History of the SUV

May 28, 2006 (Press Release) -- Many would claim that the original sport utility vehicle was the war-going

Willys Jeep that first saw duty in World War II. Whether you agree with

that or not, many of the most revered SUVs boosted their careers in the

military. Examples include the Chevrolet Blazer, Ford Bronco, Land Rover

Defender and the Hummer H1. However, the concept behind a multipurpose

vehicle that could be a work horse plus offer its owners recreational

activities developed alongside the automobile. As early as the 1880s and

1890s, some vehicle owners tried unsuccessfully to retrofit their light,

topless "horseless carriages" or "depot hacks" with wagon-type beds.

At the time, railways were the major source of transportation, and some of

the early automotive carryalls were crafted to collect people and their

bulky luggage at train stations — hence the term depot hack.

Manufacturers took notice and designs gave rise to the panel, the canopy

express, and the station wagon. The Chevrolet Carryall-Suburban and other

SUVs developed from the canopy express.

The terms "carryall" and "suburban," alone or in combination, were freely

used by numerous automakers – from Dodge and Plymouth, to Star and

Studebaker. These terms applied to various wood-bodied models, from the

early 1920s through the ‘40s, and some makers plopped these early SUV-

like bodies atop their existing truck frames.

General Motors officially only claims "use in commerce" since 1934. A

steel wagon on a commercial chassis, dubbed the "Carryall-Suburban,” was

listed in the Chevrolet catalog for '35. Other automakers finally moved

away from the name, so that 70 years later — by the 1990s when the sport

utility craze hit — the Chevy/GMC Carryall-Suburban was the sole vehicle

using the "Suburban" name, having been registered as a trademark, in 1988.

Although the first SUVs in the early part of the 20th century were two-

wheel drive, their capabilities made them just right for families, a trend

still evident in the volume of sport utes on the road today. Attention to

the advantages of four-wheel drive grew in the 1940s and during WWII, with

the steel-bodied early Dodge Power Wagon (believed to have a military

legacy dating back to 1916, when Gen. "Black Jack" Pershing used Dodge

touring cars in the campaign against Poncho Villa) and the Willys Jeep.

The manuverable 1941 Willys-Overland Quad was the first Army Jeep and is

considered by many car buffs to be the first vehicle to capture the

essence of the off-road-ready SUV. Well over a half-million of these so-

called "general purpose vehicles" were made during WWII: 360,000 by

Willys-Overland and 227,000 built by Ford under license to Willys during

the war.

Willys-Overland added four-wheel-drive capabilities to the all-steel Jeep

wagon in 1949. When this model was replaced by the ’62 Jeep Wagoneer,

predecessor of today's Jeep Grand Cherokee, it became the first premium

American SUV, introducing car-like comfort, power steering and improved

brakes.


Source: http://search.msn.com
Posted by Sue Mead