Just Two Men Driving an Evoque Convertible, Arguing It's Like the Classic SUVs

We're not talking about the dynamics or off-road capabilities here, although those are also mentioned. No, we're referring to the philosophy behind the roofless Evoque, plus the needs and the expectations of a potential buyer.

Carlos Lago is the host of the episode, and he hates the Evoque in general. Thankfully, Lieberman is here and ready to play the good cop, making a neat point about all the original SUVs being roofless.

Plenty of classics we love and respect were all about freedom and having the wind in your hair - Wrangler, army Jeep, Chevy Blazer, Bronco, Toyota FJ, Land Rover. So in a way, the Evoque Convertible is one of the few true successors of the original SUVs, the polar opposite of all the dressed up minivans most people buy.

The counterargument is that they were all trail-ready and never styled to this degree. It's a bit like knowing that the tomato is a fruit yet never putting it in a fruit salad.

The stigma comes from adding what looks like a girly feature to an SUV that's already promoted by Victoria Beckham. That's the part that makes men cringe at the idea owning this car. Not all men, of course, because the Evoque Convertible helped Land Rover achieve an all-time sales record in 2016.

There are some guys who only feel manly while wearing a lumberjack shirt and sporting a huge beard. The Wrangler, with its plastic fenders and butch front end, is the same way.

But if you think the Evoque soft-top isn't a real SUV, just check out what it did during development testing. Yeah, it's not an agile sports car around Motor Trend's Figure Eight course, but no SUV should pretend that it is.