Range Rover

Ever since the introduction of the first Land Rover there was pressure within the Rover Company to 'smarten up' the Land Rover to produce a more stylish and comfortable vehicle. Keeping the Land Rover itself as a strictly utilitarian vehicle proved successful, and demand continued to outstrip supply. There were a number of research projects for a luxury Land Rover, but the only one to develop into a prototype was the Road Rover of 1958. Due to limited development funds, this vehicle was forced to use the P4 chassis, and resembled the P5 saloon car of the period. Off-road abilities were limited, and the project died a natural death.

By the mid-1960s, various factors came together to make a luxury Land Rover a viable project. Military orders had been cut back, and market research showed a growing leisure market that required a passenger carrying vehicle. By early 1966, development began on an 'Interim Station Wagon' as a stop-gap to cover the falling military sales. The project quickly adopted the V8 3.5 litre engine which Rover had recently purchased from the US and was already being fitted to P5 and P6 cars. By late 1966, the project had grown into a five seat station wagon with P6 standards of comfort, on a 100in chassis that allowed unprecedented wheel travel.

The standard Land Rover gearbox was not strong enough for the V8, and a new gearbox was designed. This retained a high-low gearbox, but 4x4 capability was provided by a lockable central differential. This contrasts with the dog-clutch mechanism used on the Land Rover gearbox. Long travel vertical coil spring suspension was fitted instead of the Land Rover leaf springs. Prototype No. 1 was completed by July 1967, retaining Land Rover drum brakes and transmission. This showed problems with axle location, and the transmission was modified. Disc brakes and a Boge Hydromat levelling device was also added to the design. Prototype No. 2 was built to test these modifications.

The last thing required was the body styling. A 2-door body was chosen to reduce costs, although the resulting seat and seat belt arrangement significantly reduced these savings. Spen King and Gordon Bashford designed the body and interior, creating their own mock-up. All of these features were combined in the first 'production specification' prototype, Prototype No. 3. This was quickly followed by prototypes 4 through 6, for testing and filming. One final engineering prototype 100-7 was built to find production build problems in the Pilot Build Shop.

Production began in 1969 with 25 pre-production vehicles finished without rear seats and with minimal trim. These were followed by a batch of twenty which were ready for the Press Launch in June 1970. Initial production was slow as teething problems were solved, but increased to 100 per week in 1972, and 250 per week in 1975.

Launch was a success, and public demand outstripped all expectations. As well as finding demand from land-owners, horse-racers,etc a top speed of almost 100mph found quick favour with the Police. Also, the car-like abilities combined with a high driving position and strong towing ability, found a completely new market with families.

As with the Series Land Rovers, the Range Rover proved a popular platform for modifications both by third parties and Land Rover's own Special Projects Department.

Over the next two decades, the Range Rover would be continuously refined. The most striking modification was the 4-door model which was introduced in 1972 and quickly out-sold the original 2-door model. Other refinements included a viscous locking centre differential, the world's first off-road ABS system, electronic traction control, and an electronically controlled air-adjustable suspension. This air suspension was another first for Range Rover, and replaced the coil suspension at a time when competing vehicles were finally adopting coils.

Production continued for just over twenty five years, finally ending in 1996 a couple of years after the P38 Range Rover was launched. Even today, it is preferred by many in the off-road fraternity as their off-road vehicle of choice. The Range Rover was a unique vehicle. As well as excellent off-road abilities, it is the only vehicle to have been exhibited in the Louvre as a work of art.


P38 'New Shape' and Range Rovers

Since its introduction in 1970, the classic Range Rover had slowly moved up-market from the original concept. Even so, by the early 1990s it was felt that the Range Rover should be positioned further up-market, to appeal for buyers of luxury cars such as Jaguar and Mercedes. This had to be performed without any loss in the Range Rover's best-in-class off-road capabilities. Hence, the P38 development project was started to completely redesign the Range Rover. The new Range Rover was launched in 1994, with sales of the 'classic' Range Rover continuing in parallel until 1996.

The design team saw the target market as traditional, and the final body shape was criticised by many as being too bland. It was also compared with the MetroCab in a negative light. The new design definitely looked more like other SUVs from a distance, but a variety of design cues were kept from the old design. On the positive side, the new body had lower wind noise and an extremely low drag coefficient, making it an excellent high speed cruiser popular with a number of police forces.

Although the new Range Rover kept few parts from the older vehicle, mechanically they were very similar. The steel box section chassis was kept, but was made stronger and heavier. The 108in wheel-base from the County LWB model was kept. Aluminium body panels were still used for the front bumpers, doors, and tailgate. The Rover V8 was kept, but was altered to improve strength, and to add 4-coil distributor-less ignition. These changes resulted in an even smoother engine, with slightly more power and torque. Although the displacement was kept the same, it was renamed '4.0' to distinguish it from the older 3.9l engine. A 4.6 litre version of the engine was produced for the HSE model.

The adjustable air suspension used on the County LWB Ranger Rover was kept for the P38. This allowed for a variation of over 5 inches in ride height, compared to the 1 inch which was typical on copied designs (e.g.. the Ford Expedition).

Beam axles were also kept for the front and rear. Although unusual for a 1990s 4x4, this standard Land Rover feature was considered vital for serious off-road capabilities. The axles were redesigned to increase strength whilst reducing the unsprung weight. They also had improved steering and ground clearance ranges.

L322 Range Rover

The second major redesign of the Range Rover was officially launched at the Detroit Motor Show in January 2002. Designed during BMW's ownership of Land Rover, the redesign was claimed to be the most expensive development for any vehicle ever. The aim was to improve the on-road performance to be competitive with the current range of luxury sedans, whilst keeping or improving the excellent off-road abilities. This was performed by implementing an innovative cross-coupled independent airbag suspension system. The body is of the monocoque type strengthened with an integral chassis. Also included, is the Hill Descent Control (HDC) system that was introduced on the Freelander.