SUV-as-a-crab metaphor (Or, you can’t spell “carcinization” without “car”)

I have been reading up on the auto industry since I was a young tween, going back to at least 1981 for my first-ever issue of Car & Driver. While I had forgotten the cars reviewed in that issue, I remember it being the magazine's debut of longtime auto journalists Jean Jennings (née Lindamood) and the unforgettable Csaba Csere. This was back when LJK Setright, a man whose life seems too preposterous to be real, wrote the back page articles for C&D. There's something to be said for being able to remember magazines from 45 years ago, though I'm not sure what that would exactly be. What isn't as memorable are the vehicles being made today, as the auto industry worldwide has fallen victim to a type of carcinization, though instead of evolving towards the shape of a crab, evolution has pushed many vehicles towards the shape of an SUV (or CUV, or crossover, or whatever synonym you prefer). I'm not making a new observation here, as I am about 35ish years too late to the party. SUVs started…