Sport utility coupe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A sport utility coupe is a smaller SUV that has a smaller backseat and only 2 doors. These kind of SUVs focused more on off-road capability than advanced features although they were often manufactured with bucket seating in the front since they were sportier than 4-door SUVs.
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[edit] History
Sport utility coupes, at one time were the most common body for an SUV. However in recent years, sport utility coupes have been depreciated in favor of sport utility wagons (4-door SUVs). Which in turn, are currently being depreciated in favor of crossover SUVs.
[edit] The Big Three
As a marketing decision, sport utility coupes made by The Big Three took names that were similar to their flagship sports cars as a marketing strategy. The respective off road and on road performance of the SUVs and the popular sports cars may have had something to do with the usage of similar terminology.
Here are the namesakes for the big three sport utility coupes:
- Chevrolet K5 Blazer later renamed to Tahoe and eventually phased out in favor of a shot wheelbase Suburban
- Dodge Ramcharger (had a rebadged Plymouth Trailduster, which took its name from the Plymouth Duster economy car)
- Ford Bronco (another type of horse name used for a Ford car; the Ford Mustang being the flagship sports car)
Here are the compact brother of the Big Three's sport utility coupes:
- Chevrolet Sl0 Blazer - a cross between the Blazer name, and the Chevrolet S10's pickup chassis
- Dodge Raider - imported version of the Mitsubishi Montero
- Ford Bronco II
[edit] Other sport utility coupes
- Ford Explorer
- International Harvester Scout
- Jeep DJ, first hardtop Jeep
- Jeep Cherokee
- Jeep Wagoneer
- Jeep Wrangler
- Lada Niva
- Matra Rancho
- Mazda Navajo
- Nissan Pathfinder (pre-1995 models)
- Suzuki Jimny
- Suzuki Samurai
- Toyota Land Cruiser (early models)
- Toyota FJ Cruiser
