It’s fun to chart the changes through the years for the Durango, Dodge’s beloved sport utility vehicle. As customer needs and desires have evolved, so has the Durango.

Durango’s lineage can be broken down, roughly, into three generations. Generation one, produced from 1998 through 2003, was a ground-breaking, sturdy, midsized SUV with body-on-frame construction shared with the Dakota, Dodge’s highly acclaimed midsize pickup. Signaling its rugged, no-nonsense nature, in its first year the Durango was offered only in a four-wheel-drive version.

For ’99 both 2WD and 4WD drivetrains were offered, along…