A segment creator and an obscure Toyota: 4WD’s of the forgotten

Sports-Utility Vehicles (SUVs), as known by now, have become the default choice for buyers worldwide regardless of the segment or price.

Rewind the clock four decades though, the term SUV was something that didn’t exist. Instead, anything that didn’t resemble a car in the traditional sense, or a bakkie, was known as a 4×4 regardless if it had an all-paw gripping system or not.

ALSO READ: From Jeep bakkie to Golf on stilts: Remembering 4WD’s forgotten past

The segment’s boom in the late 1980s and 1990s, together with the coining of the SUV moniker, resulted in a mad flurry of activity as every automaker wanted to cash-in on what had become an automotive revolution.

Unsurprisingly, this decade led to the creation of some outlandish and not so successful models many had either forgotten about or didn’t know existed.

As such, The Citizen looks back at twelve forgotten models of the four-wheel-drive’s past.

AMC Eagle

As the ’70s turned into the ’80s, it became clear that the fourth of America’s big automakers, American Motors Corporation (AMC), had fallen well behind General Motors (GM), Ford and Chrysler thanks to a series of internal squabbles, dated products and a tumultuous partnership with Renault that lasted less than a decade.

Despite being privy to the Jeep brand that arguably kept it afloat, the troubled marque did leave a final lasting impression with the introduction of the Eagle in 1980.

What can be seen today as the true originator of the crossover, the Eagle could be had as either a sedan, coupe, hatchback, station wagon or a cabriolet equipped as standard with a shift-on-the-fly four-wheel-drive system and powered by a GM-sourced 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine, a rarely ordered 3.6-litre turbodiesel made by VM Motori or AMC’s by then dated 4.2-litre straight-six.

In what turned out to be the final hurrah for AMC, the Eagle, especially the estate, became a success story that, sadly, couldn’t save the marque from going it alone. In 1988, a year after Eagle production ended, AMC was acquired by Chrysler and ceased to exist two years later as the Jeep brand took providence.

Oldsmobile Bravada

As much as history remembers the AMC Eagle for what created today, it is unlikely to have the same view of the Oldsmobile Bravada.

By early 1990s, after having its reputation sullied by the horror of the diesel engine in the 80s, the once extremely popular Oldsmobile name was starting to fail as General Motors focused more on its other nameplates.

The Bravada was the first and last attempt at an Olds SUV that originally used the Chevrolet Blazer as a base, before shifting to the TrailBlazer platform for the third generation made from 2001 to 2004.

More luxurious than the Blazer and equipped with a 4.3-litre V6 or a later 4.2-litre straight-six, it too failed to make much of an impact on the growing luxury four-wheel-drive scene, and after less than 190 000 units were made from 1990 to 2004, departed along with the Oldsmobile name in the latter year.

Toyota Hilux Sport Rider

Although Toyota’s portfolio of 4WDs throughout the years is well documented, searching more attentively often comes up with an obscurity only known by a small few, case in the point, the Hilux Sport Rider.

A five-door SUV marketed only in Thailand from 1998 to 2004, the reclusive Sport Rider followed the same design method as the 4Runner/Hilux Surf by being an enclosed five-seat version of the Hilux with the same array of contemporary diesel engines and optional four-wheel-drive system.

Resplendent with a somewhat ungainly looking rear facia that had little in-common in the 4Runner or Surf, it also never came with the option of a petrol engine and because of being limited to a single market, nowhere the success of its siblings.

Despite being such an anomaly, it does, however, have a significant place in history as it eventually led to the creation of the Fortuner that has become a significantly more iconic model.

Volkswagen Taro

When it was announced that Volkswagen had entered into a partnership with Ford for the creation of a new line of commercial vehicles, headed by the all-new Amarok using the T6.2 platform of the Ranger, the response was not universally accepted and remains a contentious issue now that both models have been revealed.

The apparent backlash is nothing new to Wolfsburg though as back in 1989, it introduced the Taro that differed only from the model on which it was based, the Toyota Hilux, by the Volkswagen badge on the grille and tailgate.

Using the same hardware and engines as the Hilux, the Taro never left the European mainland and while it predated the Amarok as Volkswagen’s first bakkie by almost a decade, it wasn’t a success and only lasted until 1997 when the joint venture with Toyota ended.

While history has a knack of repeating itself now and again, it remains to be seen whether the new Amarok will dispense with the legacy of its forebearer and make a success out of rebadging-and-engineering once and for all.

Isuzu VehiCROSS

At present, Isuzu’s global line-up of non-heavy-duty commercial vehicles consists of the D-Max and MU-X. In the late 1990s, it had a more extensive array that included cars, some being as a result of a joint venture with Honda.

The VehiCROSS though was an entirely Isuzu-made product that utilised the platform from the Trooper, topped by a futuristic three-door body seemingly taken from a sci-fi film.

Space-age for the time the VehiCROSS certainly was as it sported an electronic four-wheel-drive system with a torque split setup known as torque-on demand, aluminium suspension components and the Trooper’s 3.2-litre V6 engine or a bigger 3.5-litre V6 in the US.

Never intended as a volume seller but an example of Isuzu’s off-road technology, the VehiCROSS remained in production from 1997 to 2001 and while less than 10 000 examples left the factor, it has become a cult classic today and another instance of a concept car that become a production reality with little toning down.

Nissan Sani

It seems almost cruel to refer to the Nissan Sani as being forgotten given how many the automaker sold in the 1990s.

A unique to South Africa model that spawned three generations, the first being in small numbers based on what was known as the Datsun 720 bakkie, the Sani with its rear facia resembling that of the original Terrano/Pathfinder exploded in popularity with the second generation spun-off of the Hardbody.

Although available with a 2.4-litre petrol engine, the brawny 3.0-litre V6 was the engine of choice most buyers eventually opted for.

With the introduction of the imported Terrano II in the late 90s’ though, the Sani’s days were numbered and despite the availability of the Pathfinder in the late 2000s, the cancellation of the Navara-based Terra earlier this year means a true successor continues to be elusive.

Opel Frontera

Hailing from a time when both Opel and Isuzu had links with GM, the Frontera was nothing but a restyled and rebadged Isuzu Mysterious Utility Wizard sold under a variety of names in the ’90s.

Sold as an Opel in Europe, Vauxhall in the United Kingdom and Holden in Australasia, the Frontera had been intended for South Africa, but this was ultimately dropped as Isuzu had already been selling the five-door derivative as the Frontier.

Famously criticised by media outlets in the UK for being prone to toppling over when taking emergency avoiding action at the time, the Frontera nonetheless remained popular well into the early 2000s before being replaced by the less successful Antara in 2004.

While the present day Grandland is about as far removed from the Frontera as possible, it highlights what can happen if badge engineering is applied properly.

Subaru Tribeca

When it revealed the Ascent at the Los Angeles International Auto Show five years ago, Subaru officially closed the chapter on the Tribeca that had been its flagship from 2005 to 2014.

Initially called the B9 Tribeca, the step-up from the Forester attracted significant controversy not only for its design penned by then lead designer Andreas Zapatinas, but also for the layout and ergonomics of its interior, lethargic five-speed automatic gearbox and relatively thirsty 3.0-litre flat-six Boxer engine.

Despite the inclusion of a torque vectoring system, limited slip differential and a much more appealing exterior as a part of a hurried facelift in 2007, which saw the B9 suffix being removed, the Tribeca continued to sell poorly with not even a bigger 3.6-litre flat-six helping the cause.

Finally dropped in after nine years with US sales amounting to less than 100 000 units, the Tribeca’s mark on Subaru, while unlikely to disappear, has seemingly not been carried over the Ascent which, for the foreseeable future, will remain a left-hand-drive only model.