The SUV craze is still relatively recent phenomenon in automotive history. Performance SUVs are an even newer thing, really only coming into prominence in the last 10-15 years.
But back in 1989 a whole lot of weird stuff came together in a perfect storm to create what The Good Oil reckons is the world’s first “performance SUV”: the Rayton-Fissore Laforza.
The what? Rayton-Fissore was an Italian coachbuilding company based near Turin. The Magnum was its SUV creation launched in 1985 (yes, before the Lamborghini LM002), based on an Iveco 4x4/military chassis but with a wagon body.
Think of it as Italy’s answer to the Range Rover, but with much more powertrain choice: it was launched with 2.4-litre diesel, Fiat/Lancia 2.0-litre supercharged-petrol and Alfa Romeo 2.5-litre V6 engines. Later, it also gained BMW inline petrol-six and turbo diesel powerplants.
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But that was just beginner stuff compared with what happened in 1989.
A high-performance version of the Magnum was created for the US market (always the key to performance SUVs, right?) and renamed Laforza. It picked up a 5.0-litre V8 from the Ford Mustang, modified transmission and a strengthened chassis.
The American version sported different styling detail, but also had a new dashboard and seats. In other words, the company went all out to create… the world’s first performance/luxury SUV. Although nobody would have thought to call it that in 1989.
Later versions were updated by Pininfarina and there was even a Laforza GT in 1995 that had the option of a supercharger.
Incredibly, it lasted until 2003, becoming the Laforza Prima and ultimately, with a nice sense of circularity, the Laforza Magnum edition – complete with General Motors-sourced 6.0-litre V8 supercharged engine.
But after 2003 it was no more, its pioneer spirit possibly dampened by the fact that there were now other performance SUVs on the market than didn’t look like a giant Fiat Uno and weren’t terrifying to drive.
Stuff like the Porsche Cayenne Turbo of 2002, which is arguably a more convincing catalyst for this crazy genre. But it doesn’t drop your jaw like the Laforza, does it?