Catch a quick glance at the Range Rover pictured here and you could be forgiven for thinking this was the newly announced version, but it’s actually the Mk4, just recently replaced after nearly a decade of noble service.
Smartly styled, wonderfully furnished and better to drive in every mode than the versions that went before it, this SUV was unassailable in its ability to combine on-road waft with true and outstanding off-road capability.
Now, with careful shopping, it makes for an arresting used buy. Most early buyers opted for one of the two 3.0-litre diesel V6s and were rewarded with strong performance and adequate economy, while the 4.4-litre petrol V8 upped the speed at the expense of heftier fuel bills. Later on, there was also the option of a petrol or diesel-engined plug-in hybrid. A couple of supercharged 5.0-litre petrol V8s topped the bill, with stunning acceleration but equally eyewatering consumption.
Trim-wise, Vogue was the starting point. It got plenty of kit, including a heated windscreen, folding door mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, 20in alloy wheels, leather seats, cruise control and a 10.0in twin-screen infotainment set-up. Vogue SE added more driver assistance tech, heated and cooled seats, 21in splitspoke wheels and a 825W surroundsound system. At the top end of the line-up, Autobiography cars got more lavish materials inside, a massage function on the front seats, executive-class rear seats and a sliding panoramic roof.
The SV Autobiography model, meanwhile, got everything on the options list thrown at it, so it featured a 1700W Meridian sound system, quilted leather semi-aniline seats, a rear seat refrigerator, mohair floor mats with leather bindings and deployable leather-trimmed tables.
And then there was the SV Autobiography Dynamic, which offered a lower ride height and more driver-focused chassis settings, signalled by special side vents and a different front grille.
