Why Do S.U.V.s Look Like Trucks Again?
New York TimesBefore the world heard of “sport utility vehicles,” they were called trucks: Jeeps, Land Rovers and Fords, many born as military vehicles, as square-jawed and capable as a drill sergeant. But now, in the cyclical way that the padded shoulders of the 1980s are on today’s Paris runways, a right-angled style has become a leading trend even among mainstream S.U.V.s. The signature boxy style of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class has helped make it a global status symbol, driven by celebrities such as Drake, Simone Biles and Kim Kardashian, or by Russian oligarchs in armored trim. The Land Rover Defender, Britain’s postwar answer to the Jeep, has enjoyed a global sales resurgence after its star turn on the Netflix show “The Crown.” Toyota’s redesigned Land Cruiser traces its roots to a model the company conceived in 1950 to back up America’s Jeeps on the Korean Peninsula.
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