Today, most markets have fallen in love with crossovers, SUVs, and pickup trucks. But to believe this has only been happening in recent years could be considered a major misconception. As is the claim made by Land Rover’s latest collaboration with bespoke Savile Row tailor Henry Poole & Co in which the British company explicitly states the Range Rover “original luxury SUV has defined the market since 1970.”
Well, as it turns out, motoring history has its own folklore – and many such stories are riddled with common pre / misconceptions. For example, one of the greatest such errors has to do with the invention of the “Targa top” - a semi-convertible car body style featuring a partially removable section of the roof and another remaining in place (usually acting as a full-width roll bar that also incorporates the rear glass).
The term officially belongs to Porsche, the company using this registered trademark for the first time back in 1966 on the original Porsche 911 Targa. As such, many have the belief that it was the Stuttgart-based automaker that first introduced removable roof panels.
Well, the reality begs to differ, if only slightly. First, you need not confuse the Targa with a T-top, which features a non-removable bar that links the windscreen and the rear roll bar, with the removable roof usually being made out of two sections, one for the driver and one for the passenger. Secondly, the 1966 Porsche 911 Targa was not the first car that used a Targa top – it was the limited-series 1957 Fiat 1200 “Wonderful” by Vignale.
And we could go on about such common inaccuracies, but we are this time around interested in just one other. The one that places the Land Rover Range Rover of 1970 as the originator of the civilized all-wheel drive machines segment. This was acceptable (and a bit funny) when an acquaintance blurted out such a preposterous suggestion during a (very) late night cap - that Land Rover’s premium machine created what would later become the SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) segment, but again, it is certainly incorrect.
The Range Rover, which in 2020 celebrates no less than five decades of existence, has been a major contributor to the off-road vehicle sector, no one will argue with that. But the truth is that a 1970 Range Rover did not invent the luxury 4x4 SUV segment.
As you know the SUV term became common much later in popular culture, specifically via the 1974 Jeep Cherokee SJ. As for the luxury SUV, like many other innovations, the honor goes to an American company, the one that brought us the resurrected 2021 Jeep Wagoneer.
Or rather to its forebearer, the Kaiser Jeep Wagoneer (SJ), which was presented late 1962 as a 1963 model year. Originally, it was introduced as the successor of the Willys Jeep Station Wagon that had been in production since way back in 1946. Both the latter and its Wagoneer offspring were marketed as regular station wagons... but the new Wagoneer featured a pioneering design that basically created a new niche: 4x4 luxury vehicles.
Best not judged by its covers, the Wagoneer went for a decidedly sophisticated (for the era) raised station wagon styling that employed more passenger-car features than any other 4x4 on the market at the time – while still using a pickup truck chassis, just like its predecessor.
Still, the Wagoneer SJ model – manufactured for a total of 29 model years (1963 - 1991), the third-longest single generation vehicle in the U.S. - eschewed the utilitarian-derivation use case of its competitors that featured tough looks and spartan interiors.
Instead, the Wagoneer decided to usher a new template for others to follow, enticing clients with features unheard of in a mainstream all-wheel drive vehicle, such as available air conditioning (optional), factory radio, an independent front suspension and comfort creatures such as a power steering or an automatic transmission.
Just imagine, the Wagoneer virtually had no adversaries at the time of its introduction, and the Land Rover Range Rover only appeared eight years later, in three-door body form. Range Rover did not become a matching five-door luxury 4x4 until 1981! And then it was another wait until 1987 when Land Rover finally landed on U.S. soil...
Soon, the two models will become once more arduous competitors. Range Rover acts as a semi-separate brand these days, having been turned into a sprawling family that encompasses the Range Rover Evoque, the Range Rover Velar, the Range Rover Sport, and the Range Rover patriarch.
For now, we only know about the impending arrival of the Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. Actually, Jeep seems more intent on battling American competitors rather than its British rival – Lincoln and Cadillac have been tremendously expanding their SUV ranges of late, and Fiat Chrysler clearly needed a matching response. The luxury SUV game is heating up, so fans are in for some interesting times.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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