Since Queen Elizabeth II took the throne in 1953, Her Majesty has surrounded herself with Corgis and Land Rovers. She has likely owned as many Rovers as dogs—the unofficial count hovers around 30—so it’s as expected that the queen just traded in her 2002 Range Rover roadster for a 2015 long-wheelbase Range Rover landaulet.
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The Queen rides in such open-roof “State Review” cars for official ceremonies where it’s appropriate for her to wave from a one-off British 4×4 nobody else in the world can buy. Her 2015 Range Rover State Review, with her royal flag mounted on the hood and painted in the same elegant shade of maroon as her previous model, features the company’s new diesel hybrid powertrain unavailable to us Yanks. Unlike her last few parade cars, this one retains its rear doors and roof rails, although it’s unclear whether the passenger area can be covered with a softtop as on a true landaulet.
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While this is the fourth time Land Rover has built a State Review car for the queen (her first was a 1953 Series 1) Elizabeth has waved from many custom Rovers over her 62-year reign. Of course, as an ace mechanic and ambulance driver in World War II, she’s most comfortable behind the wheel, whether it’s in a manual Defender or a more civilian Range with her polished hood ornament, a Labrador with a pheasant in its mouth.
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The Range Rover brand is now 45 years old and barely into its fourth generation as the world’s preeminent luxury SUV, although that title may be in danger once Bentley and Rolls-Royce release their entrants within the next year or two. The original 1970 two-door Range Rover, with crank windows and a stick shift, was luxurious only by British Army standards, which suffered the teeth-chattering ride of the contemporary Land Rover Series IIa. Indeed, before it stole the hearts of urban housewives, the Range Rover was a farmers’ truck, albeit a farmer with bountiful crop.
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- Trekking $100K Range Rovers Across Colorado’s Treacherous Continental Divide
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By the time the first Range Rover arrived to the U.S. in 1987, it came loaded with fuel injection, an automatic, a second pair of doors, a self-leveling hydraulic rear suspension, wood trim, optional leather, and all sorts of power accessories. Shortly after, Range Rovers of this “Classic” generation became the first SUVs with ABS and in 1992 introduced the company’s trademark adjustable air suspension. Years of progress haven’t made the Classics obsolete off-road. Those models with long-travel steel springs ride softer and allow far more visibility to trail obstacles than any new Rover can manage. Just ask the queen who owns one.
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via Agya
