|
Sport utility convertible
|
A sport utility convertible is an SUV in a convertible form.
History The concept of sport utility convertibles started with the Willys Army Jeeps of World War II. Later on, this type of SUV became popular amongst consumers when those vehicles were transferred to army surplus lots. As a result, Willy's (which later changed its name to Bantam, Kaiser and finally Jeep) made the civilian jeeps (or CJ-versions). This again sparked even greater popularity. In addition, the consumer also started looking for convertible SUVs as general transport vehicles.
From 1968, other brands as Toyota started mass-producing its Landcruiser-series, and the convertible model of this car was soon on par with other popular convertible SUV's.
Recently, the SUV-convertibles vehicles concept has been losing popularity as several models of sport utility convertibles have been discontinued.
Examples of sport utility convertibles *AMC Eagle the first and only sport utility convertible to fall into the crossover SUV specification. *Chevrolet K5 Blazer* *Dodge Dakota convertible (arguable for meeting criteria, limited production vehicle) *Ford Bronco* *Geo Tracker *Ford M151A2 MUTT *HMMWV (4 door convertible SUV) *Hummer H1 (civilian version of the HMMWV) *International Harvester Scout II* *Jeep CJ (predecessor of Wrangler) *Jeep Liberty (starting with the 2009 model, this will be the first sport utility convertible to use a retractable sky slider roof on a sport utility wagon body. Albeit more like a sunroof than a true convertible top.) *Jeep Wrangler *Peugeot P4 *Toyota Land Cruiser (early models) *Toyota RAV4* *Volkswagen 181*
A * denotes a discontinued model
== Other criteria for a "jeep" == Other vehicles such as 2-door pickup trucks whose beds are as long as the cab doors almost meet the critiera for a "convertible" that conforms to the SUV specification. However those vehicles are somewhat of a cross between sport utility convertibles and crew cab pickup trucks with short beds.
Sometimes, vehicles that don't fall into SUV criteria can be a convertible. Some 2-door convertibles are based on compact hatchbacks, such as the MINI, and Volkswagen Golf cabrio; however these vehicles typically have a more slanted rear window in their "top-up form".
|
|
|