QOTD: Waiting on Perfection?

God knows we’ve talked up crossovers ad nauseum. Not in the same uniformly derisive manner as certain twenty-something bloggers, mind you, but the topic certainly has staying power — and with good reason. The thing about these (mostly) non-canyon-carving family boxes is that they insert themselves so easily into so many people’s lives, ticking a great number of boxes on a regular family’s list of must-haves. Hence the sales, the popularity, and the press.

So copious is the choice awaiting a would-be crossover buyer, he or she might become overwhelmed with indecision, ultimately requiring the intervention of medication and therapy. For others, the thought of bringing any one of these things home might leave a bad taste in their mouth. And for a certain few, the crossover of their dreams just hasn’t arrived yet. The love affair they didn’t think could happen awaits just over the horizon.

Maybe not a love affair for all things unibody, FWD, and cargo-friendly, for sure, but for a vehicle belonging to this overly broad segment that remains out of reach for American consumers. Perhaps its doesn’t yet exist anywhere in the world — just in the fertile imaginations of those who demand something different.

Something funky, avante-garde, and almost guaranteed to sell in numbers low enough to make the whole project a pointless money waster for any automaker dumb enough to attempt it. Then again, models with enough volume could affordably spawn variants aimed at a fairly narrow slice of the public, should the automaker choose to be generous.

Overseas, European buyers will soon have access to a drop-top Volkswagen compact CUV, affording drivers the open-air experience they were tacitly promised when the targa-like T-Roc concept appeared several years back. Americans haven’t known such oddball enjoyment since the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet bit the dust. And look at all of that vodka cooler-swallowing cargo space! (Zima? Mineral water?)

Maybe GMC was on to something when its debuted the Envoy XUV all those years ago. Perhaps Subaru’s Baja was a kooky idea you’d like to see replicated on a two-box crossover you’d otherwise pass over. Or maybe, just maybe, these attempts at filling a need that barely existed do not go far enough.

Tell us about the high-riding, unibody vehicle of your dreams. Who’ll build it, and how wild will it get?

[Images: Volkswagen]