Wake up, little Suzi

The 1997 SF Forester was one of the earliest carbased compact SUV options, coming some three years after the trailblazing Toyota RAV4, which was a clever concoction of Corolla, Camry and Celica components, rebodied for ruggedchic. In the same year, Honda launched the first CR-V, and the class was officially born. However, historians will rightly point out that the Suzuki Vitara of 1988 is the grandaddy of them all, even though it was perched on a separate chassis.