The CJ series is Jeep’s first civilian off-road vehicle, and it applies many of the technologies used to manufacture military off-road vehicles to the CJ series. At that time, the Jeep brand still belonged to the Willis Overland Motor Company. The CJ series models have been produced for a total of 43 years, and have accumulated sufficient technical and consumer bases for the launch of the Wrangler.
1981-1997—Wrangler YJ series
In 1986, AMC officially launched the Wrangler (Wrangler) YJ series at the Chicago Auto Show. In terms of appearance design, the Wrangler YJ retains the classic appearance of CJ. The difference is that the center of gravity is lower, and it has better handling and a comfortable interior. In terms of design, classic elements such as the original front flip windshield and detachable doors are still preserved. Different from CJ’s round headlight, YJ’s square headlight design is also a distinctive feature.
Speaking of power, the Wrangler at that time was equipped with two different power engines, namely 2.5L in-line four-cylinder engine and 4.2L in-line six-cylinder engine. Very good performance. The Wrangler YJ series also adopts a double longitudinal beam chassis design and is equipped with front and rear leaf springs, which has very high rigidity.
After the launch of the Wrangler, within a few months, Chrysler Corporation acquired AMC American Motors Corporation in August 1987. Since then, the Jeep brand has been integrated into the American Chrysler Group. In 1991, Chrysler replaced the 4.0L direct-injection engine for the Wrangler YJ to replace the previous 4.2L inline six-cylinder engine. The maximum power of this engine can reach 180 horsepower, which improves the overall power performance of the Wrangler by a level.
Until 1996, the Wrangler YJ series produced a total of 685,701 units. Such sales in the United States at that time were enough to prove the success of the Wrangler model. The rough style and strong off-road ability make this YJ series models extremely popular, but the front and rear double leaf springs make the driving comfort of YJ series models very limited.
