats, cruise control and air conditioning. The Grand Wagoneer is this trim under a new name.
- Super Wagoneer, 1966: Wagoneer World records the Super Wagoneer as a 1966 model. It is a Kaiser-era car and a separate collector conversation from the 1984-1991 cars.

## History

### Why it existed

The first Wagoneer of 1963 succeeded the Willys Jeep Station Wagon and helped pioneer the sport utility vehicle concept. It filled a gap: a luxury four-wheel-drive wagon, where GM, International Harvester and Land Rover offered utilitarian trucks. The 1963 car arrived with independent front suspension, an automatic transmission and the overhead-cam Tornado six, an unusual amount of engineering for a Jeep. Then nobody replaced it. The body ran for 29 model years with minimal structural change, which classic.com ranks as the third longest-produced single generation vehicle in US history.

### Three owners, one body

Kaiser Jeep built the Wagoneer from 1963 to 1970, American Motors from 1970 to 1987 and Chrysler from 1987 to 1991. Along the way the engine list moved from the Tornado six to American Motors' 327 V8 at 250 hp, a Buick 350 for 1968 to 1971, and then the AMC 360 V8, with a 401 available later. Wagoneer World records a Super Wagoneer in 1966 and AMC's Quadra-Trac full-time four-wheel-drive system in 1973. In 1978 came the Limited, with real leather front bucket seats, cruise control and air conditioning. That car is the template for everything that followed.

### 1984, the name changes

For 1984 the Limited was renamed Grand Wagoneer, with simulated woodgrain, Quadra-Trac and the 360 V8. A US newspaper test that winter put the sticker at $20,764 and called the cabin first class. It also weighed the car at 4,221 pounds with the 4.2-liter six and 4,451 with the V8, and recorded an EPA rating of 12 mpg, which a friend of the tester put at 10. Mid-year, AMC added a cheaper Wagoneer Custom without the woodgrain at $15,995, and Wikipedia says it sold poorly and was dropped after 1984. The newspaper calls the six standard and the V8 optional, which conflicts with Wikipedia's account of the 360 as standard; Wagoneer World says the six remained an option in 1985. 1984 was the volume high of the decade, at 20,019.

### 1986 to 1991, the long goodbye

The 1986 model year brought a redesigned instrument panel with improved climate control and a new exterior look; Wikipedia adds a four-part grille, a power sunroof and a fully revamped interior. A 1987 car sold new for $24,521 with marine teak woodgrain and a 144 hp V8, and Chrysler took over production at midyear. Wagoneer World lists a clearcoat on every exterior paint option for 1988 and an overhead console with map lights, temperature and compass for 1989. Volume fell from 14,265 in 1987 to a 1991 figure that one source gives as 4,253 and says is often misreported as 1,560.

### The end of the line

On February 27, 1991 Chrysler announced it was ending Grand Wagoneer production, and buyers of cars sold after that date could have a gold Final Edition badge on the dashboard. The last SJ Grand Wagoneer came off the line at Chrysler's Toledo Assembly Plant on June 21, 1991. On March 11, 2021 Jeep revealed new Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer models; they share the name with the SJ and nothing else this page covers.

## What to look for

Rust is the first conversation. A Hagerty buyer's guide puts the typical rust in the fenders, particularly the dog-leg areas, and in the rocker panels, with some rust developing under the wood paneling, where it is hidden until the vinyl is lifted. A parts-advice article adds floorboards and the frame, particularly at the skid plate by the fuel tank, and says cars kept near salt water are more susceptible. The woodgrain is simulated, so a paneling repair is a materials and refinishing job rather than a carpentry one; what matters is the condition of the metal under it. The 1989 Wagoneer recall record is the reason to ask about the brakes: NHTSA lists a recall for hydraulic fluid contamination that can plug the ABS booster pump filter, plus a master cylinder snap ring and a front brake hose tire interference, so a 1989 or 1990 car should show evidence the work was done. Another NHTSA campaign covers a fuel injection throttle position sensor that can cause high idle after starting. The engine itself is plain; a cold start and a hot idle that stumble or stall are the questions to ask, and the 144 hp V8 is not underpowered for the way the truck is used. The Hagerty guide says the Quadra-Trac system lets the driver shift into four-wheel drive without stopping or locking hubs, which makes a working transfer case worth confirming on the road. Check the power windows, door locks and rear wiper motor, which a parts-advice article says fail often, and check the air conditioning, which it says is a leak and an expensive repair when it is not cold. Originality matters more than miles: an unmodified interior with its cordovan or tan trim is harder to replace than any mechanical part.

## Common problems

Rust leads the list. Hagerty names the fenders and rocker panels, with rust developing under the wood paneling, and a parts-advice article names the frame near the skid plate by the fuel tank and the floorboards. Fuel use is the other constant: Hagerty calls the 13 mpg highway rating and the 144 hp rating the truck's only real liabilities, and a February 1984 newspaper test cites an EPA rating of 12 mpg for the V8 automatic, with a friend estimating 10. Curbside Classic's retrospective on the 1978 Limited quotes 11 mpg for the 2-barrel 360 and says the 401 would likely stay in the single digits. The electrical accessories fail in the way you would expect of a luxury wagon with power everything: a parts-advice article lists the power windows, door locks and rear wiper motors, and says a warm air conditioner usually means a leak that can be expensive to fix. NHTSA's 1989 Wagoneer record lists three campaigns: 91V003000 for brake hydraulic fluid contamination, a master cylinder snap ring and a front brake hose, 96V260000 for excessive actuator piston seal wear in the ABS hydraulic control unit, and 90V177000 for a fuel injection throttle position sensor that could cause intermittent high idle. The same article warns that spare parts will probably be difficult to find or not available at all, a claim that is single-source, not dated and not priced, and it is carried here as a warning only.

## Market notes

The 1984 to 1991 Grand Wagoneer is the version collectors chase. As of September 2026 classic.com's Jeep Wagoneer market page, which covers 1963 to 1991, shows an average price of $33,367, a lowest recorded sale of $1,101 for a 1977 base Wagoneer on December 23, 2025, and a highest recorded figure of $88,000 for a 1989 Grand Wagoneer with 35,000 miles, listed January 31, 2026. That page does not separate asking prices from sold prices in the summary, so the $88,000 should be read as the top of the tracked range rather than a confirmed hammer price. Those numbers cover base and Limited trucks as well, so the Grand Wagoneer-only picture is firmer at the top than the average suggests. Condition decides the spread: a 1986 car on a dealer page carried a bit over 80,000 original miles after 31 years in two Texas ownerships, and a 1989 Grand Wagoneer logged by classic.com showed 141,821 miles in original condition and was off the market in August 2024 with no price shown. Autoweek, quoted by a parts retailer in April 2019, described the Grand Wagoneer as having become fashionable as a luxury item with an old-money cachet and the summer vehicle to have at a beach house from New England to the mid-Atlantic. A Hagerty buyer's guide, undated in the copy retrieved, said to expect $12,000 to $18,000 for driver-quality cars and $50,000 or more for perfect ones; that is a stale range, and it is not stamped to a month. No individual auction lot page was fetched for this research, so no single sale is quoted beyond classic.com's recorded figures.

## Value trajectory

A 1984 Grand Wagoneer stickered at $20,764 and a 1987 car sold for $24,521 new; a 1984 Custom Wagoneer was $15,995. As of September 2026 the tracked range for the 1963 to 1991 Wagoneer family on classic.com runs from $1,101 for a 1977 base truck to $88,000 for a 1989 Grand Wagoneer with 35,000 miles, with an average of $33,367. RPM Canada, writing about a 1987 car with 17,569 original miles, said the $24,521 sticker equated to roughly $75,000 in 2018 dollars. The gap between that figure and the tracked top of $88,000 for a 35,000 mile 1989 car is what the market has done to the best examples. Hagerty's undated buyer's guide, written when a driver-quality truck cost $12,000 to $18,000, is a reminder of how far a good one has moved. The trajectory is narrow at the top and wide beneath it: the average of $33,367 includes base trucks, so a typical Grand Wagoneer in good condition sits well above the Wagoneer family's low end. What drives the spread is condition and originality, since the same truck with rust under its woodgrain and one with 17,569 original miles are different objects. The production curve points the same way: 4,253 were built in 1991 against 20,019 in 1984.

## Sources

- [Jeep Wagoneer (SJ)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep_Wagoneer_(SJ)) (Wikipedia)
- [Grand Wagoneer: Fabulously Fancy Four-by-Four](https://rpmcanada.ca/?p=10038) (RPM Canada)
- [JEEPS BY YEAR](https://wagoneerworld.com/by_year.php) (Wagoneer World)
- [Jeep Wagoneer (1963-1991) Market Summary](https://www.classic.com/m/jeep/wagoneer/) (classic.com)
- [1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, classic.com vehicle page](https://www.classic.com/veh/1989-jeep-grand-wagoneer-4VlMk2W) (classic.com)
- [Buyer's Guide: 1963-91 Jeep Grand Wagoneer](https://hagerty.com/media/?p=1497) (Hagerty)
- [How to Choose a Jeep Grand Wagoneer](https://yourmechanic.com/article/how-to-choose-a-jeep-grand-wagoneer-by-jason-unrau) (YourMechanic)
- [NHTSA recalls by vehicle: 1989 Jeep Wagoneer](https://api.nhtsa.gov/recalls/recallsByVehicle?make=jeep&model=wagoneer&modelYear=1989) (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
- [AMC Jeep is high on luxury but low on fuel mileage](https://m.csmonitor.com/1984/0209/020929.html) (The Christian Science Monitor)
- [Vintage R&T Review: 1978 Jeep Wagoneer Limited](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/vintage-review/vintage-rt-review-1978-jeep-wagoneer-limited-can-you-imagine-an-american-manufacturer-building-the-same-body-for-15-years-how-about-29-years) (Curbside Classic)
- [1986 Jeep Grand Wagoneer](https://hymanltd.com/vehicles/7763-1986-jeep-grand-wagoneer/) (Hyman Ltd)
- [Autoweek's Take on the Grand Wagoneer Today](https://wagonmaster.com/blogs/press/autoweeks-take-on-the-grand-wagoneer-today) (Wagonmaster)

Cite as: Fully Sorted, "Jeep Grand Wagoneer (SJ, 1984-1991 Grand Wagoneer)", https://fullysorted.com/research/models/jeep/grand-wagoneer, updated 2026-10-01.