DRIVEN MILESTONES

BMW X6: THE FIRST SUV COUPÉ?

BMW has been careful not to define the X6, first released in 2008, as the world’s first SUV coupé but rather as the first Sports Activity Coupé.

Munich’s claim is disputable (some contemporary designs by Infiniti and Mazda serve as cases in point) but what cannot be challenged is that the introduction of the X6 led to copycat designs from fellow-Germans; Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi, as well as a plethora of Chinese manufacturers.

Even so, the company that can genuinely lay claim to creating the first modern-day crossover SUV is the now-defunct American Motors Corporation (AMC) with its Eagle model, first introduced in 1979. With a lifted suspension and full-time four-wheel-drive system (an optional part-time system called “Select Drive” was added in 1981), the Eagle ticked all the SUV boxes and it was “about 30 years ahead of the curve,” according to some industry analysts.

Besides sedan, station wagon and convertible body styles, the Eagle range from 1981 also incorporated a coupe version – a two-door subcompact model (in US terms) called the SX/4. Unlike the other models, constructed on the AMC Concord chassis, the SX/4 (and its Kammback variant) was based on the chassis of the compact AMC Spirit.

As such, it was unlike anything offered back then and certainly pioneered the SUV coupe category, preceding the X6 (now already in its fourth generation) by nearly three decades. Interestingly, like the first X6, the Eagle SX/4 was also equipped with an in-line six-cylinder engine, automatic transmission (four-speed TorqueFlite) and, of course, four-wheel drive.

The Eagle proved the worth of a compact 4x4 unibody wagon and AMC put this knowledge to good use with the introduction of the 1984 Jeep XJ Cherokee, considered by many as the original sport utility vehicle in the modern era. So, from the above, it should be clear that BMW’s implied assertion regarding the SUV coupé class is flawed.