Who needs SUVs? Dear Keir, walk to the tailor next time | The Guardian
Martin LoveSun 1 Nov 2020 07.45 GMT
They’re big, they ooze status appeal and they carry with them an unmistakable sense of entitlement – even the driver’s elevated seating is called a “command” position. So is it any wonder that SUVs have transfixed motorists since they started to emerge in the US in the brash 1980s and self-serving 1990s?
Rugged off-roaders, built like tanks and boasting all the subtlety of a Donald Trump meet-and-greet, are hardly new to our roads. It was only a couple of years ago that Land Rover’s bestselling and much-cherished Defender celebrated its 70th birthday. But these are 4x4s that were built to do a proper job of work. A real 4×4 is a prodigious feat of automotive engineering that ensures you can drive into the teeth of the most inhospitable environment on the planet and stay warm, dry and safe.
