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Land Rover is changing. Autocar has just exclusively revealed that it is actively developing a new ‘Road Rover’ model.
This new premium all-electric model should be on the road by 2020 and will be the lowest, sleekest model that Land Rover has ever made.
It will truly become Land Rover’s first crossover, but as this story will show, the company’s journey - from function to style, practical to luxury, field to city and land to road - began a long time ago.- Slide of
Willys MB (1941)
Around 640,000 examples of the Willys Jeep and its Ford-built sister vehicle were built in America during the Second World War. The key success factors of the car were mechanical simplicity & reliability and four-wheel-drive that gave the car genuine capability in tough terrain – invaluable elements for soldiers.
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The Land Rover (1948)
After the war, Maurice Wilks, the technical director of Britain's Rover car company, used an army-surplus Jeep on his farm in Wales and quickly realised that qualities important to soldiers could also be useful to civilians. By the summer of 1947 he had produced a prototype ‘Land Rover’ based on a Jeep chassis. Its own vehicle went into production in 1948, featuring a 1.6-litre engine with 50bhp of power, with selectable four-wheel-drive. The first ever production Land Rover is pictured above.
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Land Rover Station Wagon (1949)
The inside of the cars was utilitarian to say the least, and as early as 1949 Land Rover realised there could be demand for something a bit smarter. It launched a Station Wagon seven-seater version (pictured) built by coachbuilder Tickford, featuring leather seats and a heater among other luxuries.
Though unsuccessful - just 650 were made - this car nevertheless represented the start of Land Rover’s transformation from farm tool to a car for everyone, and for every environment. - Slide of
The Road Rover (1955)
In 1951 Land Rover conceived a vehicle to bridge the gap between Rover's luxury saloons and its utilitarian Land Rover. This 1955 prototype preserved the essential look of the original Land Rover, and drew on influences from American station wagons. It was based on a car platform, that of the Rover P4, first introduced in 1949.
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Road Rover Series II (1958)
The original Land Rover found it hard to hide its origins, which always prioritised utility over comfort, and indeed the awkward driving position was a perennial problem for taller and larger drivers. This ‘new Road Rover’ prototype was a taller vehicle that prioritised its passengers well-being over their task at hand, but was rather more car-like.
Sadly perhaps, all the Road Rover prototypes went nowhere and the company remained focused on its Rover car models for the mainstream market, while Land Rover prospered with strong sales for its single production model. - Slide of
Ford Bronco (1966)
The next chapter for Land Rover would again have an American inspiration. Models like the International Harvester Scout (first introduced in 1961), Jeep Wagoneer (1963), and Ford Bronco (1966 - pictured) had all shown how a car could be both capable off-roader and comfortable everyday car at the same time – and the sales success of the Bronco in particular showed that there was money in the idea too.
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A new Road Rover (1967)
Land Rover set out to join the party. Rover designer Charles ‘Spen’ King, nephew of Maurice Wilks, started work on a new car in 1966, and David Bache fine-tuned the early design to produce an early design in clay, and it saw the return of the ‘Road Rover’ name.
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Velar prototype (1969)
By this time Rover had been purchased by the bus-and-truck group Leyland, but luckily the new owners were delighted by the idea of the car now known as the ‘Range Rover’ and they signed it off. Prototype vehicles were built and proved very capable off-road, and were badged Velar – derived from the Italian word velare, for ‘veil.’
America would not only give Rover the inspiration but it would also give the new car an engine, in the shape of the lightweight all-alloy Buick 215 V8, the tooling for which was sold by GM to Rover in 1965. - Slide of
The Range Rover (1970)
The original Range Rover was launched to the world in 1970, and the world loved it. It was a truly modern, airy design, while at the same time respectful of its humbler ancestor, and exuded self-confidence. It was fitted with a 130bhp engine, and featured a body-on-frame design with box-section chassis.
When Autocar first tested it, we said that we were “tremendously impressed by the Range Rover, and feel it is even more deserving of resounding success than the Land-Rover.” - Slide of
Range Rover (1970) - interior
It was not designed as a luxury car – just one that was more comfortable and had better road-manners than the Land Rover. It featured vinyl seats and plastic floors, designed so that they could easily be hosed out. The luxuriousness that Range Rover is famous for today arrived incrementally, triggered by customer demand. This slowly saw the car adopt (much needed) power steering, along with carpeting, air conditioning, wooden interior trim and improved seating.
By the time of the new car’s launch Rover was part of the vast British Leyland (BL) conglomerate, which was to be the world’s third largest car producer in 1972. However, BL would be consumed by dire labour relations and its cars by serious quality issues throughout the ensuing decade. - Slide of
Range Rover 4-door (1981)
In 1980, BL was now under new management and it made Land Rover a stand-alone entity within the wider group. This gave it more freedom to exploit opportunities, as shown by the new four-door Range Rover of 1981. An automatic gearbox arrived the following year. A two-door manual gearboxed-car could only ever get so far in the luxury space, and both changes helped sales. Fuel injection arrived in 1984, boosting power to 155bhp.
Oddly, despite being inspired by American vehicles, the Range Rover would not officially go on sale in that market until 1987, followed by the original Land Rover – now called Defender 110 - in 1993. Having sold 2,586 cars in America in 1987, total Land Rover US sales reached 73,858 in 2016, a record.
By the late 1980s, Land Rover faced challenges. The original Land Rover was losing sales against generally more reliable Japanese models, notably Toyota’s Land Cruiser, while the Range Rover was challenged by newer cars like the Mitsubishi Montero (US name - it was named 'Shogun' and 'Pajero' in other markets). - Slide of
Land Rover Discovery 1 (1989)
In 1989, development for the next Range Rover was underway - it would finally appear in 1994 - and Land Rover itself was now part of defence-systems group British Aerospace. The Discovery was envisioned to be the first family Land Rover, featuring technology and chassis from the Range Rover but at a much more attainable price. It was launched at the Frankfurt motor show in September 1989 and gave Land Rover a three-car range.
The new car was noted for its elevated driving position and thin screen pillars allowing great visibility, and a comfortable ride. What wasn’t so great was switchgear purloined from lesser Austin and Rover car models. Build quality and reliability could be variable; indeed, the Discovery name accordingly developed such negative connotations in America that the new-generation Discovery of 2004 was renamed LR3. But the car nevertheless was a hit, and 1.2 million of them have been sold over three chassis generations. - Slide of
Land Rover Freelander (1997)
The Discovery was only just the beginning of Land Rover’s move to emphasise further the road above the land. To become a truly mainstream company, with mainstream volume and profitability, it had to develop a smaller family SUV, in a class that was clearly growing.
Land Rover's new car was made possible by investment from new owner BMW, which bought Rover in 1994, and now being built as a unibody structure for the first time in Land Rover history. Designed by Gerry McGovern, today Land Rover’s overall design chief, the new Freelander emerged in October 1997 with a launch at the Frankfurt motor show.
The combination of a relatively low entry price, a wide range of body and engine options, decent off-road performance and funky design all proved alluring and it would become the best-selling four-wheel-drive in Europe until 2002. It was also helped by being from a recognisably premium brand, at a time when the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes had nothing to offer in the segment. - Slide of
Land Rover LR2 (2006)
The car succeeded despite it also suffering from quality issues, and in particular these hurt the model in the competitive American market, where sales of 15,021 cars in 2002 fell to just 5,430 two years later. When the Freelander 2 launched in its second generation in 2006, it became known as the LR2. The LR2 (pictured) was built on a new European Ford platform called EUCD, the American firm having purchased Land Rover from BMW in 2000.
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Range Rover Mk3 (2002)
BMW was not impressed by the P38A Mk2 Range Rover it inherited at its launch in 1994, and started work on its replacement. The resulting new L322 version was launched in 2002 and was so important even then-British prime minister Tony Blair (above) came to its launch. Though largely BMW-developed and funded, Ford and later Tata would reap the benefits from sales of this far superior car.
It initially featured powerful and refined BMW engines - they were later replaced by Jaguar and Ford units - and featured much-enhanced electronics and equipment from the contemporary BMW 5 Series E39. - Slide of
Range Rover Mk3 (2002) - interior
Comfort and luxury levels were far higher than on any previous Land Rover, and the car deserves a place in this feature for cementing the status of the Range Rover as a luxury car, and an increasingly fierce competitor for traditional saloons like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW 7 Series and Audi A8. In America, the Range Rover has outsold both 7 Series and A8 since 2013, and even got close to the sales of the S-Class in 2016.
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Range Stormer concept (2004)
Land Rover unveiled the Range Stormer concept car at the 2004 Detroit auto show. Based on the forthcoming Land Rover Discovery 4, it was very low for a large SUV. In production form, the car would become the 2005 Range Rover Sport, a road-focused performance Land Rover. It sold strongly in most major markets, and for a period was the most profitable car sold by Ford Motor Company.
However, the Sport weighed a hefty 2455kg (5412 lb) and it could never be described as a sporty car, though was clearly a stop-off on Land Rover’s journey to making such a vehicle. - Slide of
LRX Concept (2008)
By the time Land Rover’s LRX Concept came out, it was clear that the market trend towards Land Rover’s SUV heartland was far from being a temporary fad, and all manner of people were enjoying the high-driving position and chunky looks that this class of car offered. More importantly, they did so even in urban environments, furthest from Land Rover’s beginnings.
But it was not just the growing appetite for SUVs that was a factor, but also another important trend: the growth of the premium small car market. Mercedes had launched its compact A-Class in 1997 and BMW extracted itself from its Rover debacle with the Mini brand - and a factory in Oxford in central England to build an all-new model. - Slide of
Mini (2001)
Its successfully-relaunched Mini of 2001 (pictured) proved an important point: upmarket buyers would pay for and drive a premium-price small car if it looked stylish, had the correct image, and made them feel good. And while many urban buyers loved their large Range Rovers and Discoverys, in many cities across Europe, America and Asia parking them was not always simple. The LRX previewed a dynamic-looking urban-focused compact SUV which would be equipped with the stellar Range Rover brand name.
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Range Rover Evoque (2011)
Ford sold Land Rover and sister firm Jaguar to India’s Tata Motors a few months after the LRX’s unveiling at 2008’s Detroit auto show. In production guise, the LRX would become known as the Range Rover Evoque and would be unveiled in the summer of 2010 at an event in London’s upmarket Kensington neighbourhood, suitably enough.
Based on the LR2/Freelander 2 and strikingly similar to the LRX concept, the new car was comfortably the best looking car in its segment, and, at 4.4-metres long (172in) could fit most urban parking spaces. Indeed, it was barely longer than Volkswagen’s Golf, Europe’s perennially best-selling family car, and the car was notably popular with female buyers in many markets. - Slide of
Range Rover Evoque (2011)
The LR2 had already quietly nodded in the direction that Land Rover was headed by offering two-wheel-drive-only versions, and the Evoque only continued this trend, with sales in most markets being biased towards 2WD-only models. It was also just 1.7m high (65in), compared to the 1.9m (78in) of the Range Rover.
Land Rover purists are not huge fans of the Evoque, but Land Rover doesn’t care. Over 600,000 have sold globally, and even in its fifth year of life in 2016 annual sales were only 10% off its record year of 2014. 60,649 have sold in the US to date. Evoque is a small car which it is easily possible to pay a big price for with enough options requested: over £50,000 (US price: $60,000). - Slide of
Land Rover Discovery (2016)
Since the Evoque, Land Rover hasn't rested on its laurels. It has launched the well received L405 third-generation Range Rover in 2012, together with a slightly smaller and cheaper Range Rover Sport based on the same platform in 2013. It has also released a third-generation Freelander (2014), now called Discovery Sport and now with a seven-seat option, and in 2016 the fifth generation Discovery (pictured).
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Range Rover Velar (2017)
Land Rover design chief Gerry McGovern told Autocar recently that the Evoque demonstrated what baked-in desirability and emotive design could bring to a Land Rover. “It was a vehicle with design at its very core,” he told us.
Land Rover perceived space in the market between Evoque (starting price £30,760 and in America, $41,800) and its larger Range Rover Sport (£60,000, and US$65,000 respectively). Launched without a previewing concept vehicle, the Range Rover Velar (starting prices: £44,830 and in the US, $49,900) was unveiled in early 2017 with sleek looks, a classy interior, and interesting dimensions: while 4.8m long (189in), the car is just 1.67m (66in) high – lower even than the smaller Evoque.
It shares a platform with Jaguar’s F-Pace, and, with a very road-based bias, is the first Land Rover to have a Porsche as a primary competitor, in the shape of the Macan. While not exactly a lightweight at 1884kg (4154 lb), Velar is 571kg (1259 lb) lighter than the original Range Rover Sport, and still quite a bit less than the current Sport. - Slide of
Road Rover (2020)
And so Land Rover arrives at full-circle, and will finally launch the Road Rover, a low-rise Land Rover - an idea first conjured with over 65 years ago. What do we know about it? It will be a premium road-focused all-electric all-wheel-drive vehicle aimed primarily at the American and China markets. The most expensive version could sell for up to £90,000 in the UK and $100,000 in the US. It will be developed in conjunction with the next Jaguar XJ limousine, and as such will be as much a rival to the Mercedes S-Class as anything else.
We can’t help thinking that there is another influence behind the new Road Rover, and once again it has its origins in America. Subaru has been selling dependable four-wheel-drive cars in America for many years. Since 2006 it has recorded the highest sales growth of all mainstream car brands - at 13% per year it has beaten even Audi, boosting sales from 200,703 cars in 2006 to 615,132 in 2016, with the cars selling especially well in parts of the Northeast, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska. Does Land Rover want a piece of that action? We think it does. PICTURE: AUTOCAR ARTIST IMPRESSION - Slide of
Road Rover (2020)
One might think longer average-journey-distances in America preclude an all-electric model making an impact, but that factor hardly stopped the Tesla Model S barging into the US luxury car market. With 29,421 sales in 2016, Model S outsold the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi A8 and Jaguar XJ put together. And the Road Rover’s range of 300-miles should be enough for most purposes.
The Road Rover will finally bring together the long-nurtured emerging Land Rover themes of luxury, urban-focus, and stand-out design – and marry them with the newest and biggest emerging automotive trend of them of all, electrification. It will be a fascinating car to behold. PICTURE: AUTOCAR ARTIST IMPRESSION
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