What’s old is — literally — new again
RANGE ROVER: Automaker will take ’78 classics, strip them down and rebuild them like new for $220,000
Many people regard the first-generation Range Rover to be one of the best-looking SUV designs of all time.
Admittedly, it’s not typically a segment known for outward beauty, but the early Range Rovers do have an austere elegance to them.
Especially when they’re painted in 1970s hues of mustard yellow, drab green or even gold.
Old Range Rovers have a strong enthusiast following, but many have long ago succumbed to rust and deferred maintenance.
No matter, because you can now buy a “brand-new” 1978 Range Rover thanks to Land Rover’s new Range Rover Reborn program.
The program takes original classics, strips them down and rebuilds them flawlessly to as-new condition.
The price is an unsurprisingly high $220,000, and if that’s pocket change to you, hurry and get your order in — Land Rover is restoring just 10 classics for the initial run. It remains unknown how many they’ll make in future, if any at all.
Mechanically, the specs are purely 1978, right down to the anemic 3.5-litre V-8 with 132 horsepower.
Land Rover’s team works with prospective buyers to track down original Range Rovers that have desirable and rare options, as well as interesting factory colours.
While it’s refreshing to see junky old trucks get restored, there’s a very slim chance any of these trucks will be used like real 4x4s after restoration.
Lamborghini’s SUV Urus to begin production in April
There’s just too much money to be made in leather-lined quasi-functional CUVs and SUVs for prestige manufacturers to ignore — Lamborghini included.
The Urus, Lamborghini’s first SUV since the LM002 from the late 1980s and early 1990s, will reportedly start production this April.
With the SUV, the Italian company expects to double its yearly sales to around 7,000 units per year, which would also include the Aventador and Huracan cars it currently produces.
Though the Urus is based on the same platform as the Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7, the Urus will be built at the company’s factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese in Italy, and will share engines with its Volkswagen Group brethren.
A hybrid Urus is also expected in the future. However, Lamborghini does promise the Urus will be extremely capable off road — capabilities that few beyond the Top Gear cast will ever fully explore.
We’ll have a better idea for pricing around its debut, reportedly set for the 2017 Geneva Motor Show in March, but expect it to be north of the $200,000 mark.