Suzuki Vitara

The first Suzuki Vitara came to the UK in 1988 and was available in both three and five-door bodystyles and then as a soft-top a year later.

At the time its biggest rivals was the Toyota Rav4 and the Vauxhall Frontera. There was just one engine available from launch, a 1.6-litre petrol unit which took a leisurely 16 seconds to climb from 0-60mph.

When the five-door was launched in 1991 the 1.6-litre engine was made more powerful bringing the 0-60 time down to 14.5 seconds. A 2.0 V6 with 134bhp arrived in 1995 and a turbo-powered diesel from Mazda joined the line-up in January 1996.

Discontinued in 2000, the Vitara was re-launched again in 2015 as an off-road rugged looking car designed more for on-road driving. These new breed of crossovers have grown in popularity in recent years and the Japanese firm has two models in the sector, the Vitara and the S-Cross.