Every Jeep Model Made During The AMC Years

If there's one name that's synonymous with SUVs and off-road vehicles in America, it's Jeep. From its World War II-era beginnings through to its post-war expansion into civilian markets and current status as one of the many brands under the Stellantis umbrella, Jeep has built a line of iconic off-roaders that have inspired plenty of Jeep clones over the years.

However, the decades since World War II have also seen Jeep change hands multiple times. First, in 1953, Kaiser-Frazer purchased Willys-Overland and renamed it the Willys Motor Company. After a decade, Willys Motor Company became Kaiser-Jeep in 1963 before dwindling sales by the end of the 1960s prompted American Motors Corporation (AMC) to acquire Jeep from Kaiser. It was a deal meant to solve both companies' issues, with Jeep receiving better distribution and AMC expanding its product offerings with useful off-road vehicles.

So, in 1970, AMC paid $75 million — over $600 million in today's money — for Jeep. AMC expanded and updated Jeep's lineup significantly, introducing new variants on the Jeep CJ archetype such as the CJ-7, bringing new engines such as the AMC 360 V8, and — perhaps most crucially — debuting the first-generation Jeep Cherokee SJ in 1974. Let's look back at the 16 years Jeep spent under AMC, covering all of the models built during this stretch.

A quick note before we start — the production years listed below are just the AMC years. Some of these Jeeps first debuted before AMC's ownership, while others stayed in the lineup after Chrysler's takeover of AMC in 1987.

Let's start with the oldest Jeep on this list, the CJ-5. The CJ-5 debuted during the early years of Kaiser's ownership, when it first came to market in 1954 as a longer version of the CJ-3B and remained in the Jeep lineup up until the final years of AMC's ownership.

AMC didn't immediately rock the boat when it took over Jeep, with the first major change to the CJ-5 coming in 1972. The CJ-5 had changed from its 1954 origins under Kaiser's auspices, of course, but 1972 was when AMC swapped in its inline-six engines — in either 232- or 258-CI guises — and the AMC 304 V8 in place of the old powerplants. AMC had to stretch the CJ-5's wheelbase by three inches to fit the new engines, with the newly AMC-powered CJ-5 sporting an 84-inch wheelbase vs. the 81-inch wheelbase of years prior.

AMC also continued offering the spicier Renegade trim level that Kaiser had first introduced in 1970. Where Kaiser's Renegade I sported the old Dauntless V6 engine, AMC's 1972 CJ-5 Renegade combined the 150 horsepower 304-CI V8 with visual and functional extras such as a roll bar, sportier alloy wheels, a racing stripe, and a limited-slip differential. 

Jeep offered the Renegade package throughout the rest of the CJ-5's run, even as emissions and fuel consumption regulations forced a switch to Chevrolet's infamous Iron Duke engine as the standard CJ-5 engine in 1980. AMC eventually stopped building the CJ-5 in 1983, with the total production run coming to an impressive 603,303 units.

The CJ-5 wasn't the only Kaiser-era Jeep to continue production under AMC's ownership, although this particular Jeep wasn't nearly as long-lived as that icon. The CJ-6 first debuted in 1956 as a stretched version of the CJ-5, sporting a 101-inch wheelbase that was 20 inches longer than that of the CJ-5.

Having a longer wheelbase allowed the CJ-6 to have more cargo room than the CJ-5, but the two off-roaders were otherwise identical — a situation that didn't change much once AMC took over the reins from Kaiser. It even received the same three-inch stretch in 1972, with its new 104-inch wheelbase allowing AMC to fit the 232-CI inline-six, the 258-CI inline-six, and the AMC 304 V8 in the CJ-6's engine bay.

However, the CJ-6 didn't have quite the same production run — at least, not in the U.S. market. In 1976, AMC started prioritizing the then-new Jeep CJ-7, relegating the CJ-6 to mostly overseas sales. AMC continued building the CJ-6 in low numbers but finally discontinued it in 1981, making it the first CJ model discontinued during AMC's stewardship.

Jeeps may have made their name as off-road vehicles, but the Jeep Dispatchers were models that Americans in the 1960s and 1970s were more likely to have seen trundling along suburban streets than going overlanding. That's because these were affordable, two-wheel-drive trucks designed primarily for road use.

Jeep built two Dispatcher models over the years: the DJ-5 was a version of the CJ-5 with its origins during Kaiser's ownership in the mid-1960s. The two-wheel-drive DJ-5 became the U.S. Post Office's preferred mail truck as these models eventually came with a fully enclosed body with sliding doors and a swinging rear door to better suit that role. 

After taking over from Kaiser, AMC continued building the enclosed DJ-5 under its AM General subsidiary, its equivalent of Kaiser-Jeep's Defense and Government Products division. However, just as it did with the CJ-5, AMC replaced the old engines with its own larger units. It even built an electric version in 1977 called the Electruck, although only 400 units ever left the factory.

Kaiser also built a Jeep DJ-6 which, as the name suggests, was a two-wheel-drive version of the longer-wheelbase CJ-6. There's much less information about the DJ-6, with sources even disagreeing about its production run. Some say that the DJ-6 ran from 1965 to 1973, while others allege that Kaiser dropped it in 1968. Meanwhile, the Jeep Database claims that the DJ-6 was an AMC product, with production starting in 1975 and ending a year before the DJ-5 in 1983. Confusing? You bet.

We have a couple more Jeep CJs to discuss, but let's take a break from them and turn to another Kaiser-era carryover, the Jeep Commando. The Jeep Commando — or the Jeepster Commando, as it was known in the '60s — was a revival of Willys-Overland's old 1940s Jeepster convertible that came out in the mid-1960s to rival products like the International Scout and Ford Bronco.

The Jeepster Commando was available in pickup, station wagon, roadster, and convertible body styles, although the latter wasn't very popular and was discontinued after 1969. The Commando was a sportier model than Jeep's usual fare, combining Jeep's signature off-road capabilities with lifestyle-focused features and marketing. 

Unfortunately, it didn't sell particularly well, even compared to stablemates like the Wagoneer. Despite that, AMC decided to keep the Commando around once it took over Jeep. AMC renamed it the Jeep Commando for the 1972 model year, redesigned the body, and made the usual adjustments to the drivetrain, introducing its 258-CI inline-six and 304-CI V8.

AMC's changes triggered an uptick in sales, but it wasn't enough. AMC built 10,685 Commandos in 1972, a trifling amount compared to the 44,000-plus Chevrolet Blazers GM built that same year. Buyers were moving toward bigger SUVs, and AMC discontinued the Jeep Commando at the end of 1973 after just over 20,000 units built.

If we're talking about era-crossing Jeeps, though, the big daddy of them all has to be the Jeep Wagoneer. The Wagoneer debuted as a Kaiser vehicle in 1963, survived AMC's 16-year run — with a name change, admittedly — and even managed to make it into the 1990s under Chrysler's ownership.

Kaiser-Jeep's goal with the Wagoneer was to offer a luxury four-wheeling experience, with features such as an automatic transmission and car-like styling setting it apart from Jeep's other products. The Wagoneer SJ nailed that brief so perfectly that AMC didn't feel the need to change things up much. It replaced the old engines with AMC units, of course, but other changes were more about keeping the Wagoneer relevant without reinventing the wheel. Thus, Quadra-Trac arrived in 1973, standard front disc brakes debuted in 1974 and lighter aluminum bumpers replaced the old units in 1979.

The biggest change to the Wagoneer brand came in 1984 and the debut of the all-new Cherokee XJ, which had an upmarket Wagoneer variation in tow. Instead of discontinuing the old SJ-platform Wagoneer, though, AMC decided to load the venerable SUV up with almost all of the optional luxury features — such as leather seats and cruise control — as standard. Chrysler continued building Grand Wagoneers after it took over in 1987 but dropped it a few years later in 1991, by which point it was one of the last carbureted cars sold in the U.S.

AMC's decision to drop the Jeep Commando after 1973 meant that it had a space in its lineup for a sportier, more lifestyle-oriented vehicle — a gap that it filled starting in 1975 with the first-generation Jeep Cherokee, a two-door version of the contemporary Wagoneer built on the same SJ platform.

The Cherokee SJ was broadly similar to the Wagoneer, even sharing the same body panels. This made for a simpler production process, and was one of the Cherokee SJ's big advantages over the now-discontinued Commando, which used a lot of unique parts and made production more complex than AMC wanted it to be. The Cherokee SJ came with the 258-CI inline-six by default, but power-hungry buyers could still opt for the same 215 horsepower AMC 401 V8 available in the Wagoneer SJ, though, so the two models were equal there.

Living up to its supposed sportier nature, the Cherokee SJ came with bucket seats as standard, as opposed to the Wagoneer's bench seat. Jeep also offered the Cherokee in a wide-track body style with wider axles and pleasingly-flared out wheel arches. This upped the cool factor by quite a bit, although enthusiasts consider the standard body to be the more desirable of the two. AMC built nearly 200,000 Cherokee SJs over its 10-year production run, with the vast majority of those made in the 1970s. The company discontinued the Cherokee SJ after 1983, replacing it with the Cherokee XJ.

Jeep's Wagoneer SJ wasn't just the springboard for the Cherokee SJ, it also served as the base for Jeep's long-running J-series pickup trucks. These debuted in 1963 as the Jeep Gladiator, with three-digit — later four-digit — codes (such as J-100 and J-230) helping differentiate the models by wheelbase and gross vehicle weight.

The Gladiator name continued for the first couple years of AMC ownership, but the introduction of AMC engines in 1972 — including the AMC 360 V8, which was optional in the trucks — coincided with the dropping of the Gladiator name, with the pickups now known simply as the Jeep Truck. The trucks initially retained their four-digit codes for a couple of years but AMC eventually renamed them in 1974 and simplified the lineup. The half-ton truck became the J-10, the three-quarter-ton was the J-20, and the one-ton version was now the J-30.

AMC equipped the J-10 with its 258-CI inline-six as standard, but buyers could upsize to the 360-CI or 401-CI V8s if desired. The J-20 had the 360-CI V8 by default but, like its smaller sibling, could accommodate the 401-CI V8 if necessary. The J-10 and J-20 continued mostly unchanged for the next decade or so, although they were joined by a couple of new trucks in the 1980s, one of which replaced the J-trucks outright — more on that in just a bit.

Jeep's SJ platform was a great one, but it was beginning to show its age by the mid-1980s. Times were changing, and AMC needed to update the Cherokee and bring it in line with modern expectations. The company — with the aid of a $150 million investment from French automotive giant Renault — did so wonderfully, pulling off one of its greatest achievements when it released the Cherokee XJ in 1984. 

The Cherokee XJ was smaller all around than its predecessor and — crucially – 1,000 pounds lighter thanks to its unibody construction, the first for an American four-wheeler. Despite the downsizing, the Cherokee XJ was as capable as the SJ, if not more so. The Selec-Trac four-wheel-drive system carried over to the new XJ, while engineering trickery managed to make up for the somewhat old-fashioned solid axles (Chevy's contemporary Blazer, for example, had independent front suspension). Contemporary reviewers enjoyed the Cherokee XJ and it continues to be held in high regard today as one of the most collectible Jeeps ever made. 

Interestingly, the Cherokee XJ saw a reversal of fortunes for the Cherokee and Wagoneer nameplates, and the latter was relegated to being a trim level of the former starting in 1984. Either way, the Cherokee XJ was an immediate hit, and Chrysler wisely continued building the Cherokee XJ once it took over in 1987. It also introduced the iconic Jeep 4.0-liter straight-six to the Cherokee XJ's engine bay in the process, making the Chrysler-era XJs the ones to get for most fans.

A couple of years after launching the Cherokee XJ, AMC repeated the trick that Kaiser had pulled off with the Wagoneer SJ-based Jeep Gladiator by releasing a Cherokee XJ-based pickup truck called the Comanche.

The mid-sized Comanche shared a lot with the Cherokee XJ, right down to the engine choices. The standard powerplant was AMC's 117 horsepower 2.5-liter inline-four, with a 2.8-liter V6 and 2.1-liter turbo-diesel also available. The three trim levels available during AMC's final year — XLS, Custom, and X — were broadly quite similar mechanically and functionally, with the same base engine, Quadra-Link suspension system, and two- or four-wheel-drive options. The main difference, as ever, was in luxury, as the XLS had extras such as a plusher bench seat and a more thorough gauge cluster as standard.

AMC had big plans for the Comanche, with the 1987 model slated to receive AMC's 4.0-liter straight-six engine, although these plans would change slightly when Chrysler took over AMC in 1987. Chrysler soon introduced a six-foot short bed, but poor sales prompted Jeep's new owners to give up on the Comanche in 1992, marking the end of a long line of Jeep pickup trucks — a lineage that would lay dormant until the 2020 Jeep Gladiator hit the streets nearly 30 years after the last Comanche left the factory floor.

We have a couple more AMC-era Jeeps to cover, both of which are CJ-series models that AMC introduced to the family during its ownership. The older of the two, and the one we'll discuss first, is the CJ-7. AMC began developing the CJ-7 a few years after acquiring Jeep, with work starting on the CJ-5.5 (as it was known) as early as 1972.

Four years later, the off-roader — renamed the CJ-7 — debuted as a larger and slightly comfier version of the CJ-5. The wheelbase was stretched to 93.5 inches, offering a welcome increase in cargo room over the CJ-5. Other changes included an optional automatic transmission, a comfier suspension setup, and an optional removable hardtop complete with doors. Engine options were the same as the CJ-5, with the 258-CI inline-six installed as the default engine and the 304-CI V8 available if desired.

The CJ-7 went down well with buyers, with 21,000 units sold in its first year alone and earning solid praise from automotive journalists of the time (even if the standard inline-six wasn't particularly inspiring). It replaced the CJ-6 in the Jeep lineup and continued to sell well throughout its decade-long run; by the time AMC discontinued the CJ-7 after 1986, the company had built 380,000 units, which put it in second place in the Jeep CJ sales charts after the CJ-5.

We're down to the last of AMC's Jeeps, and it's perhaps fitting that the final Jeep we're going to look at was also the last member of the classic CJ family to debut — the CJ-8. Introduced in mid-1981 as the Jeep Scrambler, the CJ-8 was a longer, pickup truck version of the CJ-8, capable of carrying 1,500 pounds while retaining the classic off-road capabilities of the Jeep CJ.

As was tradition with Jeep CJs, the CJ-8's larger number meant that it was longer, with the small pickup running on a 103-inch wheelbase. The rear overhang was also extra-long at 50.3 inches, giving the Scrambler 30.4 cubic feet of cargo room. Despite being made for heavier loads, the CJ-8 came with GM's 82 horsepower Iron Duke four-pot as standard, while those who wanted a bit more power were limited to AMC's 258-CI inline-six, which made 115 horsepower and 210 lb-ft of torque. AMC never offered a V8 engine in the CJ-8.

AMC updated the engine options in 1984, dropping the Iron Duke in favor of its own 2.5-liter inline-four, which offered a welcome 20-horsepower upgrade over the Iron Duke, making 105 horsepower in the Scrambler. Journalists of the time appreciated the Scrambler despite its lack of V8 power, but it didn't sell particularly well. Jeep only built around 28,000 Scramblers, and AMC discontinued the pickup in 1986 in favor of the XJ-based Comanche we discussed earlier.