With the continuous growth of the Jeep brand, its products have gradually diversified and began to be sold abroad. The American Motor Corporation (AMC) was optimistic about Jeep’s prospects and acquired Jeep from Kaiser in 1970. The first action after AMC acquired Jeep was to distinguish civilian products from military products in order to better develop civilian models. In 1976, AM launched the CJ-7, which was the first large-scale facelift of the CJ series.
1976-1985—Jeep CJ series facelift
The brand-new Jeep series models are equipped with automatic transmission and equipped with Quadra-Trac full-time 4-wheel drive system. Two different versions of LAREDO and RENEGADE are launched. These two versions represent high-configuration models and functional models respectively. .
Among them, the LAREDO version is equipped with chrome-plated radiator grille, bumper, hubcap, leather seat and high-end interior panels, and the engine cover is painted in a color different from that of the main body. The word LAREDO represents the high-end configuration level of Jeep models.
The RENEGADE is a powerful, functional car with oversized tires, roll beams, low ratio gears and a limited differential. Introduced in 1976, the Renegade is still powered by an old Kaiser V6.
Until 1977, AMC equipped the RENEGADE with a new Golden 5.0L V8 engine. The CJ-7 series has sold more than 400,000 units during its ten years of service, and has become the most successful model in the history of Jeep CJ in one fell swoop.
In the following ten years, AMC also launched the CJ-8 and CJ-10 pickup series, but they were not as popular as the CJ-7, and the sales volume was not very satisfactory. As of 1986, the total production of the two cars did not exceed 30,000.
