There are so many SUVs on the market today that we find it useful to zoom in tight and compare two or three with very similar missions—like this week’s Jeep Wrangler and Toyota 4Runner examination. But back in the 1970s the handful of available “sports-utility four-wheel drive machines,” as we referred to them, accounted for a miniscule slice of the overall vehicle sales pie. This made it feasible to round up almost all of the two-door offerings for a comparison test. Our colleagues from back in the day did just that in August 1975, gathering a Dodge Ramcharger, Jeep CJ-5, Jeep Cherokee, International Scout II, and Toyota Land Cruiser and evaluating them on a “73-mile gas loop” (the results of which were likely somewhat less precise than today’s Real MPG testing), city and freeway evaluation routes, and a selection of “rocky road beds, gravel piles, and a 3-foot-deep stream bed” to assess their relative merits. (Missing from the test were a Chevy Blazer or GMC Jimmy and a Ford Bronco due to lack of availability, and the Dodge’s fraternal twin, Plymouth Trailblazer.) Here are some fun observations that stand in pretty stark contrast with today’s SUV landscape.
V-8s galore (but not many horses) 
Practically every SUV on the market offered a V-8 back in the day, with a notable exception being the Toyota Land Cruiser. It made do with a pushrod inline-six producing a wheezy 125 hp that rendered it the undisputed slowpoke of the bunch (0-60 mph in 14.0 seconds; 20.3 at 66.0 mph in the quarter). The pocket-rocket Jeep CJ-5’s 304-cubic-inch 150-hp V-8 tripped the lights quickest, with a 17.1-second 76.8-mph time despite its ancient three-speed manual transmission. The Ramcharger’s big-block 440 four-barrel cranked out 235 hp and 340 lb-ft, but its 5,020-pound curb weight slowed it down.
Creature comforts?
Apparently folks approached these machines expecting farm tractors because we expressed pleasure in finding some pretty elemental items in these cars. The Jeep’s “Renegade package included a host of goodies from fender extensions to the cigar lighter.” We also heaped praise on its Levi waterproof breathable seat fabric. The Toyota got credit for its “padded rollbar, head rests, and car-type door handles [that] give it the feel of a passenger car.” The Ramcharger offered a storage console capable of holding a six-pack cooler, and it even had a front trailer hitch (!?).
The Jeep’s the Rolls-Royce!
“The Jeep Cherokee is definitely the Rolls-Royce of the four-wheel-drive vehicles available in the U.S.” We understand that the Range Rover was only available in the U.S. via the grey-market from ’74-’87, but we wonder how our editors classified Jeep’s own fancier Wagoneer? In any case, they came to this conclusion based on such sybaritic caprices as cruise control, air conditioning, AM/FM stereo with four speakers (!), and power disc/drum brakes. Then again, I’ve ridden in mid-1970s Silver Shadows, and they’re Jeepier than you’d think. Still, can you imagine us ending a Jeep Cherokee review like this today: “We’re surprised AMC doesn’t offer champagne for the passengers.”
The Toyota’s the rattletrap/ergonomic mess
Available with a canvas top, our editors noted rattles emanating from the fancier hard top, and they reported a disconcerting whine was coming from the 4.11:1 rear axle. They also complained of inscrutable heater controls, peculiar pedal positioning that resulted in leg cramps, and vastly insufficient headroom for adult occupants of the inward facing rear seats. It also felt unstable at higher speeds and displayed “understeer that feels like the front wheel is going to buckle under.” It never did.
Fiddly 4WD
Nowadays some folks complain when they have to twist a console switch to engage AWD, but in the good ol’ days you frequently had to hop out and manually lock each front hub before engaging 4WD (and woe betide anyone who neglected to do that before getting stuck in the mud). The CJ-5 featured such hubs, and the Scout II’s Lock-o-Matic hubs could be manually locked (necessary for achieving 4WD in reverse), but they otherwise freewheeled and then automatically locked when the front wheels started contributing torque. Dodge’s NP203 transfer case offered full-time 4WD with no hub locks, but it popped out of gear into neutral under heavy loads during our tests. Not surprisingly, the Cherokee Quadra-trac transfer case was the fanciest, featuring a limited-slip center differential with an electric locking switch in the glove compartment.
Leaf springs all around
Back in the day, folks expected their sports-utility machines to ride like trucks, and automakers obliged by fitting oxcart live axles front and rear, suspended by leaf springs all around on all five of these competitors. (Note that 4WD versions of the Chevy Blazer and GMC Jimmy were similarly configured, but the absent Bronco earns credit for locating its front stick axle with radius rods so it could use coil springs.)
Making a splash
In the pursuit of science and spectacular photography, our editors took several high-speed runs at the aforementioned 3-foot-deep stream crossing. Our astute observation: “Open front fenders like those on the CJ-5 and Land Cruiser throw water up and out. The forward motion of the vehicle carries it through the spray, and the driver is blinded. No such problems with the closed type fenders as found in the Jeep Cherokee as shown.”
More on Jeep and Toyota SUVs: Car Compare: 2017 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited vs. 2017 Toyota 4Runner
The post Feature Flashback: 1975 SUVs – Jeep vs. Toyota appeared first on Motor Trend.
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