People who drove off-road vehicles almost 40 years ago ...
11/05/2018
Yes, back then they were still called "off-road vehicles" and not SUVs. And they were still really rough utility vehicles; self-supporting bodies or independent suspension were almost considered sophisticated. In 1980, Auto Motor und Sportasked who was actually driving these off-road vehicles. Off-road freaks, they were called, which was "slang for off-road vehicle enthusiasts", wrote the authors at the time, and indeed, off-road vehicle enthusiasts at the time must have had a penchant for rough terrain, given the rigid axles that were often installed at the front and rear and the brute appearance of the cars, which were called Mercedes-Benz 240 GD, Land Rover V8, Lada Niva, Jeep CJ7, Toyota Land Cruiser or VW Iltis.
The test cars in the comparison cost between DM 16,795 (Lada) and DM 36,562 (VW Iltis) in 1980, which would be the equivalent of around EUR 9,000 to 19,000 today. These days, you wouldn't even get the entry-level models from the leading SUV manufacturers for that price.
On the other hand, today you no longer have to live with the driving performance of those days, which ranged from 15.9 to 28.8 seconds for the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h and a top speed of 117.3 to 151.3 km/h. Incidentally, the fastest and liveliest at the time was the Toyota Land Cruiser, which also consumed 20.4 liters of regular gasoline per 100 km, while a VW Iltis got by on 15 liters per 100 km.
On the other hand, off-road vehicles back then had little to fear in their actual area of use, namely slippery terrain, whereas some modern SUVs have to capitulate before the first sidewalk.
"The motorized disciples of Jean Jacques Rousseau (... back to nature), that is certain, must in any case be people who first and foremost praise what makes things hard," was the concluding sentence of the report at the time, which ran to more than 20 pages. So the off-road vehicles were not lacking in attention.
