The GMC Terracross Was A Bizarre Concept SUV With A Reconfigurable Roof – SlashGear

In short, the GMC Terracross figured the future was modular. The folding, swapping, and rearranging of the Terracross didn’t stop at usual SUV suspects like seats and flooring. The Terracross opened doors and even the actual roof to the mad ministrations of any driver who felt like reconfiguring the thing (via TestDriveJunkie).

Bizarre as it looked, the Terracross was fundamentally an attempt at an idea that has been tried many times in the history of car design: the pickup truck that is also an SUV. It makes so much sense in theory. After all, the only difference between an SUV and a pickup on a design level is some seats, a few square feet of bodywork, and some strategic carpeting. One truly compelling SUV/pickup could synergize the profitable but frustratingly separate markets for pickups and SUVs (via Hedges & Company), making a mint for its manufacturer.

It’s never happened. As Motor Trend reports, despite many attempts over the past few decades, no one has ever quite stuck the landing on a modular SUV/pickup combination. Even at the apex of popularity in the 70s and 80s, when “converting” the vehicle consisted of putting on or taking off a plastic topper, the SUV/pickup was a niche item. It certainly wasn’t enough to motivate buyers to purchase a vehicle based on modularity alone. Pickup truck drivers kept buying pickups, SUV fans bought SUVs, GMC got back to its core business of big square vehicles for big square jobs, and the Terracross vanished without a trace.