Boxy SUVs

or 'Jeep-like 4WDs'

My knowledge is put to the test every time my toddler points at anything with wheels and says "cah cah". My knowledge gap has never been more apparent as when I referred to diggers as tractors. But my main concern is what on earth is a Suzuki Jimny, a Toyota Land Cruiser, a Jeep Wrangler, a Land Rover Defender???¹ Is Jeep the Hoover of this style of car???² Are you ready to have more questions than answers about this style of car???

Pretty quickly I learnt that these cars are SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles), and perhaps if you throw the word “boxy” in front of SUV it checks out. Some may call them ‘Jeep-like 4WDs’. I also learnt that the RAV of the RAV4 stands for Recreational Active Vehicle with 4 wheel drive and the J in the model J stands for “joyful” (cute!).

There are many different shapes of cars (at least nine as per Figure 1 below) but there should be one more (i.e. something other than the SUV category to categorise the “boxy SUVs”). In terms of car shapes my cyclist colleague once vented to me about SUVs (because they can’t see cyclists) and I told him I drove a station wagon only to be told silver cars are also dangerous for cyclists (because cyclists can’t see them).

Figure 1: Cyclists Hate Them! Silver cars maintain low visibility during all weather using this ONE WEIRD TRICK.

Enough about my silver station wagon, this is a boxy SUV post!! In the early 2000s Toyota RAV4s (a relatively boxy SUV) were everywhere, as were Isuzu MU, and instead of a Toyota RAV4 my mum bought a Suzuki Escudo.³ Did it fit our family easily? No. Did it give beach babe vibes? Yes. Was it cheaper than a RAV4? Also yes. Tangentially, I can’t remember why the Toyota RAV4 was so popular. I tried to see if they were in any zeitgesity movies or TV shows at the time. I didn’t necessarily find a solid answer but I did find a forum called ‘RAV4World’ where users on a thread from 2008 shared sitings of their favourite car in their favourite media.⁴ It would be amiss to not also shout out ‘IMCDb’, the Internet Movie Cars Database, which has the most exquisite key (shown in Figure 2) to be sure not to waste your time watching a whole movie if the car is only in deleted scenes.⁵

Figure 2: IMCDb key

Back to bulky SUVs generally and budget specifically. My mum chose the Escudo over the RAV4 because it suited her budget. So is the Suzuki Jimny to the Toyota Land Cruiser the Jeep Wrangler to the Land Rover Defender as was the Suzuki Escudo to the Toyota RAV4? Luckily for me, carsguide.com.au has done the maths (presumably in AUD), and yes! If your first choice is out of your budget you might be able to settle on your version of my mum's second hand Escudo. The Suzuki Jimny maxes at $37,490 and the Toyota Land Cruiser 70s series maxes at $87,600 while the Jeep Wrangler maxes at $83,950 and the Land Rover Defender maxes at $209,999.⁶,⁷

To throw it out there the Kardashian-Jenner sisters love a custom Land Rover (as well as Mercedes-Benz G-Wagons, another type of boxy SUV). Does this mean Land Rovers are cool? Probably, yeah. Does this mean boxy SUVs are cool? Also probably, yeah.

Figure 3: for the love of cyclists, Kim!

In terms of timelines it looks like Jeep was the first of its kind (used in WWII), then post WWII boxy SUVs were introduced by Toyota, then Land Rover, then Suzuki. The military vibe might be enough to outweigh the cool vibe tbh, but back to what’s cool and uncool, in no particular order:

1. Suzuki Jimny

New Zealand Auotcar have outdone themselves with this beach shot.⁸ Jimnys are cute!! I think they are much cuter in Japan around other cute Japanese cars though. I rate that they’re the cheapest of the boxy SUVs I surveyed and that they have a 5-door model.

2. Toyota Land Cruiser

I can't say I wasn't influenced when I saw this picture in my son’s car magazine ‘New Zealand Autocar’.⁹ Look at it sitting there on a black sand beach. The snorkel throws off the balance a bit and apparently it’s not like, a detachable feature. There are Land Cruiser models without snorkels but they’re not boxy.

3. Jeep Wrangler

Another beach shot curtesy of ‘New Zealand Autocar’. Look at it. So cool with a wheel leaning on a rock. ‘New Zealand Autocar’ also shared that the next Wrangler will be an EV.¹⁰ I respect that they are (from what I can tell) the originator of the boxy SUV style, but the military history spooks me out.

4. Land Rover Defender

To clarify, this is not the model a Kardashian would have, it’s a limited edition model with a nod to the brand history. Thank God they didn’t close the space between the headlights again like the rendering of the old school model in the background.¹¹ I can’t get behind the price - I genuinely could not tell by looking that it would be any more expensive than any other car.

So if you've ever wondered what non-Jeep Jeeps are called, whether they're cool, how to Kim K on a budget, and what my take on four non-Jeep Jeeps are here ya go.

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1. Note: there are other ‘boxy SUVs’, or ‘Jeep-like 4WDs’ that won’t be discussed in further detail (Mercedes G-Wagon, Ford Bronco, Hummer H2, etc.)

2. Yes!

3. Note: in the past when someone saw an Isuzu MU they would say “MU” then punch another’s arm (rude!)

4. https://www.rav4world.com/threads/rav4-at-the-movies.71879/

5. https://www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-Toyota_model-RAV4.html

6. https://www.carsguide.com.au/jeep/wrangler/vs/land-rover-defender?year=2024,2023

7. https://www.carsguide.com.au/suzuki/jimny/vs/toyota-landcruiser-70-series?year=2024,2024

8. Read the review of the 2020 Jimny here: https://www.autocar.co.nz/suzuki-jimny-turbo/

9. Read the review of the 2024 Land Cruiser here: https://www.autocar.co.nz/2024-toyota-land-cruiser-70-lx-wagon-review/

10. Read the article about the next Wrangler here: https://www.autocar.co.nz/the-next-jeep-wrangler-will-be-an-ev/

11. Read the article about the Land Rover defender here: https://www.autocar.co.nz/this-land-rover-defender-islay-edition-pays-tribute-to-brands-origins/