Who made the first (European) SUV?

peasant · 23-10-2007 12:54PM #1

SUV as in semi-pretend offroad vehicle ...not your good old Landy.

Was it Simca/Talbot/Matra with this?

probably not ...that led a pretty lonely existence and was gone again before the term SUV even appeared.

So, who did?

get yer anoraks

ednwireland · 23-10-2007 01:37PM

i remember those, looks a bit like a discovery not that i'm accusing anyone of anything

G Luxel · 23-10-2007 01:43PM

I think it was probably the Range Rover of I970, but thats off the top of my head. The Worlds first one was by Willys/Jeep with the Grand Wagoneer, built until 1991.

Kali · 23-10-2007 01:43PM

Proper modern-day SUV (as in actually luxurious?) .. I'd go with a 1990 Mercedes G-Class

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W463

alias no.9 · 23-10-2007 01:48PM

First European SUV - Range Rover

peasant · 23-10-2007 02:03PM

Hmm yeees ...

But Range Rover and Merc G class are still proper off-roaders.

I'm thinking more along the lines of semi-useless "soft roaders" like this one:

:D:D

TomMc · 23-10-2007 02:41PM

Lada have (had) ones for some time now.

& then http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossover_SUV

richie_rvf · 23-10-2007 02:50PM

But that Lada is good off road so is disqualified

What about the original Fiat Panda 4x4??

alias no.9 · 23-10-2007 03:11PM

peasant wrote: »

Hmm yeees ...

But Range Rover and Merc G class are still proper off-roaders.

I'm thinking more along the lines of semi-useless "soft roaders" like this one:

:D:D

I kind of guessed you meant soft roaders but was being a little bit of a pedant. The term SUV really originates from passenger versions of american pick up trucks. Their original raison d'être was to evade strict emissions legislation in the US since they were heavy enough to be classified as light trucks rather than cars, and as such, were alowed to pollute more. The term has evolved or been. abused depending on perspective, to cover just about any car with a raised ride height.

Anyway, enough of the pedantry, thanks for posting that picture of the golf. I saw one on the N6 just west of loughrea, probably 6 years ago or so. It was travelling in the opposite direction so I barely got a glance of it. I thought I was going mad, either that or somebody had way too much spare time on their hands and had modified their golf.

alias no.9 · 23-10-2007 03:12PM

richie_rvf wrote: »

But that Lada is good off road so is disqualified

What about the original Fiat Panda 4x4??

The rancho is older and the panda was surprisingly good on the rough stuff too.

RobAMerc · 23-10-2007 03:14PM

wasn't the Matra Rancho a 2 wheel drive ? I think they were totally useless off road.

I plagued my dad to get one so much he bought me a dinky one - came with a trailer too.

If its not the first SUV I don't know what is - all the Landies and range rovers were never developed as SUV thats why they work off road.

prospect · 23-10-2007 03:37PM

The panda 4x4, particularly the first one, have an excellent off-road reputation.

This is because they are so light, and because the wheels are so close to the four corners of the vehicle, it allows it to climb up and off steep inclines. It is just a pity they haven't stuck a 1.4JTd engine in one of them.

richie_rvf · 23-10-2007 03:38PM

prospect wrote: »

The panda 4x4, particularly the first one, have an excellent off-road reputation.

Actually, now that you mention it - every one I have seen have been off-road

:D:D

prospect · 23-10-2007 03:40PM

richie_rvf wrote: »

Actually, now that you mention it - every one I have seen have been off-road :D:D

:eek:

ba-dumm tshhhh

richie_rvf · 23-10-2007 03:41PM

Sorry - couldn't resist - just been reading the one-liners section!!

Terrontress · 23-10-2007 03:44PM

RobAMerc wrote: »

wasn't the Matra Rancho a 2 wheel drive ? I think they were totally useless off road.

I plagued my dad to get one so much he bought me a dinky one - came with a trailer too.

If its not the first SUV I don't know what is - all the Landies and range rovers were never developed as SUV thats why they work off road.

Did the dinky one have a folding rear seat with a lever down on the underside?

I had one of those!

unkel · 23-10-2007 03:47PM

peasant · 23-10-2007 03:56PM

unkel

I see your Mehari and raise you this:

But all those (including the Rancho) were pre the SUV craze ...so which vehicle actually kicked it off for the masses in the late 90's?

Max_Damage · 23-10-2007 04:56PM

peasant wrote: »

so which vehicle actually kicked it off for the masses in the late 90's?

It was the Hummer H1 if I remember correctly. Arnie Schwarzenegger converted a military Humvee for civilian use. The sheep followed suit.

colm_mcm · 23-10-2007 06:40PM

Mini Moke?

peasant · 23-10-2007 07:16PM

get with it colm ...

what's that two posts further up?

Hagar · 23-10-2007 07:20PM

Unimog.

colm_mcm · 23-10-2007 08:21PM

peasant wrote: »

get with it colm ...

what's that two posts further up?

I didn't recognise it in camoflauge!

meathstevie · 23-10-2007 08:31PM

I think it might have been Citroen with a 4x4 version of the 2CV they built on a very limited scale for the Elf-Acquitaine oil company in North Africa in the fifties. As far as I remember correctly what I read a couple of years ago the basicly powered both axles with seperate 600cc standerd 2CV engines.

meathstevie · 23-10-2007 08:35PM

And let's not forget the German ( vw) kubelwagen from the late 30's and and early 40's. This yoke was widely used by the Nazi military

colm_mcm · 23-10-2007 08:38PM

hardly an SUV then! depends on what they termed 'sport' I suppose.

alias no.9 · 24-10-2007 08:24AM

meathstevie wrote: »

I think it might have been Citroen with a 4x4 version of the 2CV they built on a very limited scale for the Elf-Acquitaine oil company in North Africa in the fifties. As far as I remember correctly what I read a couple of years ago the basicly powered both axles with seperate 600cc standerd 2CV engines.

You mean the Citroen 2cv Sahara.

Again, it was fairly capable off road so doesn't really meet the soft roader requirements.

prospect · 24-10-2007 08:28AM

Well, the first 4x4 I remember being used soley as a family car was a Daihatsu Fourtrak...

TomMc · 24-10-2007 08:38AM

^^^ Suzuki as well, but neither are European!

barryfitz · 24-10-2007 08:40AM

The fourtrak was too good offroad to be an SUV

peasant · 24-10-2007 09:04AM

So, would it be the jacked up estates like Audi Allroad and Volvo Cross Country then ?

Who made the first (European) SUV?

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