5. 1990-1991 Volkswagen Golf Country
Volkswagen first started offering its Syncro all-wheel-drive system in the second-generation Golf in 1986, but it took the idea to a new height – or ride height, rather – with the 1990 Country. VW lifted the suspension to provide an SUV-like stance, and then decked the car out with skid plates, tubular brush guards and rear bumpers, and a swing-away rear spare tire carrier. Roughly 4000 examples were built by Steyr-Daimler Puch in Austria, the same firm that helped co-develop the Syncro driveline in the first place.
