USED BUYER'S GUIDE Range Rover Mk5

FROM £65,000 When it comes to high-end luxury and peerless off-road capability, there isn't much that can hold a candle to the fifth-generation Range Rover

- Richard Dredge

UNTIL the original Range Rover arrived in 1970, Land Rovers were incredibly utilitarian.

But this new arrival changed things at a stroke, even if that first edition was a long way from what you'd call luxurious. With their rubber floor mats and plastic upholstery, the original Range Rovers were pretty functional, but it didn't take long for things to move upmarket.

By the time the first-generation Range Rover bowed out in 1996 it was seen as the standard to which rivals aspired, thanks to its superb on-road manners and brilliant off-road ability. Each new generation of Range Rover brought greater levels of luxury, safety, refinement and off-road prowess, and by the time the fifth-generation model appeared in 2021 it was a very long way from that seventies original. More desirable and expensive than ever, it still sets the standard in the luxury-SUV class.

HISTORY

THE fifth-generation Range Rover was unveiled in October 2021, which is also when it went on sale, priced from £94,400. Buyers could choose between a pair of plugin hybrids, with either 434bhp (P440e) or 503bhp (P510e). Two petrols were offered, one with a twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 (P530) and another with a mild-hybrid 3.0-litre straight-six (P400). Completing the lineup were the D300 and D350 diesels, each with a 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV engine.