I’m not a greenie in the political or activist sense. Nothing like that. I just believe in taking care of the world around me. Not fouling my own nest, so to speak. Just being thoughtful and careful. But as we’re looking at off-roader scale models today, the following song seemed appropriate. And it’s catchy. Over to Dutch symphonic metal band, Within Temptation.
I had this bright idea, y’see, of doing a feature on 4WDs. But I soon realised I had that old familiar problem – too many models! Okay, I thought, I’d better dial things back a bit, be a bit choosy, put up some fences, hurdles, what-have-you. Obstacles. 4WDs are supposed to be good at obstacles…
Hmm.
It’s about this point that it might come in handy to distinguish between 4WD systems intended for on-road safety (Audi and all their followers) and those intended for off-road operation – otherwise we’ll have to include curious little beasties like this AWD Subaru Sambar – and that would never do…
…Would it?
So no more Subarus. Still too many! Okay – maybe if I separate the pickups from the SUVs? Ah, that gets us down to a reasonable number. We’ll see the pickups another time. Pickups these days have got so tall it’s hard to tell the 2WD from the 4WD models without reading the badges anyway.
Usual terms and conditions apply – I don’t have everything that’s available, etc. You know the drill.
And maybe if I distinguish between things like the hard-core Jeep CJs, early Land Rovers, Land Cruisers and their ilk, and set them aside? Do them together with the 4WD pickups, they’re work vehicles/trucks too. That leaves us with SUVs. And a reasonable number thereof.
Things like this. Hmm – something went wrong there…
Okay then – here we go. The story begins…
Up until the seventies, people venturing off the beaten track were usually content to take the (strongly-built, high-clearance) family car on rough gravel roads, across grassy paddocks (not usually ploughed ones, unless you were a masochist) and such. It was part of having a picnic. People had common sense, and knew to drive carefully. Occasionally on a country road (or even in the suburbs) you’d find a ford – no, not that kind of Ford – a shallow creek crossing where these days people would freak out and demand a bridge. Once again, people knew to drive slowly. Responsibly. Appropriately. And think of all those neat old beach photos we see on this site, with cars parked on the sand. No 4WDs there my friend! Drive to the conditions, or get laughed at.
But then something changed. Several somethings. Cars became lower-built, and trucks became more consumer-friendly.
Willys had offered Jeep-based wagons since the late forties, replaced it with the Wagoneer and associated models, but also offered a peculiar Jeep-based open tourer called the Jeepster. International brought out the Scout in 1960. This is a second-generation model from ’77, if I remember right (Scoutdude, you there?), an old kit originally tooled by ERTL. This was followed by Ford with the Bronco. I don’t have a first-gen Bronco, though there is a recent model of one from Revell.
Willys updated the old Jeepster with a more modern style of front end, here a 1972. This is an old MPC annual kit, which offered half-top or a full-length roof, which was mandatory for this police version. I say old MPC kit, but it’s just been reissued for the first time since ‘72. Wonder how popular it’ll be? It still had the old V6, which was replaced for ’72 by the AMC inline: I can hear the complaints already…
Chevy‘s response to the Bronco was to chop down a half-ton pickup. This gave a usefully larger vehicle. Maybe a bit large for narrow trails? This is an AMT kit from around 1970, which comes back from time to time.
Ford took a leaf out of Chevy’s book and upsized the Bronco to a half-ton pickup derivative – just in time to be clobbered by the fuel crisis. Good idea, horrible timing.
Then Ford downsized their pickup line for ‘79, which meant a new Bronco. Still pretty big and heavy though, but a step in the right direction.
Things remained pretty static for these two through the eighties. Blazer and Bronco generally followed the updates given to the pickups.
In 1974 Mopar belatedly brought out its own SUV based off the half-ton, here a Dodge Ramcharger. Great timing, guys! (see Bronco, above) This Monogram kit represented a full-dress model with chrome mouldings all over the place; I shaved them off for a simpler look and went with two-tone green paint – all the better to hide in the woods.
Meanwhile, over in Japan, pickup-based SUVs appeared too, like this Toyota Hilux Surf. With their pickups being smaller, so were their SUVs – which tapped into world markets which liked the basic idea but found the American vehicles awkwardly sized. And they came in four-door form, not something the Americans offered. Yet.
Mitsubishi fielded this Pajero, renamed Montero in some markets and Shogun in others. Heavy duty, separate chassis and V6 power, but not directly based on the Triton/L200 pickup. This seemed to be somewhere between the Hilux Surf and the Land Cruiser, but proved extremely popular. I don’t think this Tamiya kit has been reissued since it was a new car, but Fujimi and Aoshima offer them.
Honda came out with this smaller CR-V in 1995. Having no truck in the lineup to grab pieces from, they based this first one on the Civic platform – which had offered an AWD wagon variant since the third-generation of 1983. This Aoshima model represents a full-dress version; they also have plainer ones.
Mitsubishi took the basic concept and scaled it down into a confusing array of sizes, with the Pajero Jr, Pajero iO, and Pajero Mini models. This one’s a mid-nineties Pajero Mini VR-II, based on the 659cc kei Minica platform. The (slightly) larger iO was briefly sold down here.
Meanwhile, Jeep had done the Cherokee XJ, sized similarly to the Japanese, but designed as a unibody rather than using a hand-me-down pickup chassis. Was this developed using experience gained with the Eagle? Ford had come out with the Bronco II, which was based on Ranger pickup bits, followed by the Explorer (also body-on-Ranger-frame). Chevy noticed, picked up some pointers from Ford and the Japanese, (probably figured the Jeep was too far out), and came out with a small Blazer based off the S-10 pickup. Good idea, guys. If it works for the Japanese brands (we won’t mention that F-word again) ….
But did the Blazer look too soft? Can a curvaceous shape ‘work’ for an offroad vehicle? Does it look ‘tough’ enough? Hmm…..
Enter Isuzu, that Japanese truck maker that also dabbled in cars. Isuzu had brought out the Trooper in 1981, a rather tough no-nonsense pickup-based SUV, as befits a truck maker. Then they startled the world with the VehiCROSS concept at the Tokyo International Auto Show in 1993 – even more so when they put it into production in 1997. Briefly, as it was only intended for limited production.
Not everyone’s cup of sake, but truly a design ahead of its time. Design did go curvy for a while. The high clearance, huge alloys and contrasting flares and lower body made it look like something escaped from the Paris-Dakar. If that wasn’t enough, there were those titanium fangs in the grille.
They made less than 6000 of them, so maybe they’re too rare to take on the really rough stuff?
I’m off anyway! See you next time.
I have always, and still do, want a VehiCROSS, being the closet Isuzu fan from my LUV/KB days that I am. Can’t wait for the trucks! Hope to see a pre ’77 Ford F-250 4X4! Once again, nice work.
Sneak preview for you. 🙂
For once, I’m not the last to chime in. I always appreciate your terrific models (the breadth of your collection is so impressive!), and the bit of automotive-history education you provide in your narrative.
Thank you, sir.
And thank you. It’s only been since I started getting them out to photograph and write up that I’ve realised how extensive my collection is. Time and again I’ve come across models I’ve completely forgotten about building.
And the narrative? Well, I’ve always loved reading as well as writing. I give it my best shot, and try not to drop into too much of a formula. Great to know it’s appreciated.
I think the VehiCROSS looks better as a model than it does in 1:1 scale. I’ve never warmed up to them.
Now, I like that S-10 based Blazer. Manufacturers tend to have a herd mentality when it comes to SUV design, but that rear window treatment was definitely unique. But I bet the blander 4-doors outsold those 2-doors by about 5-to-1.
I’m not too familiar with those Scout Rallye models, but did they really have the “Rallye” logos on the top of the hood? It would seem that in real life they’d be all but invisible to anyone on the ground.
I can quite see how the VehiCROSS would be something of an acquired taste. If you’ll forgive me being philosophical for a moment, the shape somehow crosses the line between the animal and the machine; you’ve got the sense of muscles beneath a bulging skin – then there’s those fangs in the grille, just to be playful.
With the Scout Rallye, it’s hard to tell for sure. They seem to have rearranged the graphics from year to year, but there always seems to have been something on the hood in that position. As you might imagine, an image search isn’t much help; few people seem to have taken pictures from a stepladder – which you’d need.
I preferred the looks of the 2 door S10 Blazer as well, at least the gen 2. (The gen 1 I thought the 4 door looked better.) You’re probably right, I never saw too many 2 doors even back then.
As for the rear window, are you referring to the triangle window behind the doors? I always saw that as a styling cue lifted from the Nissan Pathfinder which was introduced about a decade earlier.
For some reason I could have sworn that the 2 door gen 2 models had the taillights in the rear pillars, like at the bottom area of the pillars only, and appearing smoked, so they blended in. Not looking like a regular light stuck in there like the Express van. Maybe it was a preliminary model from a car magazine. I know I saw it somewhere.
That CR-V looks like I could just hop into it, turn the key and drive off!! And it also happens to be in my favorite shade of blue!! Another pristine scale beauty!! 🙂
Yep, this time the lede photo was pretty much a given. It had to be the CR-V. Hardest part was deciding which angle to use.
FWIW, I reckon the VehiCROSS, was a valid glimpse into the future when released. A whole bunch of its design elements became common on passenger cars and SUV’s over the next ten years.
Exactly, Newt, though who would have guessed at the time that Isuzu would be showing us the future? Then cars went on to become squarer and more angular, but is that progress or just mere difference?
It’s probably ironic given my of the level of contempt for the crossover takeover, but I think the VehiCROSS was and is still cool. It has a rounded body but its wheel/tire ratio and stance still *looks* off roader. The sedan underpinnings and big wheel/skinny/low profile deeply negative offset wheel/tire combo along with seemingly ever reducing ground clearance is a major reason I find modern crossovers grossly offputting aesthetically
I can safely say none of these are in my model collection but I wouldn’t mind a Blazer or Ramcharger!
It’s an understandable irony, Matt. At the time the VehiCROSS came out, it was a visual standout on a road full of, well, ‘car-shaped’ cars. Now that crossovers have become so common, it still manages to stand out. And I reckon that’s largely in part because of the serious wheels and tyres, a size and shape and offset that the mind identifies with serious 4WDs – and tells you this is no crossover.
Back in the day we didn’t quite know what to make of it.
Great builds! I’m particularly envious of the Blazer which hasn’t been seen in stock (or near-stock) form in a very long time althought the related pickup kits have been.
Thanks nlpnt. Here’s another shot of that Blazer.
Nice collection of model kits! I used to do model kits from about age 8 to 14. First I did an aircraft carrier, then a biplane. For cars, I did a dragster, a Beretta GT, a Grand Prix SE, and some others. The Grand Prix was the best one, as I got more skilled. Then my sister’s parakeet got loose and knocked them all off my shelves. After that I was done, besides I was starting to get into music.
My folks would go to the Ben Franklin, mom would be checking out clothes and fabric, dad would be BSing with the guy who ran the hunting and fishing department. I would go back to the model kits and think about what I wanted to do next. There was a Shelby Charger on the shelf forever. Would have been interesting with what I know now.
Kind of a shame that kids can’t just go into the store and buy hobby supplies anymore. Glue, paint, knives… or even the fluids and sprays needed to work on small engines or their first car.
Some good memories there Troy – along with some good hard questions for our society to ask of itself. Your country and mine both.
The other day I went shopping for hobby knife blades – and had to ask for them because they were stored behind the counter. Even at my age – 68! – the guy didn’t want to sell me five packs of blades until I showed him the HO scale card kit of a Victorian-era mansion I was working on, and said that each blade was blunt after 15-20 cuts. Yeah, that’s a 30cm steel rule in front of it – for HO scale this thing is big! Then he understood why I wanted so many blades…
Within Temptation! Peter, thanks for showing us your fine musical taste as well as your exceptional modeling skills!
Ha! Thanks Huey. My son introduced me to them – with the dreaded “I think you’ll like this band…”). He was right.