Rare Rides Icons: The Jeep Wagoneer, The First Luxury SUV Ever (Part XI)

We last left the Jeep Wagoneer at a branching point in 1984 , where the SJ Wagoneer Limited was rebranded as the Grand Wagoneer, and the new XJ Cherokee donned some fancy trim and became the base trim Wagoneer and upmarket Wagoneer Limited . AMC’s desired outcome was for the XJ Cherokee to replace the SJ in all ways, and send the old Wagoneer off into the sunset. While that strategy worked for the Cherokee models, buyers were not keen on the expensive and compact XJ Wagoneer. Sales of the new Wagoneer never hit 25,000 in a year and dropped off quickly. Meanwhile, AMC was forced to continue selling the old and outdated but profitable Grand Wagoneer.