Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ

The ZJ Grand Cherokee went on sale in April 1992 as a 1993 model. It was a bigger, plusher Cherokee XJ that AMC had started developing in the 1980s to replace both the XJ and the full-size Grand Wagoneer. It kept solid axles front and rear on coil springs, offered the 4.0 straight six or a Magnum V8, and introduced a fully automatic full-time 4WD system called Quadra-Trac. Thirty years on, it's the forgotten middle child of the Jeep lineup, and that is exactly why it makes such a good budget wheeler.

AN AMC IDEA, A CHRYSLER LAUNCH

AMC hired outside designers to sketch a larger follow-up to the XJ, and Larry Shinoda styled a prototype in 1985. Shinoda had to sue to be paid and credited, and after Chrysler bought AMC in 1987 it settled with his estate for more than $200,000. A running pre-production version appeared in 1989 as the 'Jeep Concept 1'. Dodge also built a ZJ-based Ramcharger replacement with its own grille, but cancelled it before launch.

Chrysler built the truck at the new Jefferson North Assembly Plant in Detroit and introduced it at the January 1992 Detroit auto show in style. Chrysler's Bob Lutz drove a red Laredo from the factory to Cobo Hall, then he and Mayor Coleman Young drove it up the front steps and through a plate-glass window into the lobby. Export trucks built by Magna Steyr in Graz, Austria, carry the code ZG.

WHAT MADE IT DIFFERENT

At launch every ZJ had the 190 hp 4.0 six. Early in 1993 the 5.2 Magnum V8 arrived, making it the only SUV in its class with a V8 option, and with it a woodgrain Grand Wagoneer version that lasted one year and 6,378 trucks. There were three 4WD systems: part-time Command-Trac (NP231), Selec-Trac (NP242) with a full-time mode, and the new Quadra-Trac (NV249). Quadra-Trac was a permanent system with a viscous coupling that sent drive forward when the rear slipped, with no driver input needed. A driver's airbag and four-wheel ABS were standard.

Underneath, both axles sit on coil springs with four control arms and a track bar each, which Jeep called Quadra-Link. It's a close cousin of the setup the Wrangler TJ got for 1997, and much of the TJ and XJ aftermarket bolts on. The ZJ was Motor Trend's 1993 Truck of the Year, the V8 made Car and Driver's Ten Best list, and Petersen's named it 4x4 of the Year in 1993, 1996 and 1998.

1996 FACELIFT AND THE 5.9 LIMITED

The 1996 update brought new bumpers and cladding, a bigger grille, a new interior with a passenger airbag, and an OBD-II port. The manual gearbox had already gone after 1994, and Command-Trac and the base SE were dropped. The 4.0 was rerated at 185 hp. The NV249 was revised: from 1996 low range gave a true 50/50 lock instead of still running through the viscous coupling.

For 1998 Jeep fitted the 5.9 Magnum V8 from the Ram pickup to create the 5.9 Limited. It made 245 hp and 345 lb-ft, came with louvered hood, mesh grille, 16 in wheels, 3.73 gears and a rear Trac-Lok, and needed premium fuel. Motor Trend timed it at 6.8 seconds to 60 mph, and Jeep advertised it as the world's fastest SUV. Kevin's Offroad puts 1998 production at 14,286 out of 247,372 Grand Cherokees. Then the WJ arrived and the ZJ was gone.

THE BUDGET WHEELER

Today the ZJ is cheap. Bring a Trailer's ZJ sales over the past year ran from $4,250 to $18,500, and ordinary trucks change hands for less. OffroadXtreme calls the 4.0 one of Jeep's most reliable engines, if a little underpowered for the ZJ's weight, and the 5.2 'extremely reliable'. The catches are rust, leaks, worn steering and the age of the Quadra-Trac and Selec-Trac cases.

Its contemporaries were the third-generation 4Runner, the Discovery and, further up the price list, the 80 Series and P38 Range Rover. Of that group, the ZJ is usually the cheapest way in. Its successor, the WJ, moved to gerotor-based Quadra-Trac II and Quadra-Drive, so the ZJ remains the last Grand Cherokee with the simpler chain-and-viscous Quadra-Trac.