Junkyard Find: 1981 Jeep Wagoneer
The Jeep Wagoneer was made for about 180 years (OK, actually just 28 years), going through three corporate owners during that period. This is only our second Wagoneer Junkyard Find (after this late-in-the-game ’89), though I walk past many more every time I hit my favorite Denver wrecking yard. This ’81 grabbed my attention with its super- Malaise-y purple paint, so here we go!
Gas prices doubled again? Emission-control regulations got your big-displacement V8 making 130 horses? Add more tape stripes!
I’m not even going to look up the power figures for this AMC 360 V8, because they would just get us all depressed.
This could be a genuine Wagoneer Brougham, but the distinguishing Broughamic features are no longer present.
Under Chrysler, these trucks were built into the 1990s, stretching from JFK’s presidency to the dawn of the World Wide Web.
Shielded by THE PROTECTOR!
Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.
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Would a modern Mopar Hemi fit into that engine bay? If I ever find a Jeep J truck that's not rotted into oblivion, I plan to give it a new Hemi heart.
I don't recall seeing any of these in person. I do remember the Tonka Wagoneer toys; saw several of them over the years.