I was driving behind a new Jeep Grand Wagoneer the other day and I couldn’t help comparing it to what I consider the classic Grand Wagoneer, such as this 1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. I like these better – as if I had to say that. The seller has this nice-looking 4×4 listed here on eBay in Hickory Hills, Illinois, there’s no reserve, and the current bid price is $8,400 with three days left on the auction.
The Grand Wagoneer came out in 1984. but the original Kaiser-Jeep Wagoneer was introduced in late-1962 for the 1963 model year. The line switched over to AMC in 1970 when American Motors bought Kaiser-Jeep and again in early-1987 when Chrysler bought out AMC, mostly to gain control of Jeep. The Grand Cherokee came next and it’s an arguably better vehicle, but there’s something about these clunky, leaky old Grand Wagoneers – and I say that with love in my heart.
They’re quite collectible today with Hagerty’s numbers eye-wateringly high, as they list a #3 good-condition Grand Wagoneer as being worth $33,100 and a #2 excellent example as being worth $58,900. I say, $58,900 American buck-dollars. Wow. You don’t even want to know their #1 Concours value. Ok, it’s $95,800. Can you believe that? I can not. I passed on buying a couple of nice examples with red leather in the 1990s for $2,500. Ouch.
This one looks good, very good, in fact. The seller says that it’s been a Colorado Jeep all of its life and there is no rust on the frame, floors, or rockers. They provide some underside photos and it looks fantastic under there. The interior looks equally nice other than some wrinkling on the face of the dash on the passenger side and cracks on top. The seats look good both front and rear as does the rear cargo area with just some frayed carpet edges showing.
The engine should be an AMC-sourced 390 360-cu.in. OHV V8, which was originally factory-rated at 144 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque when new. It’s backed up by a Chrysler-sourced TorqueFlite three-speed automatic and power goes to all four wheels. This one runs and drives “good” and it sure looks like a steal at this price, what do you think it’ll sell for?
I think it’s a 360, either way, this in concourse is as much as a brand new 2023. I rather have old one without all the cameras and electronics but not for 95k.
You’re right, Mark! Thanks for pointing out that typo with my fat (skinny) fingers.
These are cool to look at but, trust me, they are not fun to own. I had a mint, 50K-mile example in the late ’90’s and it may have gotten 8 mpg if I was driving downhill with a good tailwind, both ways.
They suck…and they are anemic as all get out. No power and horrible gas mileage. They needed a Cummins Diesel and an overdrive trans. The 727 and 904/999 Torqueflights are the best automatic transmissions ever made but the lack of overdrive in a lower-geared boat like this was horrible.
I’ve always liked the visual appeal of these. I considered buying one in the late 80’s but called the former owner to inquire. She turned to comment to the staff in her office and said. “This guy is calling about my Jeep,” and I heard a chorus of laughter. That told me I best not. I still wish I had bought that metallic light green GW because it would now be worth a pretty penny.
I owned a 87 model bought in 93 with 40k miles…BIGGEST P.O.S. EVER OWNED..horrible mileage, couldn’t pull my 16ft bass boat up the ramp..rode good when not at gas pump…WTF are people thinking when pricing used vehicles these days?????