# When did we start calling them SUVs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 17, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237 "2002-12-17T03:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![keithnmick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@keithnmick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keithnmick)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/21 "2002-12-17T15:58:17Z")
Where exactly does the “sport” come in? Because you can take them camping? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/22 "2002-12-17T16:04:50Z")
I’d give a lot of credit to the Sierra Club for popularizing the term, when, 6 or 7 years ago, they launched a major broadside in anti-SUV campaign, calling them something like the “Joe Camel of the automobile industry.” ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/23 "2002-12-17T16:46:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*There might be a debate here, but I think the first “SUV” was the 1949 Willys Wagon with 4WD. Actually, the first ones were 2WD, but Willys added the 4WD and it was a very popular vehicle \*\* We did discuss this two and a half years ago, in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22844). I mentioned the 1936 Chevy Suburban Carryall. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/24 "2002-12-17T16:54:35Z")
And the Dodge Powerwagon, from who knows when ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/25 "2002-12-17T18:55:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Where exactly does the “sport” come in? > Because you can take them camping? In the 1970s (1960s?) people started taking their Jeeps offroad just for the thrill of doing it. It was called “offroading”. That’s where the “sport” comes in. Of course, people were doing it well before the '60s/'70-s, but it became very popular in those decades. **RM Mentock** : I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![cleops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@cleops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cleops)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/26 "2002-12-17T19:37:34Z")
How is it pronounced-- “ess-you-vee” or “suhv”? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/27 "2002-12-17T19:50:08Z")
To cleops: It is pronounced “ess-you-vee” by every American I’ve ever spoken to. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/28 "2002-12-17T19:53:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Princhester \* > \*\*For no reason in particular, can I just mention that in Australia they are called Four Wheel Drives, or more usually 4wd’s. \*\* Ditto in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2002, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/29 "2002-12-17T20:08:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Woodall \* > \*\*To cleops: > It is pronounced “ess-you-vee” by every American I’ve ever spoken to. \*\* Not me. I’ve heard it both ways. In general, I think, suhv is used by those who do not think so highly of them. I’ll have to think about that. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/30 "2002-12-18T05:20:44Z")
The owner’s manual of my '84 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (the old, big version) calls it an “MPV”: Multipurpose Vehicle. So it’s apparently later than mid-'80s. Perhaps it originated at the begginning of the SUV craze in the early '90s when the manufacturers had to think of a more attractive term for 'em? ---
**Author:** ![honkytonkwillie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@honkytonkwillie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/honkytonkwillie)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2002, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237/31 "2002-12-18T06:46:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Osiris \* > **"The Goonies" of 1985 had Chunk refer to them as ORV’s.** Damn! Beaten by **Osiris**! I remember seeing the movie that summer and knowing exactly what Chunk was talking about when he called the Jeep an ORV. Where I live, SUVs and pickups easily outnumber regular passenger vehicles. And nobody except car salesmen call them SUVs. Everyone else calls them trucks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-we-start-calling-them-suvs/143237.md?page=1)