Full Circle

We spend a weekend with the entire Range Rover lineup at a luxury wellness retreat and gain an appreciation for the little things that make Range Rovers special

- Afzal Rawuther

HOW DO YOU WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND A story that’s older than you are? A story so significant, that even fifty years later, it gets retold at even the mere mention of the word SUV. You can start by taking the help of some numbers. The hundreds of thousands of Range Rovers sold for instance, or the fact that the SUV in question is now in its fourth generation. But they can only take you that far.

The brief, half a century ago, was simple – build an SUV with the 4x4 capability of the Land Rover but with comfort, practicality and even the demeanour to suit an English lord. Voila, the Range Rover was born. It was 1969. Man had landed on the moon. Over the years the Rangie would gain a cult following and become an icon. But even before pioneering travellers and adventurers would put it to the test, one thing was clear – it was spectacular to look at. The fact was underlined in the early 1970s when the Musée du Louvre in Paris put a Range Rover on exhibition as an ‘exemplary work of industrial design’.

Circa 2019, that Range Rover has spawned four different interpretations – Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Evoque and most recently, the Velar. Each one of these SUVs share the same DNA but are markedly different. The smallest of the lot, the Evoque, established the current design language that has worked spectacularly and is due for an update early next year. The latest, the Velar, is absolutely stunning; a design icon; a futuristic SUV that makes heads snap wherever it goes. The Sport, meanwhile, borrows its genes from the big daddy Range Rover and, like its name suggests, is the sporty one of the brethren. And then there is the Range Rover that needs no introduction – especially in this long wheelbase version.