Me, asking Google: When did the first SUV come out?Google: The Jeep Cherokee was the first SUV in 1984.

Scott Williams 🐧

Me, asking Google: When did the first SUV come out?
Google: The Jeep Cherokee was the first SUV in 1984.

Me: When did the Ford Bronco first come out?
Google: The Ford Bronco, the world's first SUV, came out in 1964.

Google keeps getting worse.

Rbowen

@vwbusguy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep puts it at 1941.

Scott Williams 🐧

@rbowen They were strictly military then. They came out with a CJ (Civilian Jeep) off-road vehicle in 46. Is that an SUV? The Wagoneer came out in 1963 but was marketed and engineered as a station wagon until the Super Wagoneer version of 1966. So, I guess depending on the technicalities, Jeep or Bronco, except Volkswagen Type I (aka Beetle) were also marketed for offroading and towing. My baja bug def drove like an SUV!

https://youtu.be/lMl8x2qFPrc
https://youtu.be/SpwH9WeVEfU

Scott Williams 🐧

@rbowen The VW Thing is essentially a Kuebelwagen, going back to 1940, so if you count Jeep for 1941 for military purposes, then Volkswagen still beat it by one year.

But I think we can all agree that Google's first answer is a 1980's Jeep Cherokee was bogus.

Farce Majeure

@vwbusguy @rbowen TBH I think asking this about the VW Type 2 is more interesting, since it very much had a lot of the design intention that later motivated SUVs... But still no.

Marty Fouts

@vwbusguy FWIW Wikipedia says that there is no common definition of SUV but makes a case that the Chevy Suburban, introduced in 1935 was the first that fits the description.

Scott Williams 🐧

@vathpela @rbowen At least as of the 1974 suspension upgrade. My brother had a Synchro Vanagon in Montana and he used it to pull out Chevy trucks when they got stuck in ditches.