Hooniverse Asks: What was History's Biggest Automotive Category Buster?

1991-ford-explorer-front-three-quarter-view.gif
You know that SUVs existed before there was the Ford Explorer, it just seems like it was the first. It just goes to show how one vehicle can capture the hearts – and wallets – of the car-buying public and call a category their own. The Mustang was the first pony car and to the great shame of the Camaros, Challengers, Firebirds and whatevers that followed, they all were classified as pony cars.
That’s generally known as being a category buster – a vehicle that so greatly changes or dominates a niche of the automotive market that often it is renamed in its honor. What we’d like today is a litany of those category busters and which you think is history’s greatest. So if you’re ready, please feel free to bust a cat.
Image: MotorTrend

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  1. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    Mini vans had existed for decades, but it took the K-derived S-platform Chryslers to define “minivan”.
    http://collections.thehenryford.org/CYOE_Image.aspx?objectKey=169487&sequence=1

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      This came to my mind first. Pleased to see it towering above every other suggestion. To complete the picture: The European market maker Renault Espace.
      http://www.autozine.org/Archive/Renault/classic/Espace_1.jpg

      1. Rover 1 Avatar
        Rover 1

        But mine is silver.

  2. Tiberiuswise Avatar

    The Ford GPW. The first successful mass produced 4X4. Proven in battle, conquered civilian life. 70 years later some people still call any 4X4 a Jeep.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Ford_GPW_(1942)_owned_by_Ian_Spicer.JPG

  3. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    For reference only…

  4. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    http://img.favcars.com/jeep/wagoneer/jeep_wagoneer_1963_pictures_1.jpg
    The Explorer might’ve been the one that really gained traction with the general public, but Jeep’s efforts are worth noting as well, both the Wagoneer, and the XJ Cherokee that had four doors when the S-10 Blazer and Bronco II only had 2.

    1. Sjalabais Avatar
      Sjalabais

      How do the Suburban’s fit in? That’s a long tradition basically going for the same concept, too.
      http://myautoworld.com/gm/history/suburban/W36HV-CH002.jpg

      1. Maymar Avatar
        Maymar

        Very true – I thought about it and sort of wanted to leave it for someone else, but it definitely counts. The only thing that gives me pause is that it’s just so big, and is really a category unto itself. It hasn’t so much created a segment as it has done its own thing for decades.

        1. Sjalabais Avatar
          Sjalabais

          Yes, if an SUV is “less than a truck”, size matters in this comparison.

    2. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      And in Europe and the rest of the world where the Wagoneers were too big. We got this, the first Range Rover. Luxury and capability and just the right size- the same as a current MINI Countryman.
      img src=”http://www.autojunction.in/wcsstore/AJeRetailStore/images/content/features/range-rover-classic-1970.jpg”

  5. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    The A-body Plymouth Barracuda hit the showrooms 16 days before the Mustang. Pony cars are really Fish cars.

    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      Hey were you at Cars and Coffee in Aliso a week or so ago?

      1. 0A5599 Avatar
        0A5599

        No. Must have been my evil twin.

    2. needthatcar Avatar
      needthatcar

      Had the Barracuda been attractive or interesting, or sold a bazillion units, then I would agree. The precise release date doesn’t mean anything. The Mustang’s success is what defines that class. (Note: I don’t even like Mustangs) It’s like saying the Beatles didn’t define their genre because some other band released their album first.

  6. tonyola Avatar
    tonyola

    1973 Mercedes W116. Mercedes had been making high-end sedans for decades, but this is the one that became the gold standard for would-be competitors during the 1970s.

  7. PotbellyJoe★★★★★ Avatar
    PotbellyJoe★★★★★

    http://df_blogs_media.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/103/2014/09/1989-Mazda-Miata.jpg
    There hasn’t been a market for (new) British roadsters since.

    1. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      To be fair, there hasn’t been much of a supply either.

    2. 0A5599 Avatar
      0A5599

      By quantity, perhaps. Not by desirability.
      http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk/roadster/
      Also, who owns the market for three wheelers with wooden frames?

  8. smalleyxb122 Avatar
    smalleyxb122

    The M3 defined its segment, and has been the benchmark for the segment ever since.
    http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–ydONJw5t–/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/18gnnywhapyhajpg.jpg

  9. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    The CRX Si was my first impression of what would later become called the Hot Hatch. I suppose in Europe there were Renault 5 Turbos, but they seemed like rally cars in street drag. Maybe the Scirocco might have been an earlier Hot Hatch, but the CRX Si really made the game.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/1987_Honda_CRX_Si%2C_rear_right_%28Lime_Rock%29.jpg/640px-1987_Honda_CRX_Si%2C_rear_right_%28Lime_Rock%29.jpg

    1. dmdukejr Avatar
      dmdukejr

      Not really my area of expertise, but wouldn’t the VW GTi be the standard bearer here?

      1. duurtlang Avatar
        duurtlang

        Yes. The Golf GTI was introduced in 1976, the CRX Si in 1985 or so. They’re almost a decade apart. Not that the Golf GTI was the first, but it was the first hot hatch that sold in great numbers. In the late 1970s.

  10. marmer Avatar
    marmer

    I get the Explorer and the Chrysler minivan, but down here in Texas there are two other plausible answers. The ’67-’68 Chevy/GMC pickup and its descendants; first pickup to routinely have factory A/C, power steering and power brakes. https://img.mecum.com/auctions/FL0112/FL0112-120234/images/FL0112-120234_1.jpg Started the concept of the family truck instead of just the work truck. In similar fashion, Chevy Suburbans were/are quite common way before the Explorer. http://www.velocityjournal.com/images/stk/1973/ch1973suburban47933242m.jpg

  11. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    …EDIT Please disregard this picture of a 1967 Ranchero

    1. Alff Avatar
      Alff

      In what sense?

      1. Batshitbox Avatar
        Batshitbox

        Although Ford made their Ranchero in 1957, that body type will always be known as El Camino (1959?)
        http://www.rickblack.org/ElCamino/photos/Nemo2013.jpg

        1. ptschett Avatar
          ptschett

          I believe Australia had the coupe-utility (shortened to “ute”) first.

        2. Alff Avatar
          Alff

          Thx for the clarification. The Ranchero pic threw me.

  12. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    The 1982 S-10 seems to be the first Small Pickup in the States
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/1st-Chevrolet-S10.jpg/640px-1st-Chevrolet-S10.jpg

    1. Age_of_Aerostar Avatar
      Age_of_Aerostar

      No love for the LUV?
      http://www.gmpartsonline.net/media/estores/215055/contentimages/1972-luv.jpg
      but, yes, I get the point of the article, I just wanted to say that anyhow.

  13. engineerd Avatar
    engineerd

    Land Rover was synonymous with expedition/overlanding vehicles until some Japanese upstart with his 80 Series Land Cruiser stormed the market. Even the UN switched to the Land Cruiser from LR Defenders. They were cheaper to buy and less expensive to maintain. Today, Toyota is still trying to live on that legacy with the uber-expensive bloated pig of an SUV they currently pawn as a Land Cruiser.
    http://abc2xyz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/LandCruiser1.jpg

    1. Tiberiuswise Avatar

      Cool jeep.
      No, its a Toyota. Says so on the front.
      Duh, Toyota makes jeeps too.

  14. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    Not entirely sure about the competition, but here’s a high-priced European brand trying to reach out to younger people with a cheap and small car – that ends up being bought by seniors instead (Baby-Benz and A class had the same intention and opposite result):
    https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/8e/31/b6/8e31b6d1de70f34081a620b6abf7d7cc.jpg

  15. Jofes2 Avatar
    Jofes2

    The Nissan Qashqai was considered quite different when it first arrived, it became a big seller and BANG,
    look at CUV:s now…
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Nissan_Qashqai_vl_red_2006_EMS.jpg

    1. ptschett Avatar
      ptschett

      Can we say that CUVs are a… quasqow?

      1. Jofes2 Avatar
        Jofes2

        Actually, I think I’ve heard something about it being rebadged as the Dualis in Japan because Qashqai sounded too much like cash cow when said in Japanese.

    2. Amoore Avatar
      Amoore

      You mean the Nissin Kumquat?

  16. bv911 Avatar
    bv911

    Don’t think they called it a “targa” roof until Porsche did…
    http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/0b/e4/78/0be4780124a1b1316190db6a4a2734c6.jpg

    1. nanoop Avatar
      nanoop

      P-corp is owning the name “Targa” (inspired by the Targa Florio meaning “flowery shield”, so they picked up the shield theme) for anything car-related in Germany. So nobody else is going to sell a targa top in Germany without getting some registered mail.
      People tend to overly define what a targa roof is or isn’t, but considering the naming rights, that is a moot point: Targa is whatever P-corp chooses to call so. Luckily, they spared us the targa exhaust yet.
      To make it even more complicated: in common language, when average Germans talk about a “Targadach” they usually mean “a roof you take off the (any brand) car and put into the trunk” – this includes the roof of the 944 family (officially “abnehmbares Hubdach” – removable lifting roof), and sometimes even T-tops (an expression hardly heard outside car circles in German), but neither hardtops for convertibles nor collapsible tin roofs such as the VW Eos or MB SLK offered.
      I’m not sure about the English perspective.
      Apologies for this unsolicited rant, but it’s one of my internet missions to prevent people from saying “That’s not a targa” for the wrong reasons. Nobody did here yet, so I’m doing fine!

  17. Maymar Avatar
    Maymar

    https://cdn3.3dtuning.com/info/BMW%202002%201973%20Coupe/factory/5.jpg
    Another good one – I’m sure the ravings of David E. Davis Jr helped, but this laid the groundwork for the 3-Series, and the extremely strong small (well, relatively small these days) luxury car market, at least in North America.

    1. Rover 1 Avatar
      Rover 1

      It wasn’t as successful in the USA but maybe Rover did the small RWD 4 seater 2 litre high tech luxury sports sedan a little earlier.
      http://farm1.static.flickr.com/95/240944281_469484ace7.jpg
      Or as they were perhaps more commonly, seen
      http://static.wixstatic.com/media/c7b558_7554893fbd9b433295c25f90d43a5339.jpg_srz_p_600_343_75_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz

  18. Shotz Avatar
    Shotz

    Nobody has mentioned the 64 GTO yet?
    Its arguably not the first muscle car (Hudson Hornet, Olds 88) but it was the car that every manufacturer copied within a few short years.
    http://cdn.classiccars.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/1964-GTO.jpg

  19. Rover 1 Avatar
    Rover 1

    Before this, small cars were a bit of a joke. Like Isetta bubble cars or three wheelers. Then came this proper four seater, that handled really well and could beat larger cars (Mini vs Galaxy on a race track) And was somehow classless. Enzo Ferrari had one. So did everyone else.
    After, they all copied.
    Now, most of the world’s cars are transverse engined FWD. That don’t surprise with their handling.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Morris_Mini-Minor_1959.jpg
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Mini_cross_section.jpg
    The new ones are more Range Rover sized.
    http://s3.motoringfile.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/car_photo_369484_25.jpg
    http://s3.caradvice.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Mini-Monte-Carlo-1.jpg

  20. Mike England Avatar
    Mike England

    It would seem to me, an argument could be developed that the Ford Model T is the king of all “Category busters” . . .
    As the first and quintessential production automobile, it will always be the first and forever category king, representing a category that all these cars are a part of.
    We wouldn’t want to go back to a day when cars were handmade and only the playthings of the rich and famous, would we?

    1. Mike England Avatar
      Mike England

      Citric beat me to it.

  21. Vairship Avatar
    Vairship

    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/MURANO_Cross_Cabriolet.jpg/800px-MURANO_Cross_Cabriolet.jpg
    It dominated it’s niche, and will not be replaced anytime soon. The niche just turned out to be rather small…