9781422270363

ALFA ROMEO: A LEGACY FROM MILAN BENTLEY: THE BEST IN ITS CLASS MASERATI: ITALIAN STYLE AND PERFORMANCE PORSCHE: THE ULTIMATE SPEED MACHINE RANGE ROVER: THE ULTIMATE IN LUXURY ROLLS-ROYCE: INNOVATION AND ASPIRATION TESLA: THE FEELING IS ELECTRIC

Carlie Lawson

MASON CREST M I A M I

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Copyright © 2024 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

First printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-4784-6 Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4222-4794-5 Series ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7026-4 ebook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7036-3

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CONTENTS

Introduction .....................................................................6 Chapter 1: The History of the Range Rover.....................21 Chapter 2: Range Rover’s Iconic Models .........................33 Chapter 3: Worldwide Sales and Fame ...........................65 Chapter 4: The Future: Technology, Desirability, and ......... Sustainability ...............................................73 Series Glossary of Key Terms ..........................................92 Further Reading & Internet Resources.............................93 Index ..............................................................................94 Author’s Biography and Credits ......................................96 KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR: Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives. Educational Videos: Readers can view videos by scanning our QR codes, providing them with additional educational content to supplement the text. Examples include news coverage, moments in history, speeches, iconic sports moments, and much more! Series Glossary of Key Terms: This back-of-the-book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader’s ability to read and comprehend higher-level books and articles in this field.

T he iconic Range Rover we know today was unveiled in 1970, but wouldn’t have arrived at all if it wasn’t for the Land Rover. America has the Jeep—Britain has the Land Rover. For nearly 70 years these rugged workhorses have been rolling o ! the production line in the heart of Birmingham, England, Britain’s Detroit. Just as in some parts of the world “Jeep” has become a generic term for any four-wheel drive vehicle, so “Land Rover” enjoys the same status elsewhere. The Wilks Brothers’ Farm Tale As the oldest tale goes, brothers Maurice and Spencer Wilks constructed the first Land Rover by reverse-engineering a U.S.

Maurice Wilks

Spencer Wilks

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Range Rover: The Ultimate in Luxury

The Wilks brothers admired the American Willys Jeep 4x4 so much that they designed their own—the Land Rover.

military Jeep 4 × 4. Maurice Wilks owned a farm, which he worked himself. His brother, Spencer Wilks, worked for Rover Company and helped Maurice land a job there, too. The story goes that Maurice needed a hearty vehicle that could drive anywhere on his farm and haul heavy items. He knew of the World War II Willys 4x4 and knew that an American company produced a commercial version, but he cringed fiercely at the thought of needing to purchase an American Jeep to traverse his English farm. To avoid that, the engineer invented the Land Rover design. Origins—J.K. Starley & Co. Ltd. The many Rovers sometimes confuse those who are unfamiliar with British brands. Originally known as J.K. Starley & Co. Ltd., The Rover Company—the maker of Range Rover—dates back to the late 1800s.

Introduction

7

J.K Starley was formed in 1889 as a manufacturer of bicycles. In 1890 the name was changed to The Rover Company.

Picture it. It’s 1885 in the English countryside market town of Warwick. In the background of lush, greens stands Warwick Castle on the River Avon. Peasants and royals yearned for a way to traverse the nine miles between Warwick and nearby Coventry. Horses cost a lot to maintain, and the non-motorized trikes of the time proved dangerous to ride. A man named John Kemp Starley revolutionized transportation with his innovation—the Rover Safety bicycle. It featured only two wheels of similar size and rear-wheel drive. The chain-driven bicycle o ! ered enhanced stability. Cycling Magazine proclaimed that Starley’s design had “set the pattern to the world.” In 1878, Starley had established a partnership with another bike designer, William Sutton, but in 1889 he formally founded J.K.

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Range Rover: The Ultimate in Luxury

Starley & Co. Ltd. and began the next phase of company development—its first motorized form of transportation. Starley began experimenting with Peugeot motorcycles, reverse engineering the French manufacturer’s design. He outfitted one of his Rover bicycles with a Peugeot engine and started work on his first motorcycle designs. Becoming The Rover Company Starley changed the company’s name to reflect its expanded transportation focus in the late 1890s. It became The Rover Company and planned to release Starley’s motorcycle design. The next innovation was cut short, however, when Starley died unexpectedly on October 29, 1901, at the age of 46. His company carried on though, with colleague Henry John “Harry” Lawson and Rover’s managing director Harry Smyth taking the helm. By 1904, Great Britain’s Rover Company produced bicycles and motorcycles and debuted its first automobile, the Rover Eight, which it produced until 1912. From 1906 to 1910, the company manufactured the Rover 6, too. It briefly added the Rover 10/12

A 500 cc Rover motorcycle from the 1920s.

Introduction

9

during the production years 1906 and 1907. In 1948, it debuted the Land Rover. Rover continually produced a new vehicle every few years. In 1967, the Leyland Motor Corporation bought out the Rover Company, merging the two automakers. Leyland continued to produce three existing vehicles from Rover: the P5 until 1973, the P6 until 1976, and the Land Rover. The plot thickened, though, and business mergers abounded. Leyland, owner of the well-known and much-loved Triumph brand, had also drawn the interest of another, larger company. British Motor Holdings bought out Leyland in 1968, creating a mega corporation of the three automakers, known as British Leyland Motor Corporation.

Rover produced luxury cars for the middle income market, such as this 1964 Rover P5.

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Range Rover: The Ultimate in Luxury

The upheaval caused many prototypes and working projects to fail to come to fruition. For example, in 1967, Rover teased a sports car to the British press, but the auto never hit showrooms or sales lots, a victim of the back-to-back mergers, which caused a loss of company culture and altered company leadership, subsequently altering its political will. Although the sports car died, the Range Rover came to light two years following the buyout. Today’s Range Rover in no way resembles the original that debuted in 1970. Although still an SUV, the Land Rover company designed the original vehicle to compete with the American station wagons that surfers used in the 1960s for transporting their surfboards and friends. Those vehicles, nicknamed “woodies,” featured wood-look panels and four-wheel drive, so the surfers could drive directly on the sand. Land Rover wanted to enter the American market but knew that its current lineup didn’t intrigue American car buyers. The venerable United Kingdom firm chose to compete against Jeep and in 1969, it teased car lovers with a prototype Range Rover code named Velar, stemming from the Italian verb velare, meaning to “cover” or “veil.” Land Rover did consider the concept of a code name serious business, so it debuted the vehicle’s 26 prototype models with a badge that used the code name to cover its real identity. The original Range Rover didn’t plan to take over as a luxury SUV. It entered the fray to o ! er the original Jeep Wagoneer competition. Launched in 1963, Jeep’s larger 4x4 quickly earned the love of o ! -roaders. Range Rover hit the market in the United Kingdom in 1970 with a performance engine, a smooth ride, and a 4x4 that could o ! -road agilely. The company’s first SUV o ! ered a boxy, yet roomy, design powered by a Buick aluminum V-8 engine and four-wheel drive. Complemented by compliant coil spring shock absorbers and four wheel disc brakes, the SUV delivered a smooth ride both on and o ! the road. Despite its success in the United Kingdom, it was 17 years later, when it finally was on sale in the United States.

Introduction

11

Land Rover’s first four-wheel drive car was the 1 Series Land Rover. This early model is from 1950.

Market Research at Land Rover Today’s Range Rover stems from market research that told the Land Rover company that car buyers needed a luxury, but tough vehicle that could go anywhere and handle any terrain. So, in 1970, the Range Rover was finally ready to suit an outdoorsy coastal population needing a go-anywhere vehicle large enough to haul equipment such as surfboards. It began with the idea of a tough, all-terrain vehicle to inspire adventure. The brand evolved into a luxury SUV brand whose clientele are the upper-middle class to the wildly wealthy. You can pick up its bargain SUV, the Range Rover Evoque, for a base price of $44,700 or its top-of-the-line Range Rover Sentinel for a cool half a

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Range Rover: The Ultimate in Luxury

million dollars. While the former vehicle gets you where you’re going, even through about 34 inches of standing water or a sand beach or desert, the latter can withstand a bomb blast or a drive-by shooting. Land Rover o ! ers an armored car version of its top-of-the line Sentinel, based on its Autograph vehicle. That’s a long way from designing a better surfing woody or a farm vehicle. Range Rover’s Ownership Timeline British Leyland Motor Corporation Introduces Its Range Rover Series The Range Rover line was launched in 1970 by British Leyland and is now in its fi # h generation. Additional models have been launched under the Range Rover name, including the Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Evoque, and Range Rover Velar.

The first Range Rover to be released in 1970 was a two door model. A four-door model wasn’t added until 1981.

Introduction

13

BMW Acquires Rover In 1994, BMW acquired all of the Rover-related brands. But nothing in the auto manufacturing world stays simple, so more mergers ensued. You might sometimes read historical references to “Jaguar Land Rover.” That’s because in 1989, the American firm Ford acquired Jaguar Cars and then 11 years later purchased Land Rover from BMW. Ford unified the two brands as Jaguar Land Rover. It wasn’t meant to be though. In 2008, dear Land Rover again changed hands. The Tata Motors Buyout In 2008, Land Rover and its sibling and parent brand all found a home in the Indian company Tata Motors. The transcontinental company unified the brand, and motorists can once again count on reliability in design and performance. In its new home, the once independent Rover returned to its innovative roots.

Tata Motors is the biggest automobile manufacturing company in India. It owns Land Rover and Jaguar.

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Range Rover: The Ultimate in Luxury

A Range Rover Sport on display at the Canadian International AutoShow in 2009.

Tata has encouraged Rover’s engineers to collaborate with its former sibling brands. In 2019, for instance, Land Rover worked with BMW and Jaguar to develop the next generation of electric vehicles for the motor companies. As reported in Engadget and Auto News , the three automakers partnered in a collaborative development project that also includes shared production and purchasing. From One Competitor to More Than 20 The rough-and-ready Jeep o ! ered its only real competition in 1969 as Land Rover worked on its initial Range Rover design. Today, the brand has more than 20 direct competitors. Throughout a little more than 50 years of its existence, Range Rover’s competitive field exploded. During the 1970s, you either purchased a Jeep or Range Rover. That meant you could flip a coin if you felt indecisive about it. Today, entire magazines online devote their electronic pages to reviewing every SUV available. The fiercely competitive Range Rover

Introduction

15

The luxurious interior and state-of-the-art technology of the 2023 long wheel base Range Rover.

still ranks in the top five of the best luxury SUVs. In fact, in 2022, its Range Rover 2022 came in third in a field of 21 direct competitors. Although the luxury set can presumably a ! ord the fuel that gas guzzling SUVs eat for dinner, our changing world won’t allow the continued manufacture of gas-powered vehicles that clog our roadways. Long a world leader in environmental law, on August 25, 2022, the U.S. state of California passed a regulation via its rulemaking body, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), that bans the sale of new gas-powered automotives in the state e ! ective in 2035. Classic car lovers can still purchase used vehicles a # er 2035. They will still have the right to drive their older-model gas-powered vehicles in the state. In an interview with CNN, California Air Resources Board member Daniel Sperling said, “This is monumental. This is the most important thing that CARB has done in the last 30 years. It’s important not just for California, but it’s important for the country and the world.” That’s because, if it receives EPA approval, it will

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Range Rover: The Ultimate in Luxury