HOW IT STARTED
Unveiled in June 1970, the first Range Rover was sold exclusively with a three-door body and had an interior that was designed to be hosed down after each muddy excursion: quite literally ‘from the farmhouse to the opera house’.
So enamoured was the automotive world with the car’s distinct styling – in particular the clamshell bonnet, signature gills and floating roof – that an example of the first Range Rover was placed on display as “an exemplary work of industrial design” at the Louvre in Paris.
Even as the unofficial transport of the British Royal Family, it wasn’t until 1981 that a five-door derivative was introduced. The first automatic transmission followed one year later. In 1989, the Range Rover became the first all-wheeldrive SUV to be fitted with ABS brakes and, in 1992, along with the introduction of the first long-wheelbase version came electronic stability control and air suspension.
HOW IT’S GOING
Over five generations, the mandate of Land Rover’s distinguished Range Rover sub-brand has shifted even further towards opulence and comfort while maintaining its go-anywhere prowess. if only for braai-side bragging rights. The range has since grown in both stature and, undoubtedly, girth. In standard form, this model now stretches to more than five metres long and two metres wide, and weighs, on average, in excess of 2,5 tons. It is now more reliant than ever on active air suspension.
With an on-demand ground clearance that exceeds that of the Land Rover Defender, its all-wheel steering adds yet another tool to the Range Rover’s existing arsenal of off-roading credentials.
What’s more is Land Rover’s brilliant Terrain Response II menu has also been fitted to the latest generation.
It is available with a 4.4-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 petrol engine or 3.0-litre, inline sixcylinder turbodiesel in the D350.
At the time of launch, Land Rover South Africa had already received deposits for close to 500 fifth-generation Range Rovers, with the most popular specification being the flagship Autobiography derivative.