Standout SUVs

Today’s sport-utility crossover mobiles didn’t just materialize out of thin air to fill strip mall parking lots across the nation. They evolved from truck-based utilities, as well as station wagons. It’s easy to understand their popularity: these vehicles are versatile, roomy, relatively fuel-efficient, and, when equipped with all-wheel drive, capable in any weather.

Here are some pioneers of the class of vehicle that so many buyers prefer today. Not surprisingly, the trucks featured are all popular choices with collectors and four-wheel-drive enthusiasts.

1960-66 Chevrolet Suburban 4x4

When you chart the Suburban’s long history, the 1960-’66 edition marks a true turning point in the truck’s transformation. When the new Suburban arrived as part of Chevrolet’s reimagined light-truck lineup in 1960, it featured greater passenger amenities and safety features—although a deluxe heater was still a $53 option. The Suburban was offered on a ½-ton chassis with two-wheel drive or factory four-wheel drive, but four-wheel drive was still a rarity in those days. Fewer than 1,000 of the approximately 13,000 Suburbans sold in 1966, the final year for this body style, were equipped with two live axles and a transfer case.

A call for increased safety in passenger vehicles brought about features such as safety belts, backup lamps and dual-speed windshield wipers as standard equipment in the Suburban for the first time during this generation.

Then there was the styling. Compared to the last of the “Task Force” era trucks in 1959, the revamped 1960 line of Chevrolet trucks must’ve seemed like they had just rolled in from the future.

Beneath the sheetmetal, these all-new trucks boasted independent front suspensions with unequal-length A-arms,