World's first SUV? Volvo's ONLY 2 door 4x4 MONSTER wagon!

[Christerart]

Found this on the web:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Qno2UTq-U

From the page:

"Little is decided on the world's first actual Sport/Utility Vehicle. The 1984 Jeep Cherokee XJ is considered the first SUV in a new class of automobile, but someone at Volvo was in the works with the only 2 door wagon on a 2 ton frame 4x4 140/240/164 mashup, and it is AWESOME. Sadly they didn't see this through to production, but the prototype vehicle made its way to California and lived a pretty adventurous life. This is the story of that car. We don't even know what year it is for certain! "

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Christerart

Found this on the web:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8Qno2UTq-U

From the page:

"Little is decided on the world's first actual Sport/Utility Vehicle. The 1984 Jeep Cherokee XJ is considered the first SUV in a new class of automobile, but someone at Volvo was in the works with the only 2 door wagon on a 2 ton frame 4x4 140/240/164 mashup, and it is AWESOME. Sadly they didn't see this through to production, but the prototype vehicle made its way to California and lived a pretty adventurous life. This is the story of that car. We don't even know what year it is for certain! "

Must be something in the water round here - i was watching that the night before last.

Seems to be a hybrid of a 145 3-door estate (i believe in Sweden in the early 70s they had vans made from 145s with 142 doors) and a 164 front end including the engine, drivetrain from a Laplander (C202 or similar) and whatever else they could find to make it viable - a true "Parts bin special" but nicely executed.

Volvo could have been ahead of the game and beaten the Jeep Wagoneer (forerunner of the XJ Cherokee) to be the first SUV but then what of the Range Rover? That was launched in the early 70s so arguably that was the worlds first SUV but it states in the video the guy who created this worked for Volvo - maybe the Range Rover was his inspiration?

It's not uncommon for car manufacturers to make their own vehicles with a specific purpose in mind for use purely within the factory or was it a road-going prototype of a cancelled project?

There is an urban myth (probably true) the VW engineers that created the Mk1 Golf worked in their own time to create what they referred to as the "Golf Sport" - this became the Mk1 Golf GTi. The main man at VW, he said "Ja" when he was shown their efforts, maybe the Swede that created this 4x4 beast was hoping for a similar reaction from the head honcho at Volvo.

Who knows? It's certainly an interesting vehicle and it makes you wonder if Volvo would have been strong enough to reject Fords adavnaces in the early 90s and carry on as they previously had.

[Thekilt]

this was considered the first luxury SUV here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_LM002

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Thekilt

this was considered the first luxury SUV here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_LM002

By whom?

By 1982 the Range Rover had morphed into a luxury vehicle with most, if not all, the accoutrements the Lambo has.

It looks like Lamborghini took one of their tractors, shoehorned a big engine into it and dropped an imitation Hummer body onto it and called it an SUV, not what i would call luxury.

It (the Lambo) was also pre-dated by the Jeep Wagoneer that became the Cherokee but interesting to note that Lambo used a Mopar engine at first. What gave them that idea i wonder? Was it AMC who made the Wagoneer or Chrysler who made the Cherokee (after their acquisition of AMC) that provided the idea for a big V8 up front?

I wouldn't want to admit to owning that Lambo, never mind give it driveway space!

[john.wigley]

It would certainly stand out in the supermarket carpark ... J.

[ITSv40]

The Lambo just looks so wrong on every level. The Volvo by contrast has perfect tonka toy/monster truck looks that so many hanker after these days. It would blend in perfectly in our local Waitrose car park.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by john.wigley

It would certainly stand out in the supermarket carpark ... J.

For all the wrong reasons though John!