1963-1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer

After a 29-year long run, the last Jeep Grand Wagoneer rolled off the Toledo, Ohio assembly line on June 21st. 1991.

Independent automaker Willys-Overland made quiet ripples in automotive history with the introduction of its all-steel station wagons in 1946. The unpretentious vehicles sold well for years. 

The 1946 Willys-Overland Jeep Station Wagon.

 When product planners began casting about for a replacement to its sturdy but rapidly aging line of Willys station wagons in the late 1950s, the manufacturer turned to industrial designer Brooks Stevens.

Brooks Stevens was the father of industrial design.

The Milwaukee designer possessed the uncanny gift of being able to bring beauty and intrigue to the most mundane and everyday household items.  He streamlined the lowly iron in the 1930s and made it into an instant glamour queen. Upon being shown prototypes of electric clothes dryers, Stevens exclaimed, “You can’t sell that. Nobody will know what it is!” He added a window and an interior light bulb to the unit and sales took off like a Vanguard rocket.

Stevens already had a long and successful working association with the Toledo, Ohio-based automobile manufacturer.

The Willys 6/66 was ultimately nixed. The numbers stood for the price tag.

 He was responsible for the creation of the Willys Victory Car a.k.a. the 6/66 that was shelved after World War Two. Stevens designed the first post-war generation of trucks, wagons and panel deliveries for Willys as well as the sporty Jeepster phaeton. 

The 1957 Jeep FC was popular.

His truck renderings resulted in the fetching Jeep FC series that debuted in 1957. He was already hard at work on the FC’s replacement, a stylish design that would become the J-Series trucks.

Management was keen to mass-market a four-wheel drive vehicle.  In the dying days of Willys passenger cars, schemes were drawn up to fit 1955 Willys Aeros with four-wheel drive. The plans came to nothing and the dies were shipped to Willys’ Brazilian subsidiary.

Willys invested $20 million in the creation of the Wagoneer, an unprecedented amount of cash for the tiny independent. By 1959, Stevens’ drawings had been turned into a sleek, full-sized prototype that carried the name Malibu. The designer wisely maintained a strong visual tie between the new vehicle and existing Jeep products. 

The 1963 Jeep Wagoneer pioneered a whole new segment in the automotive market.

When Wagoneer made its debut on November 14, 1962 it created a worldwide sensation. It featured an all-new overhead-cam six-cylinder engine, optional automatic transmission (an industry first when mated to four-wheel drive) and offered independent front suspension. Almost always ordered with every option possible, Wagoneer quickly became the “official” signature of the gentrified and genteel weekend farmer, referred to quietly within the company as ‘the horsey set.’

Advertising was brazen and bold. “Meet a history maker” shouted the headline. It bragged that the new Wagoneer was “the first station wagon ever built to offer the comfort, silence, speed and smoothness of a passenger car—plus the safety and traction of 4-wheel drive.”   It offered independent front suspension and optional automatic transmission, both industry firsts as coupled to the four-wheel drive concept. 

The 1966 Jeep Wagoneer received an atractive new grille.

The classic design required only minor changes in years to come. Wagoneer got a new grille in 1966. American Motors purchased Jeep Corporation when it was spun off from Kaiser Industries late in 1969. The deal was good for both companies. 

Nash and later American Motors built Thrift-Haul two-tonne trucks primarily for export.

Sharing components reduced costs and AMC finally acquired a truck line, something it had lacked since the last Nash truck was built in 1955. 

Jeep was part of AMC from 1969 to 1987.

Jeep’s new guardians wisely kept changes to a minimum. The availability of AMC’s rugged, 4.2-litre (258-cubic inch) Typhoon six-cylinder engine was good, so were richly upgraded interiors. Wagoneer became more refined than ever before. Bucket seats became optional in 1972. By 1974, wise and farsighted AMC product planners had carefully groomed Wagoneer into a full-fledged prestige vehicle. The range was broadened all the more with the introduction of the lesser-priced Cherokee.

Literature for the 1974 Jeep Cherokee describes the vehicle as a 'sport utility'.

In 1979, Renault invested in AMC by purchasing 5 percent of the company. Its passenger car division might not be doing so well but Jeeps sizzled.  Wagoneers received a new ribbed grille and rectangular halogen headlamps. A ritzy new Limited edition was offered and despite the steep price tag the factory couldn’t turn them out fast enough! 

Wagoneers now boasted leather seats, a Jensen sound system, Trac-Lok limited slip differential, power everything-including six-way seats, air conditioning, cruise control, tilt wheel, just to name a few upscale goodies on the exhaustive list of standard equipment, every one guaranteed to delight any owner. The vehicle lived up to the grand name and few batted an eye at the price tag that was now spiraling into the stratosphere. It was common knowledge in marketing that the average income of purchasers was above $100,000 a year.  Jeep sales hit an all time high for the second year in a row.

Chrysler Corporation purchased American Motors in 1987 and, like AMC and Renault, was extremely careful not to make radical changes to the hot selling Jeep line.  Jeep became part of the newly formed Jeep-Eagle Division, which included the Premier, built in Canada; the Medallion from France and the badged Vista imported from Asia.    

1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer.

In 1989, one automotive writer observed wryly that Grand Wagoneer was the “favourite of gentlemen, farmers, car armorers, political security forces and body guards.”  Grand Wagoneer now commanded $26,395 f.o.b. Toledo and 17,057 of the truly posh vehicles were produced.

Advertising promised to add the dimension of luxury to Jeep ruggedness and durability. It certainly did deliver with its long list of creature comforts, all of them in the standard equipment column. Grand Wagoneer rolled off the line for the last time in 1991. Chrysler laid the great name to rest.  Brooks Stevens’ timeless design had endured for 28 selling seasons, pioneered an entire new market segment and redefined the American driving experience.

Visit my old car website at: The Oilspot Eh!

Copyright James C. Mays
 2002 All rights reserved.

1959 Willys Maverick

The 1959 Willys Special Maverick Station Wagon weighed in at 3,900 pounds. It sold for $2,944 f.o.b.  Windsor.

Independent automaker Willys-Overland could reach right back to 1903 as the beginning of its heritage. When the fledgling Indianapolis firm ran into trouble, John North Willys bought the Overland concern to keep it afloat. In a bid to speed up production and fill back orders, the company began manufacturing vehicles under a circus tent. The higher-priced Willys line was soon introduced as a companion car for Overland and it found success with consumers, too. 

With a decade of success under its belt, the company cast its eye on expanding into the Canadian and British Empire markets. Willys-Overland set up shop in Hamilton, Ontario in 1914 and began producing cars.  A year later, Willys-Overland bought two-thirds of the luxurious Russell concern from CCM and moved to Toronto. Automobiles were built in 1916 and 1917 but the Great War brought military contracts. Auto production ceased in 1918 in order to built aircraft engines. Civilian products returned in February 1919 with the introduction of a light car. 

Throughout the 1920s the company’s products were popular with consumers and in 1926 the previously imported top-of-the-line Willys-Knight was domestically produced. The same year Willys-Overland Canada began to fabricate its own bodies, no longer contracting them from Canadian Top & Body in Tilbury, Ontario. 

The Dirty Thirties took its toll on all the automakers and executives closed the doors of the Toronto plant in 1933. Vehicles were imported from the US after that. In 1934 the head office was moved from Toronto to Windsor and took up residence on Giles Street, next door to Hupp. John North Willys died in 1936 and the firm was reorganized. There was talk of reopening a Canadian plant but it never happened.  When war broke out in Europe in 1939 any talk of domestic Willys-Overland production was mothballed.

The parent company picked up a contract to build the Jeep during World War Two. The rugged little vehicle earned its keep on battlefronts around the world. Willys-Overland executives were keen to find civilian applications for the war hero in a peacetime world.

Industrial designer Brooks Stevens had the same idea and created several automobiles based on the Jeep chassis and drivetrain. He sold his ideas as a story to a magazine. The folks at W-O were impressed and asked him to come to their Toledo headquarters. Stevens left Toledo with a contract.

Visit my old car website at http://www.theoilspoteh.ca 

Cashing in on the Jeep’s image was the key to success. The station wagon did that perfectly. Because none of the big body makers would stamp parts for Willys-Overland, draw was kept to six inches and punched out by a company that made refrigerators. The indentations in the side panels strengthened the envelope. It was practical to the point of being utilitarian but it held seven passengers and could carry 96 cubic feet of cargo. 

When the product appeared on the market in 1946 it was the first all-steel station wagon in automotive history. It sold well and a Panel Delivery joined the lineup a year later. In 1948 a more upscale Station Sedan was added. So was a six-cylinder engine. For 1949 a four-wheel drive version was introduced. The front end was restyled for the 1950 selling season.

The postwar market created fierce competition among the automakers. The independents scrambled for market share as Ford went after archrival Chevrolet, guns a-blazing. To stay alive, the small companies began to amalgamate in hopes of survival. Willys-Overland was first; it merged with Kaiser-Frazer in April 1953. 

The operation in Windsor, Ontario had been solely oriented to service and sales. Willys of Canada Limited moved into new headquarters in 1953. A small department outfitted already completed Jeeps, shipped in from Ohio, with accessories and modifications needed to do special jobs such as fire and rescue work. In 1955 domestic assembly of 4x4 Jeeps began.

The Willys Station Wagon was still imported, however. For 1959 a special Maverick model bowed, making its first appearance on May 7, unveiled to millions of viewers watching the popular Maverick television show that Kaiser-Willys just happened to sponsor. Truly posh by Jeep standards, the Maverick sported two-tone paint, wore lots of chrome, was shod with white wall tires, blessed with interior carpeting—albeit black--and a one-piece windshield. Its list price was $2,944 f.o.b. Windsor.

Advertising bragged that the Maverick was “Canada’s lowest priced, full size station wagon” and that it was worth a look because it combined  “the ruggedness, dependability and quality of the Jeep with the smoothness and good riding qualities of the passenger car.”  Not willing to miss any possible market, the Maverick was touted as the ideal family and business station wagon.

Doctors, teachers, veterinarians were all urged to consider the Willys, especially those who lived and worked in rural areas. Farmers and ranchers were pleased with its high clearance fenders.  Folks wanting to rough it out in the country could carry up to a half ton of camping gear, guns, fishing tackle and oh—the wagon could sleep two and save putting up a tent!

Still the basic package since its 1946 introduction, the Willys was powered with a 75-horsepower Hurricane F-head four-cylinder engine, though a 105-horsepower Super Hurricane L-head six was available at extra cost. 

By the time the Station Wagon was retired in 1962, it been in production for sixteen years and done Willys proud. Its successor would also come from Brooks Stevens and usher in a whole new kind of driving experience.

Visit my old car website at http://www.theoilspoteh.ca 

 Copyright James C. Mays 2005 All rights reserved.