Square Up: 10 Best Boxy Cars on the Market Right Now
There's a reason why the allure of a boxy car is eternal.
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Surprisingly, we seem to be in a boxy car renaissance. With fuel prices rising and electric vehicles tipping into the mainstream, you might think that aerodynamics would be paramount, both to increase fuel economy in gas-powered cars and to enhance the range in battery-powered ones. Instead, we're seeing angular shapes proliferate through the automotive realm.
Why? Credit goes to the same issues that are causing gas prices to spike and EVs to take over. In times of global instability and social change, people tend to want to feel protected. “I think boxiness conveys a kind of efficaciousness — sturdy, robust, strong, protective,” says Paul Snyder, chair of the transportation design department at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies, one of the world’s premier schools for vehicle design. “Whether they’re conscious or subconscious, boxiness has associations with military vehicles and bunkers.”
From Snyder’s perspective, the market for boxy cars is about two things: safety and luxury. "A boxy vehicle is a package that gives people a sense of security at the same time as it offers them this living room-on-wheels sensibility, where they can enjoy all their luxury amenities," he says. For those of you compelled by the bold shape, practicality and luxuriousness of boxy vehicles, we’ve assembled this list of some of the squarest, most angular ones out there.
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The G-Wagen was originally designed as a military-style vehicle for civilian use, so it comes by its martial associations naturally. Its design persevered unchanged for 40 years, and when it was time to finally restyle it in 2019, Benz wisely chose to mimic the original — almost exactly. In late 2023, a fully electric version, the EQG, will be available.
Another retro-named SUV that returned to the U.S. market in 2020 after a near quarter-century hiatus, the current Defender isn’t quite as emulative in its retro styling or in its angularity as the Bronco or Jeep. It is also far more pleasant to drive on road. It even comes in an 8-passenger version. Land Rover has hinted that an electric version will come in 2025.
This boutique electric truck brand's vehicles give new meaning to the term boxy. In fact, they look like they were designed with a T-square and an axe. But Bollinger's entries — currently limited to a cab and chassis, available only to fleet customers and customizable by upfitters building things like camper vans or utility trucks — are undeniably cool.
Tired of watching Jeep nab all the adventurous (or adventurous adjacent) consumers, Ford introduced the Bronco in 1965. Its scale grew for decades after, before it disappeared in 1996. Its revival, in 2021, as a two- or four-door SUV, retro-styled after the original, has been an immense success. Ford has discussed plans for an electrified version.
Kia's three-row SUV has been a huge hit, even making our list of the best family cars for cool parents. While we’ve praised the Telluride's interior materials, luxury-level features and low price of entry, some measure of this success is due to its bold, rectangular shape, which we think is best described as "bossy." An adjacent electric version, the EV9, is forthcoming.
One of the few non-truck/SUV picks on this list, the Soul continues to carry the torch for the square compact car trend that flourished in the early 2000s and 2010s with entries like the Honda Element, Scion xB and Nissan Cube (RIP, all). Though it has a boxy profile, up close, its lopped-off corners render it more "squ-ircular."
The Chevy Express van has been on the market, virtually unchanged, since Bill Clinton was president. But it still manages to do its job: carrying an immense amount of cargo or passengers — up to 15 people in the extended wheelbase version. An all-electric version of the Express will debut in 2026.
The Jeep Wrangler's military roots are traceable to WWII, when it was designed to help Allied soldiers beat the Axis in a ground war. The lineup now includes two- and four-door models with removable hard or soft tops, and a four-door truck, but its rectangular styling, off-road chops and tractor-like driving experience remain. An electric Jeep is on its way sometime soon.
The Chevy Suburban — along with the GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade — is a full-size, luxury SUV that's stunning not only for its blunt prows and rears and razor-sharp flanks, but also for its sheer mass. The extended versions are 19 feet long. But thanks to the magnetic suspension system developed by General Motors, they drive smaller. And their roominess is palatial. Watch for electric versions coming to the market.
When it first appeared, back in 2005, the 300C signaled the revival of Chrysler’s famed "Letter Series" cars of the '50s and '60s, and the return the menacing American muscle sedan. It has undergone few cosmetic updates in the past two decades, and even fewer updates to its chassis, but its essence remains compelling, even in this, its final production year.
Brett Berk (he/him) is a former preschool teacher and early childhood center director who spent a decade as a youth and family researcher and now covers the topics of kids and the auto industry for publications including CNN, the New York Times, Popular Mechanics and more. He has published a parenting book, The Gay Uncle’s Guide to Parenting, and since 2008 has driven and reviewed thousands of cars for Car and Driver and Road & Track, where he is contributing editor. He has also written for Architectural Digest, Billboard, ELLE Decor, Esquire, GQ, Travel + Leisure and Vanity Fair.
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