Picture a house in a ritzy American suburb. Two parents with high-paying, white-collar jobs, or one who does M&A for BlackRock while the other stays home and tends to the kids and the family Labradoodle.
It’s an American dream that feels increasingly out of reach (I’ll get to that). But first, what’s in the driveway?
Most likely a Range Rover, a Cadillac Escalade, or choose your pick of full-size German SUVs. High-riding luxury vehicles have been the default automotive symbols of success for American families for two decades at this point. It’s been so long, we’ve forgotten what came before.
Just before the turn of the millennium, one show traced the SUV’s rise to prestige like no other. That show, of course, was David Chase’s iconic The Sopranos.
Tony Soprano’s 1999 Chevrolet Tahoe
Photo by: HBO
Tony Soprano represents a new generation of mob boss, driving a GMT400 Chevy Suburban to Paulie Walnuts’ and Silvio Dante’s Cadillac Seville sedans. Protege Christopher Moltisanti starts the series driving a Lexus LS400, but buys a P38-generation Range Rover once he gets “made,” or formally inducted into the Mafia.
While Tony is an SUV guy throughout the series, upgrading from the red Suburban to a black Cadillac Escalade ESV in the show’s fifth season, the transformation affects his own family. His wife, Carmela Soprano, drives a W210 Mercedes E-Class wagon for most of the series, before Tony buys her a then-new Porsche Cayenne at the beginning of season six. When his son, AJ, learns to drive, Tony buys him a new Nissan Xterra—again, an SUV.
Through the lens of The Sopranos, we see a bigger transition at play—the redefinition of American luxury. From suaveness to ruggedness, from suits and wingtips to Dri-Fit polos and Nike Shox (which eventually became ON sneakers).
In other words, a transition from luxury sedans to SUVs.
Photo by: HBO
In 1999, its second full year on sale and the year The Sopranos premiered, Cadillac sold 23,987 Escalades in the US. In 2006, it moved 39,017, a nearly 63 percent increase. But Cadillac wasn’t alone in the explosion of luxury SUV sales.
Land Rover moved a record 29,380 cars in the US in 1999—all of them costly and capable Range Rover or Discovery models. In 2005, that number had climbed to 46,175, and last year hit a new record of 97,176.
With the exception of the Great Recession years, luxury SUV sales have grown every year since the turn of the millennium. It’s the default aspirational vehicle for American families, and automakers are investing heavily in its future. Audi just introduced the Q9, its largest car ever, specifically for the US market. Toyota has churned out several SUVs from its body-on-frame TNGA-F platform, including the luxurious Lexus GX and LX.
At the same time, these aspirational vehicles are increasingly unaffordable for most people.
Through the lens of The Sopranos, we see a bigger transition at play—the redefinition of American luxury.
Rising costs, stagnating wages, and a car market that increasingly caters to the moneyed few have driven loan terms and amounts financed to record lengths. Last month, we reported that 35 percent of new car buyers finance their purchase for six years or longer, and the average amount financed is nearly $44,000. That’s in a purchasing environment where the average new car costs $52,000—over $18,000 and 50 percent higher than a decade ago—and wages haven’t kept up with inflation.
What does unaffordability have to do with The Sopranos, you ask?
In one of the series’ most memorable quotes, Tony tells therapist Dr. Melfi that he feels like he was born too late. He says: “It’s good to be in something from the ground floor. I came too late for that, and I know. But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I came in at the end. The best is over.”
Tony was talking about his role as a mob boss, but the quote applies to contemporary American life, and by proxy, the luxury SUV. What happens when the dream is no longer possible, or at least, broadly attainable?
The answer, at least so far, seems to be brands catering to the very top of the market. Think $300,000 Ford Bronco and Land Rover Defender restomods, and the proliferation of high-end performance SUVs like the Lamborghini Urus SE, Aston Martin DBX S, and BMW XM: cars that exist to signal wealth and power as much as anything else.
Tony Soprano’s Cadillac Escalade
Photo by: HBO
But the Escalade did that too—it took humble Chevy Tahoe bones and, with a few strokes of a pen and some chrome, gave them prestige. When Tony Soprano swapped his red Suburban for an Escalade, it meant something. He was signaling to the world that he’d made it, even if all that meant was that he could afford to spend 20 grand on leather seats, a nice stereo, and chrome.
In many ways, it was the perfect car for him. Its toughness was only skin-deep; its vestige of wealth and power, artificial. After all, cars exist as avatars of what we hope for and aspire to as much as they are practical transportation, and in the early 2000s, a lot of Americans were aspiring to outdoor activity.
Even two decades later, The Sopranos’ impact on SUV culture still resonated.
When Tony Soprano swapped his red Suburban for an Escalade, it meant something.
When Chevrolet set out to introduce its new Silverado EV during the 2022 Super Bowl, it went back to the show, recreating the show’s iconic opening sequence with the brand’s new electric pickup.
Gary Pascoe, chief creative officer at the agency behind the campaign, said the connection between Chevy and The Sopranos was too obvious to ignore. Chevrolet, he said, had always been part of America’s cultural past, and the new Silverado EV could represent its future. As Pascoe told Little Black Book:
‘As we started brainstorming, we realised that Tony Soprano drove a 1999 Chevy Suburban in the opening title sequence of The Sopranos. That was really interesting to us—this idea that Chevy has always been a big part of America’s cultural past…’
The big question is: What would the Sopranos drive if the show were set in 2026? (Probably not a Silverado EV, if we’re being honest.)
It’s hard to picture Tony in anything but a full-size SUV, and there’s still nothing else quite like an Escalade on the market. Make it the IQ electric model, because real gangsters move in silence. Carmela screams Maybach GLS customer to me, and Anthony? I’m going Cybertruck.
The Sopranos captured a moment at which the SUV crossed over from being an aspirational item to a mainstream commodity. Twenty years later, both are still going strong.
