The Crossover-Type SUV LR Has Been Needing?
"It was us who put the S in SUV. It's our territory and we're going to take it back."
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| Excitement has been building at Land Rover's headquarters about the release of the new Range Rover Sport performance utility vehicle. (Photo: Land Rover) |
These bold words, courtesy of Richard Woolly, Land Rover's director of studio design, make clear the pent up excitement within the company's Solihull headquarters about the release of the new Range Rover Sport performance utility vehicle.
The idea of Land Rover building a sports car, or at least a vehicle that could be described as "sporty", is a truly foreign concept. This is the brand that has cultivated its image around being the essential continent-traversing tool, a vehicle, lined in leather and wood that wouldn't break into a sweat at the sight of a muddy, rocky path.
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| The thought of a "sporty" Land Rover is a truly foreign concept. (Photo: Land Rover) |
Land Rover has spent decades perfecting its recipe of building the gentleman's off-roader. For a manufacturer as detached from the world of variable-valve timing, ZR-rated high-performance tires and ceramic brakes as this, to build a sporty vehicle is about as strange as Lamborghini's decision to even consider producing SUVs.
Of course Lamborghini did build an SUV, the Cheetah which became the LM002, and will most likely come to market shortly with its own V10- and V12-powered urban-assault version of parent Volkswagen's Touareg, but until then others will carry the "sport" utility flag.