We love Range Rovers. We love their ‘don’t mess with me’ looks. We love the way they drive. We love the way they ride. We love the fact that they have been around nearly four decades. If ever there was a motoring icon cake in the making the RR has all of the ingredients. Arguably it set the benchmark for all SUV’s that followed it. Just like the icons represented by the Mini, the Beetle and the 911, the Rangie has got timeless style and desirability by the bucketload. In fact, in our own humble opinion of course, there is no other vehicle on this planet that offers so much all-round capability. It still comes top of the class for off-road use – the competition struggles where the RR is king. It has the prestige of a Bentley. In Supercharged form it behaves like a sports car. It can carry five in comfort with their suitcases on a long-haul trip to the Alps. It just goes on and on and on.
Thank you Charles Spencer King, known as ‘Spen’ to his mates down the pub. His brainchild of the 60’s turned out to be a motoring legend but we doubt that he ever planned it to be that way. You see, Spen saw his Rangie as a utilitarian vehicle that was jolly good at crossing ploughed fields at high speed because of its damn good suspension setup. The perceived market at the time consisted of those people who liked to be adventurous with their cars and who certainly didn’t mind a few mud splashes up the side of their carriages. But markets evolve and what today is referred to as the ‘SUV’ sector changed people’s perceptions of 4×4’s forever. Now image and branding is far more important and there isn’t a premium brand left that has not off-roaded into 4×4 territory. But that doesn’t matter a jot to Land Rover. If anything the cachet of the brand has climbed a few notches since the creation of this new sector and Ratan Tata knows a good deal when he spots one. Ford will no doubt regret selling the family silver in due course.
Today there are a myriad of option packs on offer to the RR purchaser depending on his or her lifestyle. How about Urban or Touring? Then there’s Summer Adventure or Winter Sports. Maybe you see yourself as a Stormer or G4?
Why has life got so complicated? We have a suggestion for LR – try ‘Original’ and ‘Best’!
Take a look at the stunning Sport model on the website.
The Car Spy 