BRITPOP HITS

It has been a bumpy few years, but will Britannia rule the road in 2022?

RANGE ROVER

It’s a shame we can’t show you video on these pages. Not so much for the inevitable drifting shots, standing starts and drag races but for those must-see elements of new cars that don’t fully capture the imagination through only words and pictures.

Take the new Range Rover. As one of the most important cars revealed last year, it warranted six pages of news, covering every angle and specification detail imaginable. But honestly, when we were first shown around the reborn Rangie, it was the ‘club table’ in the rear that truly captivated us, and you really do have to see it in action to appreciate it. Yes, yes, it’s no less than the fifth iteration of the ‘original luxury SUV’, it will provide the basis for Land Rover’s first electric car and it serves as a bellwether for the very future of Britain’s biggest car manufacturer, but seriously: this table.

Fitted to the four-seat SV model, it’s mounted on a meticulously sculpted piece of billet aluminium that rises hypnotically from the back of the centre console – a process tested some 11,000 times by Land Rover’s engineers – to provide a flexible dining-area-cum-desk for the aristocratic rear-seat passengers.

It’s remarkable, perhaps, that in this era of touchscreen ubiquity and all-encompassing connectivity, a folding table should even catch the eye. But just as important in this segment are those special elements that imbue a sense of occasion, and that’s something the Range Rover has always done rather well.

It’s just one of an array of party tricks that should help bolster the appeal of what’s already one of the most covetable cars on sale. But don’t worry: we will sit up front when we’re allowed out on the road for the first time to make sure that this Range Rover is as impressive to drive as it is to sit in.