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Being early to the market isn’t always a good thing.
SUVs are on every street corner today but the body style’s rise is relatively recent. Many high-riding models launched before the segment’s popularity sky-rocketed are remembered as also-rans – assuming they’re not forgotten entirely. Even some of the ones that had a formative influence on the SUV as we know it are seldom seen in traffic.
From a Jeep-like Alfa Romeo to Isuzu’s street-legal concept car, join us for a look at some of the forgotten SUVs that competed in the class before it was cool:
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Alfa Romeo Matta (1951)
Alfa Romeo is rooted in performance but its resume includes many commercial vehicles, including various vans and an off-roader named Matta introduced in 1951. It was developed to secure a lucrative contract with the Italian army but officials chose Fiat’s proposal, the original Campagnola, instead.
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Alfa Romeo Matta (1951)
Alfa Romeo decided not to scrap the project and built about 2059 units of the Matta between 1951 and 1955. Most ended up in the hands of government agencies in Italy (including, ironically, the military) but a few hundred examples were sold to civilians. The Matta was as rudimentary as it looks yet it used a version of the 1.9 four-cylinder with dual overhead cams fitted to the 1900.
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International-Harvester Travelall (1953)
International-Harvester used the Travelall nameplate on four generations of pickup-based people haulers between 1953 and 1975. They were as robust as their truck underpinnings suggested and most were available with four-wheel drive, though it often cost extra.
Taking your entire family to brunch in a car manufactured by a company that designed combine harvesters and tractors was more comfortable than it sounded. International-Harvester added a growing list of creature comforts to the Travelall during the 1960s to meet the needs of the increasingly large group of buyers using 4x4s as their daily driver.
PICTURE: first-generation model
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International-Harvester Travelall (1953)
Chevrolet’s Suburban overshadowed the Travelall during most of its production run. The last-minute addition of a segment-defying Wagon Master model that was part pickup, part SUV and designed for motorists who towed a fifth-wheel trailer didn’t boost its sales. It retired after the 1975 model year.
International-Harvester continued making the smaller Scout until it stopped making passenger vehicles in 1980.
PICTURE: final generation model
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Jeepster Commando (1967)
By the time the Commando arrived, Jeep had spent over two decades making civilian versions of its famous war-winning machine with varying degrees of success. The Commando was a large two-door SUV, available as a pickup, convertible (pictured), roadster and covered wagon – with the Ford Bronco launched two years earlier firmly in its sights.
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Jeepster Commando (1967)
Even the ‘de-Jeeped’ frontal design of the C104 version of 1972 - complete with much more powerful straight-six and V8 engines from new parent company AMC - didn’t solve its problems. The Commando is thus largely forgotten, while the Bronco name is such a legend it’s recently been revived to major acclaim and sales.
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Plymouth Trail Duster (1974)
Jeep may have been quick to respond to the Bronco, but Chrysler was not. The Dodge Ramcharger was its belated response created nearly a decade after the Bronco helped to establish the hot two-door large SUV segment. Not to be left out, sister company Plymouth got it too, but named it Trail Duster. Like the Ramcharger, power came from a variety of Chrysler small-block V8s, and a 3.7-litre straight-six.
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Plymouth Trail Duster (1974)
Plymouth was hardly known for its SUVs, and the market response was predictably tepid. Dodge sold 110,000 Ramchargers over seven years, compared to just 36,000 Plymouths. It was the brand’s first SUV – and its last.
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UMM Alter (1984)
The rudimentary UMM Alter followed a convoluted path to production. Its predecessor was born in rural France in the workshop of a small firm named Cournil. União Metalomecânica (UMM) purchased a license to build the off-roader, which it named Cournil, in 1977 and replaced it with the similar-but-improved Alter in 1984. Additional improvements turned it into the Alter II in 1986.
Both variants of the Alter were near-perfect embodiments of function-over-form design. The low front end gave the driver a clear view of the trail ahead while the boxy rear section was carved out to be as spacious as possible. Long-wheelbase, short-wheelbase and pickup versions were available.
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UMM Alter (1984)
Durability was the Alter II’s claim to fame. Every example entered in the 1989 edition of the Paris-Dakar rally finished it, which was much easier said than done, though none won. UMM also tried competing for a slice of the leisure-oriented off-roader segment by releasing civilian-friendly variants of the Alter II (including some with bright, beach-friendly decals on both sides) but they remained too basic for their own good, even when compared to a Lada Niva.
Most examples consequently ended up in the hands of government agencies in Portugal and abroad – one was even turned into a Popemobile when Pope John Paul II visited Portugal in 1992.
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Daihatsu Rocky (1988)
This compact SUV was also known as the Rugger in Japan and Fourtrack in the UK. While it worked reasonably well in its home market and UK, it was far too small for America where they expect their SUVs to be big boned. Nor did the engine line-up impress: four-cylinder engines that couldn’t quite crack 100bhp, delivering predictably lethargic performance.
Handling was awful too, and generally did nothing for the company’s image stateside; it withdrew from the US altogether in 1992.
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Bertone Freeclimber (1989)
The 4x4 segment underwent a profound transformation during the 1980s. Models like the Jeep Grand Wagoneer and Land Rover’s Range Rover that were once purchased as tools had become status symbols. Bertone saw this transformation as an opportunity.
It took a Daihatsu Rocky, gave it a much nicer interior, made a handful of design tweaks and, significantly, replaced the original engine with smoother, more powerful BMW units. It sold its creation as the Freeclimber starting in 1989.
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Bertone Freeclimber (1989)
Bertone made about 2800 units of the original Freeclimber between 1989 and 1992. This number wasn’t stellar but it was high enough to warrant the development of a second-generation model based on the updated version of the Rocky.
Sales of the Freeclimber II (pictured) started in 1992 and Bertone built an additional 2800 units until 1995, when it canceled the model to free up production capacity for other projects.
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LaForza 5 Liter (1989)
Introduced in 1989, the LaForza 5 Liter looked familiar to anyone who had taken a trip to Italy in the late 1980s. It was based on the Rayton-Fissore Magnum built on Iveco bones for the Italian military, police and Carabinieri. Tom Tjaarda designed the Magnum, which looked a little like a Fiat Uno on steroids, and was asked to turn it into a luxurious SUV positioned as an alternative to the Range Rover.
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LaForza 5 Liter (1989)
The 5 Liter was powered by a 4.9 V8 provided by Ford and a four-speed automatic transmission that drove all the four wheels. It offered a posh cabin with leather upholstery and real wood trim. It sold well at first, especially in California, but early cars were plagued by various problems that took their toll on the firm’s American division. It filed for bankruptcy in 1990 and made a comeback after Saudi Arabia-based Badrahn Enterprises purchased its assets (and started distributing the 5 Liter in its home country).
Italy’s forward-thinking luxury SUV returned to the United States and received a handful of updates during the 1990s but it never matched its British rival’s popularity. Sales ended in 2003.
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Biagini Passo (1990)
Approximately 65 units of the Biagini Passo were assembled in Italy between 1990 and 1993 using a hodgepodge of parts sourced from various manufacturers. The firm took the body of a first-generation Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet, tacked on a full body kit, added headlights from a Fiat Panda and tied it all together with the Golf Country’s four-wheel drive system.
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Biagini Passo (1990)
The end result was an unclassified species of leisure vehicle that blurred the line between a car and an SUV. Rust wiped out a good chunk of the population and the Passo is rare (though not outstandingly valuable) today. The example shown here is part of Volkswagen’s collection.
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Mazda Navajo (1990)
Mazda transformed the first-generation Ford Explorer Sport into the Navajo by redesigning the grille and fitting new-look lights on both ends. The differences between the two models largely ended there and Ford even built Mazda’s first off-roader alongside the Explorer in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Mazda Navajo (1990)
The Navajo was short-lived. It wasn’t available with four doors (Ford kept this variant of the Explorer to itself) and it came from a brand not normally associated with SUVs. Sales ended in 1994 and Mazda stayed out of the class until it introduced the Tribute – another badge-engineered Ford – for the 2001 model year.
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Oldsmobile Bravada (1990)
The first-generation Oldsmobile Bravada (pictured) launched in 1990 as a 1991 model looked almost exactly like the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer/GMC S-15 Jimmy it was based on. Its split grille brought it in line with other members of the Oldsmobile range and there were other minor differences, like an available Gold Package, but few people saw it as anything other than a Blazer in a tuxedo.
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Oldsmobile Bravada (1990)
The original Bravada soldiered on until 1994 and it was replaced the following year with a second-generation model that again didn’t dare venture beyond the frontiers of basic badge-engineering. This variant sold better than the original model because demand for premium SUVs increased steadily in America during the second half of the 1990s. The third and final generation of the Bravada launched in 2001 was axed when Oldsmobile shut down in 2004.
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Isuzu Amigo (1990)
European readers may recognise this curious three-door SUV as the vaguely memorable Vauxhall/Opel Frontera, but it arrived in the US under this name instead. Not for the first or last time, product planners discovered that the unforgiving US car market has little affection for SUVs of small stature unless they have something special going for them.
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Isuzu Amigo (1990)
Four-cylinder engines and manual-only transmission (initially) were also hardly beloved in this class, and it was dropped in 1994.
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Honda Crossroad (1993, first generation)
The only series-produced Honda ever offered with a V8 engine is a badge-engineered Land Rover Discovery named Crossroad. It was a product of the alliance between Honda and Rover and created to compete against SUVs like the Jeep Cherokee on the Japanese market.
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Honda Crossroad (1993, first generation)
Honda offered two- and four-door variants of the Crossroad. Mediocre reliability and poor fuel economy greatly limited its appeal in Japan, the only country it was sold in. Sales ended in 1998 and Honda filled the gap left in its range with the original CR-V, which it chose to design without Rover’s help.
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Honda Passport (first generation, 1993)
The first-generation Passport (pictured) was a Honda in name only. It didn’t take a well-trained eye to identify it as an Isuzu Rodeo with Honda emblems on both ends. Badge-engineering was the quickest and most cost-efficient way to enter the SUV segment and Isuzu was more than happy to share its vehicles with anyone willing to pay for them. The second-generation Passport made from 1997 to 2002 was an Isuzu, too.
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Honda Passport (first generation, 1993)
Honda ended its dependence on Isuzu during the 2000s and relied on models designed in-house to represent itself in the SUV segment. There hasn’t been another Isuzu-badged Honda SUV since but the Passport nameplate made a comeback for the 2019 model year on a shorter version of the Pilot.
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Pontiac Sunrunner (1994)
Suzuki’s joint-venture with General Motors spawned the Geo Tracker introduced in 1988. This was just one of its many identities. It was known as the Suzuki Vitara in some markets while GMC and Chevrolet both marketed it as the Tracker in Canada.
The off-roader was then assigned to Asüna, a brand General Motors created specifically for the Canadian market, in 1992 and it finally became a Pontiac after the division shut down in 1994. Only the two-door model was available until sales ended in 1998.
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Acura SLX (1995)
Honda-owned Acura reached out to Isuzu when it needed a quick, turn-key way to enter the blossoming luxury SUV segment. Isuzu didn’t peddle upscale models but executives knew the second-generation Trooper could be dressed into one with at least a smattering of credibility. It went on sale in the United States as the Acura SLX in 1995 as a 1996 model.
It looked just like an Isuzu with the exception of minor design details like the grille and it offered a nicer interior with the usual combination of wood and leather.
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Acura SLX (1995)
The 3.2 V6 available at launch gave the SLX more pep than the Trooper but the extra horsepower couldn’t mask its humble roots and sales didn’t take off. Acura stopped selling the SLX after the 1999 model year and replaced it with the original MDX, a car-based crossover rather than an SUV, for the 2001 model year. It was developed in-house and it sold spectacularly well in the early 2000s.
As a side note, Acura wasn’t the only carmaker to build its own version of the second-generation Trooper. Chevrolet, Holden, Opel, Vauxhall, Honda and Subaru also put their name on it over the years.
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Infiniti QX4 (1996)
Like rivals Acura and Lexus, Nissan-owned Infiniti needed a quick, easy entry into the luxury SUV segment during the 1990s. Its interior designers gave the second-generation Pathfinder a more comfortable interior by adding leather and additional equipment while its exterior stylists redesigned the front end. Called QX4, Infiniti’s first SUV went on sale in the United States in 1996.
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Infiniti QX4 (1996)
The QX4 found more buyers than the Acura SLX but competition from BMW and Mercedes-Benz helped convince executives that they needed to start from scratch. QX4 production ended in 2002 and Infiniti released the FX – which was based on the Nissan 350Z’s platform – for the 2003 model year.
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Mercury Mountaineer (first generation, 1996)
In the 1990s, it became clear that mainstream carmakers operating in the United States needed to offer at least one SUV to retain buyers. Being neck-deep in an identity crisis didn’t grant Mercury an exemption so it received a version of the second-generation Ford Explorer and fitted it with a shinier grille, among other minor visual changes.
Sales started for the 1997 model year with a V8 in the engine bay, though a six-cylinder joined the range a little later in the production run.
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Mercury Mountaineer (first generation, 1996)
Sales of the first-generation Mountaineer hovered around 45,000 units annually while the cheaper Explorer it was nearly identical to persistently stood out as one of America’s most popular SUVs. Both models were covered by the massive, multi-billion-dollar Firestone recall.
Though it’s not common today, the original Mountaineer outsold its two successors. Mercury retired the nameplate in 2010 and Ford closed Mercury the following year.
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Isuzu VehiCROSS (1997)
In the 1990s, it seemed as if style wasn’t part of Isuzu’s vocabulary. The firm surprised the public and the press by using parts borrowed from the second-generation Trooper to create the car-like VehiCROSS in 1997. Its tall front end was dominated by a pair of swept-back headlights while its rear end wore a giant bulge under which hid the spare wheel, which needed to be accessed from the inside.
Its black plastic cladding turned heads, especially when buyers selected one of the flashier hues available (like yellow).
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Isuzu VehiCROSS (1997)
The VehiCROSS had seemingly gone from the drawing board to the showroom floor without navigating its way through corporate meetings that would have diluted its design. Isuzu intentionally limited its production; it manufactured about 6000 examples of the VehiCROSS and sent roughly 4200 of those to the United States starting in 1999.
The rest largely stayed on the Japanese market. It retired without a successor and clean examples are getting rare so it’s slowly but surely becoming sought-after today.
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Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution (1997)
The Mitsubishi Pajero’s racing career started well before the street-legal Evolution model sold from 1997 to 1999 made its debut. It won the grueling Paris-Dakar Rally in 1985, 1992 and 1993. Mitsubishi channeled lessons it learned from years of racing in some of the planet’s most inhospitable places into a limited-edition super-SUV built strictly for homologation purposes.
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Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution (1997)
About 2500 two-door Evolution models were built with a 3.5 V6 tuned to send 275bhp to the four wheels, flared wheel arches and a roof-mounted wing, among other add-ons that trickled down from the world of motorsport. True high-performance SUVs were rare in the 1990s so enthusiasts claimed the entire production run in record time.
The Pajero (sold as the Montero in select markets) has won the Dakar Rally 12 times but Mitsubishi hasn’t returned to the class since.
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Dodge Ramcharger (third generation, 1998)
The second-generation Dodge Ramcharger retired from the American market in 1993 but its career continued until 1996 on the Mexican market. American executives didn’t want to replace the model because demand for two-door SUVs had bottomed out. The situation was different south of the border so Dodge’s Mexican division created a third-generation Ramcharger specifically for the local market.
Introduced in 1998 as a 1999 model, the SUV was based on the Ram pickup and the two models looked almost identical when viewed from the front. Dodge adapted a hatch from the Caravan minivan in order to save money. The line-up included a pair of V8s but four-wheel drive was never available. Sales ended in 2001 after approximately 30,000 units were made and sold exclusively in Mexico.
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Isuzu Axiom (2001)
Designers blazed a new path when they designed the Axiom, a model envisioned as Isuzu’s flagship for the 2000s. It was created for buyers who wanted the look and the capability of an SUV in a more posh package that made no comfort-related concessions. It was based on the Rodeo but it looked nothing like it.
Isuzu made a big deal out of its launch, too; it organized a contest to find its name and promised the winner an SUV. Your author’s non-winning submission was one of 47,000 received by Isuzu.
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Isuzu Axiom (2001)
The hype didn’t last long and the Axiom wasn’t as successful as executives hoped, partly because it was overshadowed by more mainstream rivals. Isuzu’s decline in North America was already well underway. Approximately 25,000 units of the Axiom were made in a plant Isuzu operated jointly with Subaru in Lafayette, Indiana, from 2001 to 2004. Most of the production run remained in the United States.
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Santana PS10 Anibal (2002)
For decades, Spain-based Santana Motor built Land Rover’s Series models under license. Production of a mildly updated Series III named 2500 continued after the tie-up ended in 1983 but more modern off-roaders (including Land Rover’s own Defender) ended its career in 1994. And yet, Santana believed there was still a demand for a back-to-the-basics 4x4 aimed largely at professional users.
The PS-10 Anibal unveiled in 2002 and launched the following year was designed specifically to fill this niche.
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Santana PS10 Anibal (2002)
The PS10 picked up where the 2500 left off so it wasn’t state-of-the-art by any means (it didn’t have airbags or anti-lock brakes) but Santana added a handful of creature comforts like power steering and air conditioning to the list of extra-cost options. The firm redesigned the front end to set it apart from the Defender and powered it with an Iveco-sourced turbodiesel engine.
Civilian- and military-spec variants of the PS10 Anibal were sold across Europe until Santana filed for bankruptcy in 2011. It planned to resume production in the 2010s but never did.
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Mitsubishi Endeavor (2003)
Built in Mitsubishi’s factory in Normal, Illinois – incidentally now the base of EV pickup maker Rivian – this SUV’s frumpy looks didn’t exactly inspire and company plans for 80,000 in annual sales seemed ambitious. It was not a bad car, but not an especially good one either.
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Mitsubishi Endeavor (2003)
It was the company’s first vehicle designed specifically for the US market, but it faced daunting rivals like the Ford Explorer. First full-year sales were only 32,000, and they declined every year thereafter until it was cancelled in 2011.
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GMC Envoy XUV (2004)
The XUV variant of the Envoy took that reasonably successful SUV and turned the rear part into a plastic-lined pickup bed, with a heavy powered retractable roof that added nearly 100kg (220lb) to the car. All that high-up weight did little for the Envoy’s already dubious dynamic proposition, and didn’t do much for its performance despite apparently powerful straight-six and V8 engine options.
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GMC Envoy XUV (2004)
GM big cheese Bob Lutz apparently tried to drown it at birth, but was overruled. GM predicted sales of 100,000 a year, but just 13,000 were shifted over two model years before Lutz finally got his wish.
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Iveco Massif (2007)
Released in select markets in 2007, the Iveco Massif is an Italian version of a Spanish off-roader that traced its roots to the UK. This multi-national SUV was closely related to the PS10 made by Santana, which was derived from the Land Rover Series III, but it wore a brand-specific front end drawn under the guidance of Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign and it received an updated interior built with components from the Iveco parts bin.
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Pontiac Torrent (2005)
The once storied Pontiac brand was getting increasingly lost in the GM firmament at the turn of the century and efforts to change that with an eyebrow-raising vehicle like the Aztek had mixed results to say the least. The Torrent was the Aztek’s successor and predictably played it much safer, with a mildly rehashed Pontiac take on the Chevy Equinox Mk1. Power only came from a 3.4-litre V6, later enlarged to 3.6 litres.
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Pontiac Torrent (2005)
But the anonymity and forgettability factor did the SUV no favours: Chevrolet manged to sell nearly 500,000 of its Equinox, while Pontiac shifted just over 100,000 Torrents – with just 9638 sold in its final year, 2009.
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Saab 9-7X (2005)
The first of two very strange Saabs delivered at the sad end of this once fabulous car company, the 9-4X was symbolic of GM’s mismanagement of the period in general and of Saab in particular. Seemingly addicted to brand engineering, the 9-7X had very little to do with Saab and an awful lot to do with the ubiquitous GMT360 platform that also gave the world the likes of the Chevy Trailblazer and Oldsmobile Bravada.
However, it was the most expensive version among its sundry siblings, and came loaded with kit to try to compete in the premium space.
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Saab 9-7X (2005)
GM did at least re-engineer the SUV for Saab’s signature quirk: the centrally located ignition. However, the rest of it didn’t succeed in obscuring all the blue-collar underpinnings. 86,000 were built in Ohio before both the model and the factory that made it were killed off. Saab’s first SUV proved to be its last.
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Chrysler Aspen (2006)
Few Chryslers in recent years have been memorable, and this is another example. A badge-engineered upmarket sibling of the Dodge Durango, the Aspen wholly lacked that car’s sales numbers. The Durango itself was derived from the Ram pickup, complete with solid beam rear axle. As such the Aspen was the first ever truck-derived Chrysler SUV. Slow sales meant it was almost certainly the last – it lasted just two model years and was dropped in 2009.
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Chrysler Aspen (2006)
Interestingly, both Aspen and Durango got hybrid variants which boosted economy; sadly though this was right in the middle of the global financial crisis, and the system was dropped on cost grounds shortly after launch; about 800 hybrids of both flavours were built.
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Suzuki XL-7 Mk2 (2006)
The first generation of this car was basically a stretched Grand Vitara, while this SUV was a rather more grown-up affair. It was yet another variation on the Chevrolet Equinox, conjured up by another of GM’s endless Japanese dynastic deals. The XL-7 did at least differ from its GM cousins by offering a (tight) third-row of seating, but shared its thirsty GM 3.6-litre V6 engine.
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Suzuki XL-7 Mk2 (2006)
Born into the teeth of an increasingly dire US car market and - for a long period - very high fuel prices, the SUV lasted just two model years before production was halted; 50,000 or so were sold. Suzuki retreated from the US market entirely in 2013.
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Iveco Massif (2007)
Iveco offered the Massif as a two-door, a four-door with up to seven seats and a two-door pickup. Approximately 4500 units were built annually and many ended up in the hands of various branches of the Italian government. Production ended when Santana, which built the model, filed for bankruptcy in 20111. Today, the Massif is rarely seen outside of the Alps.
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Kia Borrego (2008)
Kia’s current model-line up is looking increasingly sharp, but Peter Schreyer’s first production design for Kia didn’t exactly stand out as a masterpiece. Known as the Mohave in certain markets, it featured old-school body-on-frame construction, three rows of seats, and V6 and V8 engines.
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Kia Borrego (2008)
But it launched in the US into the teeth of the financial crisis at a time when the Kia name was much less established than today. It was also uncomfortable and thirsty, and it was dropped after just two model years, after around 23,000 sales. It was indirectly replaced by the smaller Sorento in 2011, and more directly by the (very successful) Telluride in 2019.
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Saab 9-4X (2011)
When GM was engineering the Cadillac SRX luxury crossover in the 2000s, it decided that Saab should have it too, in the shape of the 9-4X. Never mind that the wider corporation was fighting for its life, and had deemed its increasingly ill-starred Swedish subsidiary as surplus to requirements in that fight. Swedish Saab may have been, but the 9-4X was made on the same line in Mexico that made the SRX.
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Saab 9-4X (2011)
But Saab’s future rapidly caught up with the car shortly after it rolled out for the 2011 model year; just 814 were made before the plug was pulled both on it and the Saab brand itself.
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