I saw this 1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer on an auction site not too long ago, and what caught my attention was the hang-on style factory air conditioning system. I thought these were largely extinct by the mid-’70s or so, but apparently not so in the case of the SJ Jeep Grand Wagoneer, which was produced until 1991.
You probably already knew that by 1991 the SJ Jeep Grand Wagoneer was a rolling dinosaur, between its carbureted V8 engine, wing windows, and flat side glass, to name three reasons. You can also add 1970s era HVAC to that list of reasons.
1994 Jeep Wrangler A/C system
But first, to answer the question posed by the title, no the SJ Grand Wagoneer was not the last vehicle with factory hang-on A/C. Based on my limited research, that honor probably belongs to the 1996 YJ-body Jeep Wrangler, pictured above, although I’m sure our readers will likely point out later examples. But the Wrangler at the time still mainly targeted offroaders and was infrequently equipped with A/C, while the Grand Wagoneer was targeting luxury buyers, and had air conditioning as a standard feature. The fact that such a primitive A/C system was still being offered to luxury buyers as late as 1991 is fascinating to me.
Let’s travel back to late 1962 when Kaiser introduced their brand new Jeep Wagoneer. It is widely considered to be the first Sport Utility Vehicle, and was really far ahead of its time, with such features as an overhead cam engine, optional independent front suspension, and most interestingly for our purposes, optional air conditioning. The Wagoneer was likely one of the first trucks of any kind to be available with factory A/C.
1965 Jeep Option List (A/C in the bottom middle).
Still, in those early years, the take rate for A/C wasn’t very high. My extensive Google image searches for a surviving 1963 Wagoneer equipped with A/C came up empty. The option only warranted a single line of text in the 1963 brochure – A/C wouldn’t even be worthy of a photo in the brochure until 1965.
1968 Jeep Wagoneer with factory air conditioning
Like many A/C systems in the early 1960s, the Wagoneer’s factory air was in the form of an add-on unit that could be installed either in the factory or dealership. The system was installed in the dashboard giving it a somewhat integrated appearance, albeit at the expense of losing the center glovebox (the speaker grille took up the passenger side of the dashboard). While it may have looked integrated, it was very much a separate system with its own separate controls, blower, and air outlets.
1984 Jeep Grand Wagoneer air conditioning system with separate controls.
After taking ownership of Jeep in 1970, AMC gave the Wagoneer some long-overdue updates, including the air conditioning system. They relocated the air conditioner from the dashboard to a slim under-dash system, but otherwise left it separate from the heater and defroster. This change allowed for A/C-equipped vehicles (which were becoming a larger percentage of sales) to retain their center-mounted glove box, and afforded vents on the sides of the dash (not just the center). But make no mistake, this was still a fully separate system, with its own controls blower and temperature controls. This system, with only minor modifications, would serve the Grand Wagoneer for the next several decades.
AMC took one last stab at updating the Grand Wagoneer’s woefully outdated A/C system in 1986, and I must admit that those wily engineers came up with some pretty clever lipstick to put onto their pig. The heater controls were now centrally mounted so that they could be operated by the passenger, but the real trick was that the A/C and heater controls were combined, even though the actual systems themselves were not.
1987 Jeep Grand Wagoneer with unified heater and A/C control panel. Note the fresh air organ stop still present by the steering column.
Even though the A/C system was still not integrated, they unified the controls to give the appearance of an integrated HVAC system, with some electronic and mechanical trickery. When the top slider is in the A/C position, the fan switch controls the blower motor on the A/C unit, while the blower on the heater is off. When in any other position, the fan switch controls the blower on the heater core, which had its own separate resistor, while the blower on the A/C stays idle.
Similarly, the temperature slider had two different functions, depending on whether the air conditioning or heater system we active. In A/C mode, the lever controlled a potentiometer to regulate the compressor cycling, the only way to control the output temperature since you couldn’t blend in warm air from the heater core. In heat or defrost mode, the temperature lever operated a blend door in the heater core like a conventional heater. For fresh air, you could pull on the two organ stops on either side of the steering wheel which opened cowl-mounted fresh air intakes on the driver and passenger sides, exactly the same as on the 1963 model.
This integrated control setup was a clever cheat, and maybe even fooled some buyers into thinking the system was truly integrated, but it still had the limitations of a dual heat and A/C setup. As previously mentioned, there was no way to blend warm in with the air-conditioned air, so temperature control was limited to adjusting the fan speed and cycling the compressor. This also precluded the possibility of any kind of automatic climate control system, commonplace in luxury vehicles by 1991. Furthermore, there was no way to direct air-conditioned (and dehumidified) air through the defrosters, which reduces their effectiveness at defogging the glass in humid environments (think a warm rainy day when there is wet gear inside). And of course, there was no way to have air coming out the vents the same time air is coming out the floor or defroster.
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Curbside Classic: Jeep Grand Wagoneer – Good Things Come In Threes
I can’t believe it took Jeep 30 years to come up with an encore. Excluding 1993 and “Commander” of course.
Something to keep in mind is that there was still not a lot of competition in the luxury SUV market as late as 1991 when these got killed. The Suburban of the era was a 70s design. The Land Cruiser had not ascended to luxury status yet and the Navigator and the Escalade were still years away from release. Chrysler really screwed up when they killed the Grand Wagoneer and assumed well-heeled buyers would downsize to the ZJ Grand Cherokee. They should’ve waited a year and unveiled a replacement based on the Ram 1500 to place at the top of the Jeep lineup. Instead they let the name lay dormant for 30 years and walked away from a market they created.
Yes, I’m sure Jeep left money on the table. But when you take a step back and look at the overall lineup including the Chrysler Town and Country, Pacifica, and Aspen. Dodge Magnum and Durango, and Jeep Commander and 4 door Wrangler. I’m sure Chrysler didn’t miss it that much…. But Jeep had several options such as using the “larger” second generation Durango chassis when it moved to the third gen. There has also been a 7 seat Jeep on sale in China for quite some time now that could have been imported. Finally there was a “Ramcharger” built in Mexico from a Ram chassis and the rear of a Grand Caravan in the 90’s that could have be rebadged as a Jeep too. Oh well…
I recall in 1991 when I was a freshly minted college grad in NorCal that the Grand Wagoneer was “cool” but not really something most people aspired to. Not until the GW got cancelled anyway. At that time it was a bit of a rolling anachronism and while you did need to be somewhat or fairly wealthy to afford a new one, there were lots of older ones rolling around, sucking down gas like nobody’s business. I think Jeep, then AMC, then Chrysler certainly got their money out of the design and then some. If you were thinking “Luxury” SUV you were thinking Range Rover in the late 1980s and early 1990s, at least on the coasts. Only really with hindsight do we see what was lost, and it’s purely from a character and personality aspect, i.e. a new 1960s vehicle in 1991! The sales numbers certainly didn’t really support keeping it around, collapsing to four figures in 1990 and just over 1,500 for the final year. That was also the Gulf War era so gas prices were rising again.
I did know a couple of people that had one (or more than one) at the time, they were considered interesting cars similar to someone having one or more Alfa Romeos or Saabs perhaps, but neither of those people had new ones, rather ones from the early to mid ’80s purchased used. People didn’t downsize to the new ZJ really (or did they? GW numbers were never as big as ZJ numbers), but it certainly opened up a new (and huge) market that would not have purchased the Grand Wagoneer had it soldiered on. The ZJ sold a quarter million its first year and that was its LEAST successful year for the first generation Grand Cherokee. Did the GW ever even break 100k per year? I doubt it and it likely was far more expensive to produce.
I love the thing myself, it’s in my Top 10 Bucket List vehicles, but don’t really think Chrysler made a mistake ending its run when they did.
I lived in Fairfield County, CT, in 1988-90, and these were thick as bugs on a bumper, as well as Volvo 760 and 240 wagons. Ride of choice for wealthy suburban women.
Did they ever integrate the A/C into the Valiant/Dart? if not, that may have bee the last car without it.
If you stray beyond US borders, it appears that Mexican-market VW Beetles could be had with a similar style of A/C until at least 1994. Here’s a ’94:
https://barnfinds.com/working-factory-a-c-1994-volkswagen-beetle/
The integrated control fakery -if it functions as being presumed- is actually worse than plain old hang-on.
With plain ol’ hang-on one could run heat and AC together and get a rudimentary, but effective, blending when conditions warranted it.
By chance (well I guess it wouldn’t be by chance lol) did Jeep duct heater output to the underdash unit?
No, heater output is ducted to a separate vent underneath the hang-on AC vents
Interesting. And in a sort of CC-effect, By chance I was having a version of just this discussion at home this morning. I was decrying how a 2015 Honda Fit that we’ve temporarily inherited is an incredibly stripped-down car (e.g., no integrated Homelink), and it was brought to my attention that “Well, it does have air conditioning and a radio! So that’s something.” To which I noted that air conditioning and radios are things that all vehicles now pretty much have to have given how these systems are thoroughly integrated with other stuff that cannot be optioned out. The days of hoping to order a vehicle without “luxury” items like ac and sound systems are long gone…and it’s interesting to read about where those days ended for air conditioning.
I think the only thing you can buy in the US without air conditioning is the Jeep Wrangler.
If that’s still true, good luck finding one in dealer inventory. I would imagine the only way to actually buy one without A/C would be a special order with a ‘big’, non-refundable deposit.
And it would be interesting to see the volume actually built without A/C, as well as where they’re sold. Maybe there are fleets up in The Great White North that buy them without A/C.
It annoys me when movies depict poor people and families driving these. As if they’re just another “old SUV”.
Ironically, there’s a recent TV commercial in which Joe Montana is featured loading up and driving an old Grand Wagoneer.
Up until fairly recently, I would have preferred to have unintegrated climate control.
Most of the integrated systems seemed to have issues, particularly after a few years, and
were difficult/expensive to repair, if you could get the parts.
Over the last decade or so functionality and durability have improved massively, to the
point that I have not even had to think about climate control issues on one of our newer
cars.
While I suspect the 1995 YJ was the last light-duty vehicle (at least in the US) without integrated HVAC, some trucks used separate systems to at least the late 1990s…indeed, the Ford C-series (even more of a throwback than the Wagoneer, the basic design dating to 1957) had the A/C mounted on the cab roof! Some cab-forward HD trucks (Mack MR-series…usually set up as trash trucks) used the roof-mount setup into at least the late 90s, I think Mack used it until the redesign (as the “TerraPro) in 2007..
This MR has the roof-mount A/C:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f7/Mack_MR_Series_-_City_Of_Tucson.jpg/800px-Mack_MR_Series_-_City_Of_Tucson.jpg
Chrysler 1967-generation A-bodies had similar underdash air conduits and separate control systems but they used a single control panel. The system was changed to a fully integrated reheat system for the last few years starting in 1973.
The older system had a pushbutton mode selector control panel and a temperature control lever; the new modern one had two levers. Chrysler saved the cost of retooling for a new dash (it was a heavy steel stamping) with built-in air conduits. On the compacts, that had to wait until the F-body.
On its larger bodies until the mid-70s, Chrysler also used an adjustable valve controlling hot water flow to the heater core for temperature control, when most other makers were using variable air doors.
This is the sort of automotive esoterica that makes CC such an enjoyable read (at least for us OCD car nerds).
+1000
The pre 2007 Landrover Defender air conditioning unit is also an add on in varying forms. The the external cue in most markets is the extended grille panel to make room for the condenser in addition to the radiator and intercooler although US spec Defender 90s have a standard grille panel since the V8 engine is shorter that TDI and doesn’t need an intercooler. On the inside the early version seen on 1993 US Defender 110s has ducting and vents filling the dashboard and black plastic filler pieces in place of the air vents under the windshield. The US D90 and subsequent rest of world vehicles went to an under dash system like the aftermarket unit in the picture which retained the air vents at the cost of some knee room. The 2007 models gor a whole new dashboard and center stack with integrated vents and integrated AC when installed. Interestingly these also got the extended grille panel as standard, regardless of whether AC was fitted.
Here’s a 1993 NAS 110 showing the extended grille and black vent fillers (partially obscured by the roll cage)
Off-topic – though surely in the category of CC-Approved esoterica – but I had no idea the Defender was ever available with an automatic.
I can understand this type of system on the old Kaiser Wagoneers, but AMC?
Nash pioneered the modern car heater with the 1939 Weather Eye and had the first integrated in dash AC with the 1954 All Weather Eye. I know times were often tight for them but surely they had the know-how to do it right.
I had an ’82 Wagoneer in the 90s.
A much more basic one.
Certainly didn’t have the interior of the featured one.
Not sure if it even had A.C.
Had springs in the seats like days of yore.
On the highway my hand would go over and under the radio while trying to tune a station.
It was beige with those 70s-style white mags.
Cool truck.
I had dealer air in my ’78 Zephyr. It worked well, but only out of two vents on the unit.
The Peugeot 504 about 3.4 million copies in its long, long life, and not one had integrated aircon. The factory only ever provided versions of hang-on. The last ones could still be seen on Peugeot Kenya’s website in 2007.
The 504 was a bit upmarket too, at least in some of the export markets, as it was not some tiny econocar. Not as grand as a Cherokee, ofcourse.
Pug of Kenya site. Wkipaedia says car was assembled there till ’06, with it being visible on Pug kenya’s website in ’07. This shot is from Wayback machine, dated in ’07.
The interior photo above is from a Kenyan 504 made in 2002.