Range Rover, the luxury sport utility vehicle, celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. Ever since it has been put on sale, Range Rover has managed to combine the amenities of a luxury, utility and capability to impress its owners with its ride quality both on and off the road.
Since its inception, Range Rover has seen quite a few design changes. The first-generation Range Rover, the Range Rover Classic, rolled out of its UK factory in 1970, the company continued to offer this model on sale till 1996, making it one of longest selling production models. Although the parent company Land rover has changed many hands, that hasn’t forced the current Range Rover to leave its original design philosophy. The current model possesses even more strength and capability to tackle missions for whom it has been built, yet follows the basic and simple principles of luxury and off-road activities as shown by the very first Range Rover.
On 26 November 2004, Land Rover released the first photographs of the Range Rover Sport, a new model it planned to show to the public for the first time at the 2005 North American International Auto Show. The Range Rover Sport is a production car development of the Range-Stormer concept vehicle the company showcased in the 2004 North American International Auto Show. Though called the Range Rover Sport, it was not merely a new specification within the Range Rover line-up, but rather an entirely new vehicle, based on the Discovery/LR3 chassis. This model was released for sale in late 2005 as a 2006 model.
Since the mid-90s, the luxury SUV segment has intensified with almost every brand trying to get a piece of the pie. The realities of the modern world mean that future Range Rovers will undoubtedly change, getting lighter and perhaps adopting hybrid technology and much more. For now at least, the badge still represents the epitome of British luxury blended with jungle crawling capability.