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

Prior to the highly anticipated relaunch of the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer there were several years of delays. Some of those were the fault of FiatChrysler and Stellantis: It seemed they could not decide the product’s positioning internally, nor upon which base the large SUV was to sit. Other delays to launch were global in nature, as the COVID pandemic occurred at the approximate time Stellantis wanted its new product to debut. But the new Ram-based SUVs finally made it to market in 2022, and their exterior styling was (and is) the cause of some debate.

The new Wagoneer needed to carry over some design cues of the old one, the looks that made the square-jawed Grand Wagoneer so recognizable. But it also had to be modern, and slot within the corporate aesthetic of the Jeep lineup. Recall the original Wagoneer in 1963 was a clean sheet design, and was not meant to look like contemporary Jeep offerings. 

Unlike the original, the new Wagoneer had to be large, where the original design was notably smaller than other offerings in its day. That’s what made the OG so convenient and easy to live with on a daily basis. Given it was to compete with the largest of the large modern luxury SUVs (Escalade, Navigator), the Wagoneer also had to look suitably upscale, have a full suite of luxury features, competitive screen size and infotainment, seat seven people, and a long-wheelbase variant. The set of considerations in the paragraph above were a bit at odds with those here.

The conflict was evident in the design. Today’s subject is a 2025 Grand Wagoneer L in top-spec Series III Obsidian trim. At $109,540, Series III Obsidian asked $2,000 more than Series III and swapped chrome exterior trim for black. The L with the long-wheelbase option added another $4,000. We chose a white example as that was its debut color.

The front clip of the Grand Wagoneer bore a striking resemblance to the Grand Cherokee to which it was not related. The Jeep seven-slot grille at the front wore vertical LED lighting between the slots but lost the upper horizontal LED bar promised by the concept. Complex mesh detailing between the grille slots added visual interest but was of a different texture to the lower valence grille that used oblong horizontal ovals.

Wagoneer block lettering at the top of the grille suitably identified the model rather than the Jeep brand; Jeep did not appear on the vehicle. The near vertical front end was very tall given the vehicle’s overall height, and its goal of “modern blocky shape” to call back to the original Wagoneer. A power bulge flowed across the curved hood to fenders that wore equally rounded surface detailing. 

Front wheel arches were squared off, with an indentation in the metal supplemented by a body-colored trim strip that pulled the eyes to the wheels. No matter the size, the wheels were buried in the mass of metal above at all four corners. The sides of the Grand Wagoneer were without much detailing, as designers went for the slab-sided look of the original.

There’s a gentle curve down the body side from the windows to a soft body line. Then more curvaceousness until the lower door where a stronger horizontal character line picks up to carry the eye between the wheel arches. Most prominent on the side is the enormous GRAND WAGONEER block lettering with an American flag logo. It adds some visual interest but is also garish. 

The large A, B, C, and D pillars and all windows wore extensive trim (usually chrome), which showed a bit less in the Obsidian trim. A black roof was standard in all but the most basic L trim, which helped to hide the height and heft of the vehicle. Perhaps the most egregious design detail was found at the windows, and accentuated by the long-wheelbase version seen here.

Designers attempted to replicate the six-window design of the original Wagoneer, with front, middle, and rear side windows that were ensconced in thick trim, and used a design that was as square as possible. The “as possible” in that sentence did a lot of lifting, because modern passenger vehicle design carries many more rules than in 1963. 

As a result the windows are not close to one another like the original, they’re not as square as the original, and their lower edges do not disappear into the bodywork like the original. This is very evident from a side-on view, where there’s acres of metalwork between each window that leads to a segmented, disjointed look. 

Pay close attention to the rear side window. Notice how it curves upward and increases the weight of the metal at the rear pillar. This is the reverse of the treatment on the original Wagoneer, where that window curved downward and made the rear pillar as thin as possible at the window’s lower edge. 

Another victim of (rollover) regulation, but an instance where a bit of design was forced onto a vehicle for no reason other than an homage. Almost equally notable from a side view is the ungainly rear proportions of this L long-wheelbase version. Extensive overhangs and a squared off rear end make the vehicle look ponderous. That’s particularly true when shown in white. 

Unlike the side profile, the rear of the Grand Wagoneer didn’t have much to do with the original. It carried the same basic rear look as the Grand Cherokee, with slightly larger lamps that had LED segments. The black trim around the license plate carried a diamond texture to blur what was in essence a mirrored plastic serving tray.

Charcuterie implications aside, the tailgate served to show the abundance of trim on the Wagoneer. The roof had its own trim strip, as did the rear window. There was additional trim around the lights, and the aforementioned trim for the license plate. A separate piece of trim held the rear wiper and washer (completely absent on the debut images). The bumper cover, an enormous piece of plastic which covered up the rear three-quarters of the vehicle, used more gloss black trim at its lower area to simulate where a real bumper might be.

A design that relied upon copious trim, on a vehicle that cost over $100,000, needed excellent build quality. Unfortunately, Warren Truck was not up to the task, and Wagoneers showed alignment issues then and now. Today’s example is better than most your author has seen out in the wild.

But perhaps the exterior design with all its issues opened to a spectacular interior. Perhaps your author is being too hard on the design. Or perhaps there’s a reason there are brand new examples from 2022 still on dealer lots? We’ll take a look inside the cavernous Grand Wagoneer next time.

[Images: FCA, Bring-A-Trailer]

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