Range Rover is often regarded as the automotive industry’s first premium 4x4 and the vehicle that started the trend for off-roaders that combined car-like appointments and comfort with genuine capability away from sealed roads. But Jeep’s Wagoneer beat the Range Rover to market by seven years and pioneered features that the Rangie wouldn’t offer until years later.
The history of the Wagoneer is a convoluted and sometimes confusing one, featuring many model grades, a name change, similar models on different platforms and multiple parent companies, too. But one constant throughout the original Wagoneer’s 28 years on the market is that the ‘SJ Series’ body shell it launched with was essentially unchanged during that entire period. Sure, drivetrain options came and event, along with appointments and some detail and design changes, but the basic body shape and underlying chassis was a constant through the Wagoneer’s production life.
That life started in late 1959, when Kaiser Industries, owners of the Jeep brand, recognised the growing number of competitors in the four-wheel drive market and the need to upgrade their existing range, most of which was still closely linked – mechanically and stylistically – to the Willys MB jeep from World War II.
Jeep had introduced civilian models in rapid succession after the war, starting with the CJ (Civilian Jeep) in 1945, then the Jeep Station Wagon in 1946, a pickup truck in 1947 and the ‘Jeepster’ roadster in 1948. The all-steel body of the Station Wagon was unusual for the time, as many station wagons were still using timber as a structural element. Another point to note with the Station Wagon is that it was only available with two-wheel drive initially –
