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Range Rover: A Brief History of Legend - Walla! vehicle

2021-10-22T07:24:05.438Z


In a few days the new and fifth generation of the Range Rover dynasty will be presented, a great opportunity to look at the luxury pioneer in the field


The history of the automotive industry is embedded throughout the length and breadth of vehicles that have left a mark in a way that has changed the field.

Carl Benz's patented motor car, Ford's Model T that introduced the car to the era of the production line, the front-wheel drive Citroen Traction Avent, the original Beetle, Willis 'Jeep, Isigonis' genius mini, Lamborghini Miura who taught the world "car on" what, Chrysler Voyager with the minivan gospel, Dacia Delta (just checking alertness - nothing was good in this car), Toyota Prius hybrid revolution, Tesla Model S electric revolution, Bugatti Vyron defining "speed" in its purest form and the list Very long and makes me want a whole article about it.



And there’s another one - Land Rover Range Rover - the founding father and Holy Spirit who planted the seeds that grew into a branching branch of everything you know today as luxury SUVs.

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One of the Range Rover prototypes with the caption VELAR (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

Bury the mutations

The beginnings of the Range Rover, at least according to some of its historians, were planted long before it was officially introduced in 1970, even before its first prototype from 1967 - in fact the idea to produce a "Rover Road" spring began in 1951, but was abandoned The end of that decade.

Two specimens of these prototypes are in the British Motor Museum, and they look like a combination of a combination of the Series 1 (the pre-Defender incarnation) with Rover cars and do not even mention the vehicle born a decade later.



In the mid-1960s, a group of Rover engineers set out to visit the United States, and the manufacturer's dealers in the United States told them about the growing demand for multi-purpose vehicles among audiences looking for touring, camping, towing and more.

And there were those, the Jeep Wagonier, the International Harbester, the Ford Bronco - with the option to combine dual propulsion, large engines and square and spacious chassis.

These tools intrigued Rover engineers because of the merging of these capabilities into one vehicle - and mainly because they were unfamiliar with such things in Europe.

The goal: to combine off-road capabilities with the comfort of a road car (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

Thus, in 1966 the manufacturer returned to develop the same more civilized version of the SUV, a year later a first prototype was built and by 1969 the development was completed.

In the year before the official presentation of the model, 26 development vehicles had already traveled in the final stages, branded under the name "VELAR" - a kind of straw company established and registered in London in order to disguise the connection to the Land Rover itself.

The name comes from distortions of the word in Spanish which means name is "to look after something" and Italian which name of velare means "cover" or "curtain".

That kind of British humor I guess ...

Two of the tools used to cross America from Alaska to the southern tip of the continent (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

Stations in time - 1970-1980

1971 - The

Range Rover is the first vehicle to be displayed in front of the Louvre in Paris, with a 1: 4 scale (a quarter of its original size) inside the museum.



1972 -

It becomes the first vehicle to cross the American continent from end to end, with a Range Rover convoy embarking on a 29,000-mile, 99-day expedition from Alaska to Terra del Fuego at the southern end, two of which are now on display at the



1974

British Motor Museum.

-

This time the challenge is the Sahara Desert.From West to East, 12,000km in 100 days



1977 -

After 30,000km, it's a Range Rover that wins first place in the 4X4 London Rally category, the longest in rally racing with speed measurement in time.

Land Rover engineers did not like it, at least in the beginning ... (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

Four coil springs in an SUV?

Are you crazy ?!

"The idea was to combine the comfort and road capabilities of Rover saloon cars with Land Rover off-road capabilities. No one did it" This quote belongs to Charles Spencer "Sailor" King - the father of the Range Rover.

Spencer was the head of the engineering and development department at the parent company - Rover.

But he had a special connection with the SUVs, he was the nephew of the Wilkes brothers - the ones who founded the Land Rover in 1948.



And so, when these are the basics of the new vehicle, it became clear who was eventually introduced as a Range Rover.

With features that come from road cars like Rover's V8 engine (which was originally from GM), with coil springs in the four corners (rather than leaf springs), disc brakes and on the other hand with generous suspension travel and dual propulsion in favor of off-road capabilities, and like the Land Rover that preceded it - It, too, was made of aluminum.

Bare tin in the trunk, in its early years it was far from the luxurious vehicle we know today (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

But the Ranger's birth did not go down well with everyone, one of them was Tom Burton, Land Rover's chief engineer who was a determined type, thinking it's hard to change direction (maybe it's related to being a former railway engineer) - he doubted a car's chances of delivering the goods In the field without leaf springs. The fact that technically, the vehicle was developed by Rover's 4X4 wing and not by Land Rover itself did not add any points to this strange creature among Land Rover people.



Not only the Iron Man feared this Shatnz vehicle, but also the paper and graph people. They feared from this moment on that they would have to sell a Land Rover at the price of a Rover. And again, the years are the late 60s Land Rover of that time was a sturdy machine, but with the refinement of a rusty Byzantine. It was used as a military vehicle, a field ambulance, an agricultural tool, a companion for research expeditions in Africa and other uses in which the greatest indulgence in a roof is impermeable to water (and this did not always happen ...).



But Rover believed in the project, they identified a customer base with the means that such a vehicle is exactly what they want;

Senior military officers, high-ranking executives at construction companies, affluent farmers, landowners interested in touring their territory, the aristocracy striking out on long hunting trips or hauling its horse-drawn carriage, all without being tossed around in a semi-agricultural vehicle.

Rover has identified a segment of customers who want a refined SUV (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

Four in one

The Range Rover was launched in June 1970, the area was in an abandoned tin quarry and in its first brochure the company declared it to be "the most versatile vehicle in the world".

And for Land Rover, this is what it was - four vehicles in one.

A luxury daily vehicle during the week, a comfortable means of transportation to cover distances, a car with excellent road performance and in addition an SUV with excellent offenses.

In that sense, it was true, there was no vehicle in the world at the time that did this.

This is also what Land Rover has defined for the target audience - "people who want a vehicle that is pre-built for a specific purpose and not specifically tailored for it - the real thing instead of compromise."

Does not really show that transmits "luxury" and this is another upgraded cell of the first years (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

But to tell the truth, calling the Range Rover in its early years a "luxury car" is very pretentious.

It may have offered refinement and a ride of one, but forget about the natural wood, leather, and woolly rugs of the current models.

In that cabin, he was a little over a Playmobil car.

Plastic surfaces with mounting spaces that can easily hide a small child, it came with a manual transmission only (automatic transmission was added as an option in 1982), with vinyl seats, rubber floor mats.

This simplicity was a victory for the Land Rover engineers, who still saw it as a rugged SUV and wanted a cabin that could be washed in a hose after the vehicle dipped in mud like a squid in a cup at tea time.

A 4-door version was added only a decade after the presentation of the model (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

Stations in time - 1981-1990

1981 -

A decade after production begins A useful 4-door version



1982 -

Chrysler (3-speed gearbox) offered as an option



1984 -

What started as a limited edition called in vogue and is successful becomes the most senior trim level of the



1985

model

-

Range prototype Rover with a diesel engine smashes no less than 27 speed records, including a record for diesel engines with an average speed of over 160 km / h for 24 hours. A year later a production version joins, but with the 2.4-liter engine of the Italian VM records it did not break. ..



1987 -

Discover America - The Range Rover goes on sale in the US market



1988 -

The Range gearbox pile is replaced by a chain-driven gearbox with a central differential viscose made by Burg Warner, which significantly improves the power transmission and refinement of the ride.



1989 -

The first 4X4 vehicle to receive an ABS system designed for optimal operation on the road and in the field

Customers pounced and black market developed rapidly due to hysterical demand (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

Aristocratic onslaught

And with all these concerns of the people at Land Rover, the marketing department, the basic cabin and in general the question of how to get a vehicle that was unlike anything else - it goes on the market.

And the result was that everyone was in the market.

Sales raged, a black Range Rover market was created overnight, demand exceeded supply and every tool built was hijacked.

Already at that early stage they realized that this story of the cabin must change.

Initially with carpets on the drive channel that had an unexpected bonus - silencing the transmission noises in the vehicle.

In addition to the trunk cover that included a tool kit cover, legend has it that the request for this cover came from Buckingham Palace - where one of the staff members remarked that the exposed tools could harm Queen Elizabeth's favorite Corgi dogs.



The Range Rover as you noticed in the photos was only shown in a two-door body, the Blend Rover was clear that a version with more doors was also needed and indeed about 18 months after the introduction of the serial model there was already a prototype for a 4-door version.

However, the management decided for some reason to store this option and it took 10 years from the same prototype until in 1981 a 4-door version was introduced.

Over the years, the cabin has moved in the direction of luxury (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

A classic in his life

Over the years of its marketing, the Range Rover has become more sophisticated and more and more trim levels have been added, making it more and more luxurious. First carpets, then leather and later also wood. As in this process the model aligns with the luxury of the road cars of its time, and continues to build the class from which it also enjoys years ahead when more competitors enter the game. Also mechanically it is advancing. The 3.5-liter V8 engine was increased to 3.9 liters and then to 4.2 liters. The three-speed lazy gearbox provided by Chrysler was replaced with a four-speed four-speed ZF in 1985. This was a necessity before the start of marketing to the American market in 1987, official marketing intention, already years before that quite a few Range Rovers arrived in the so-called "gray import" to the United States.



Versions of its elongated body, the LSE highly sought after today by collectors were added in 1992 along with came air shock absorbers that made it possible to change the height of the body.

Want to light a real Range Rover amateur?

Ask him about the CSK version (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

Stations in time - 1991-1996

1991 -

Want to light a Range Rover amateur?

Tell him you found the CSK edition.

This was a super rare edition that came out for the 20th anniversary celebrations and paid homage to its initials to the chief engineer of the model Charles Spencer King.



1992 -

The first 4X4 vehicle to receive electronic traction control and automatically adjustable air shocks



1993 -

The ultra-luxury "autobiographical" edition is announced.

Since then, this edition has become the most exclusive in the range of versions of the Range Rover



1994 -

the second generation of the Range Rover (P38a) is on display.



1996 - The

last of the "Classic" (as it was called after the introduction of the second generation) descends from the production lines after 317,615 units.

The most prestigious to date synonymous with the summit of the Range Rover - autobiographical (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

The first generation Range Rover continued to be sold until the introduction of the second generation in 1994 and even after until the last vehicles that went off the production line in 1996.

Yes, for 25 consecutive years with signs of decline seen only in the last three years of its marketing.

In many ways the Range Rover was the amazing miracle of the Land Rover.

The 1970s and 1980s were two terrible decades for the British car industry.

During them, mythological names of one of the most glorious automotive industries known in the 20th century were erased one by one.

While it is only gaining momentum as an icon, this is probably the clearest evidence of how advanced, engineered and doing this thing that no vehicle has done so well before it.

It was followed by three more generations, soon the fifth (Photo: Manufacturer's website)

So this is, so far the story of the first generation of the Range Rover, now known as the "Classic", followed by three more who continued from where he left off.

What did they do and how?

Were they able to preserve and restore that spirit?

If you want the next chapters in the story just ask in the comments below and you are also welcome to discuss with us on the Walla! Vehicle Facebook page.

Source: walla

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