1990 Jeep Grand Wagoneer Reviews, Pricing & Specs

It was way back on November 14, 1962, when Willys, creator of the famous Jeep, launched a vehicle that was 20 years ahead of its time and would, nilly-willy, become the role model for a whole new class of automobiles: The sport-utility vehicle or SUV. This vehicle was the Jeep Wagoneer, "the first station wagon to provide complete passenger car styling, comfort and convenience in combination with the advantages of four-wheel drive", said Willys PR at the time, and rightly so. Sure, there had been, 4WD wagons before, notably Chevy's Suburban (since 1935), and similar rides from Ford, Dodge, and IHC, but they had all been vehicles that looked, drove and felt like more or less slightly modified trucks with wagon bodies. The Wagoneer, on the other hand, aimed squarely at a type of buyer so very common today, a city dweller who wants a passenger car that looks as if it could take serious off-roading, but will only be taken on a fishing trip, at the most. Mind you, the Wagoneer was not a stand-alone model. It was accompanied by a whole line of brand new Jeep trucks called Gladiators that shared the Wagoneer's front end sheet metal and most of its innards, but were no-nonsense utility vehicles nonetheless. The Wagoneer would turn out to be a long-distance runner because it would be around through 1991 with few changes. My test car, driven once again for a German automotive publication, was one of the last, a 1990 Grand Wagoneer. Right from the start of our acquaintance, the big Jeep struck me as a dinosaur, a relic from the Sixties, which is exactly what it was, of course. It looked and felt like nothing had really changed since the introduction of the first Wagoneer 27 years before my test car rolled off the assembly line. Very little had, as a matter of fact. The original 1963 vehicle had used Willys' very own Tornado engine, an unusual (for the arch-conservative US automobile industry) 230 CID inline Six with an overhead camshaft and 140 gross horsepower. This exclusive - and expensive - powerplant was replaced during the 1965 model year by a more conventional OHV 232 CID Six with 145 gross horsepower provided by American Motors. AMC also supplied an optional V8, namely the 327 CID with 250 horsepower; an optional 3-speed automatic transmission came from General Motors. Kaiser-Jeep, the company into which Willys had morphed in '63, did not have the financial power to produce its own engines any longer and therefore had to rely on outside suppliers. AMC finally took over Kaiser-Jeep in 1970 and was the sole provider of powerplants after that. "My" 1990 Grand Wagoneer used AMC's tried-and-true 360 V8, throughly detoxed to churn out a puny 144 net horsepower at 3,200 rpm. By then, it was the only powerplant available in the big Jeep and powered the rear wheels through Chrysler Corporation's Torque-Flite 3-speed automatic (Chrysler had taken over AMC in 1987). Four-wheel-drive was provided by Selec-Trac, a Jeep-developed 2WD/4WD system that required a mere flick of a switch and always worked flawlessly during the test; most of the time was spent on-road in 2WD mode, though. Like I pointed out before, the Grand Wagoneer rode and handled like the Sixties' vehicle that it was, sedately and stately, quiet and comfortable when driven conservatively, wallowing and bouncing over speed bumps and other rough surfaces when driven harder, thanks to the Jeep's leaf-spring mounted front and rear axles. No, the best way to enjoy the Grand Wagoneer was to just cruise around and observe the reactions of onlookers who either smiled or stood agape at the sight of that heavy SUV clad in fake wood, a vehicle hardly ever seen in Germany. Music to the ears (at least to mine) was the basso profundo rumble of the good old-fashioned carbureted V8 that sounded like a great deal more than 144 horsepower. Much less pleasure was derived from frequent stops at the gas station when the 20.3-gallon fuel tank was running empty again. At approx. 4 dollars a gallon (back in 2000 when I tested the Jeep), filling up was a pain in the .....wallet. Today, gas costs twice that in Germany, which makes 2000 gas prices seem like the good ol' days. Anyway, if you want a classic SUV that drives like a 1960's street cruiser and can't be bothered with fuel economy, the Grand Wagoneer is for you. It's very competent in that role and should not be overlooked. Jun 09, 2014

How could you not like 13 feet of wood siding going down the road? Ever wonder how if felt to ride your leather couch to work? Step inside and find out.... This bad boy is the original luxury SUV. Think an Escalade is nice? This is its long lost relative. Why buy an over-priced wanna be? The original does the same thing and still offers true Jeep 4wd performance.Mar 20, 2010