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This 1989 LS3 Powered Jeep Grand Wagoneer Is the Perfect Sleeper

The American car industry has been pumping out some insanely good cars for the past century. From the big luxury cruisers to the legendary muscle cars, we grew to love these bald-eagle machines. But, among this list of tire-smoking hooligans and land yachts, we also got some boring, shoulder-sagging cars, and the Jeep Grand Wagoneer is one of them.
1989 Jeep Gran Wagoneer 11 photos
Photo: Bring a Trailer
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Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really good car, but there just isn’t anything exciting about it. From the beginning, this wood-panel ocean liner was nothing more than the family hauler, and there’s nothing particularly wrong with that - it’s just that this is an American vehicle, so we expected an absolute monster under the hood.

Yes, it got a V8, but it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, and with styling that would make even your grandma sigh, it flew under the radar of a lot of car enthusiasts. But, with that said, there are a select few petrolheads out there that love this platform and throw mods at them to finally bring them justice.

For example, here is one listed on Bring a Trailer. At first glance, you wouldn't look twice at it but pop the hood, and the story changes. Yes, it’s a sleeper, making it way cooler than a ‘69 Mustang.

Powering this grandpa mobile is arguably the most American engine out there - the LS. I think the saying “LS swap the world” is a little too much, but the LS3 fits this thing like a glove.

We don't know a power figure for the so-called "Grand Frankeneer," but you can be more than certain that it is more than enough to take teenagers in their 240SX builds by surprise. Not to leave you hanging about the power number, this LS3 looks mostly stock but is still enough to put down 495 hp (502 ps), according to Chevrolet. It also has a few supporting mods, like a lift kit and a GM 4LE65E gearbox, but that's about it. Because, you know, it's a sleeper. It's not supposed to be shouty.

There are a lot of American cars that get easily overlooked in favor of their popular siblings, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be cool, so give them a chance!
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About the author: Călin Iosif
Călin Iosif profile photo

Călin’s origin story is being exposed to Top Gear when he was very young. Watching too much of Clarkson, Hammond and May argue on TV turned him into Petrolhead (an automotive journalist with a soft spot for old pieces of... cars, old cars).
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