Range Rover Evoque

Make
Land Rover
Segment
SUV

Motor Trend's Jonny Lieberman brings up a good point when driving around with Carlos Lago in a Land Rover Range Rover Evoque Convertible. He claims that somewhere along the natural process of large car evolution, the SUV lost its convertible roots. While it's pretty strange to think about an SUV as a convertible nowadays, the original Jeep, Land Rover Defender, Ford Bronco, and Chevrolet Blazer either started out with removable roofs or had topless variants as an option.

Then, somewhere along the way, consumers began to see SUVs as extensions of their living rooms rather than purpose-built machines for amplifying the enjoyment of the outdoors. However, there are still a handful of convertible SUVs around. Most popular is the Jeep Wrangler.

While that doesn't exactly count as a convertible in the conventional sense of the word, it does feature a removable roof and plenty of hardware to conquer the great outdoors. SUVs like the Range Rover Evoque Convertible or Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet signal the fact that we've gone full circle, from rugged open top vehicles to mini SUVs that fit into shopping mall parking lots better than they do on the Rubicon. To conduct an appropriate test, Lieberman and Lagos hit the city streets in the Evoque Convertible, the convertible SUV's natural habitat, and find that despite its unconventional looks and the general public's knee-jerk reaction to automatically hate the car, it actually drives well.