Road Rover sedan rolls out
What an ultra-luxury saloon from Range Rover could look likeThe Land Rover and Range Rover badges are steeped in history, the latter pioneering the luxury SUV segment in 1970 and the former tracing its lineage back to 1948 during the post-war auto boom.
But what would happen if the brands were not wedded exclusively to SUVs? Perhaps something like this: a ‘Road Rover’ sedan.
Before you cough your English Breakfast up in disgust, consider that during the 1950s the Road Rover existed in prototype form, a rugged wagon underpinned by a Rover chassis.
More recently – July 2018, to be precise – Land Rover filed a trademark for the Road Rover name in the UK, which ignited talk of a battery-electric Mercedes-Benz S-Class and Rolls-Royce Ghost rival from the British brand.
While gossip around a reborn Road Rover has dwindled as the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) group consolidated its platform portfolio and electrification strategy, it hasn’t stopped KDesign from blending Rolls-Royce and Range Rover designs to create a striking land yacht that would expand the latter’s model range in an unorthodox (and almost certainly loss-making) direction.
As we’re entertaining this flight of fancy, we’d love to see a thunderous force-fed V8 under the long bonnet of such as a vehicle, delivering torque-vectored tyre-shredding intensity to all four wheels – while cosseting passengers in six-star ultra-luxury.
If JLR did somehow manage to piece together a profitable business case to develop Range Rover’s first super-sedan – or meta-wagon – it would almost certainly be an EV.
And it would be one with the potential to deliver the sort of pomp and pageantry that would put the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations to shame, via quad e-motors, for instance.
Given that Land Rover and Range Rover’s sister brand, Jaguar, has branched out from its original remit as a builder of sports/luxury sedans, coupes and convertibles, and shimmied into the SUV space with vehicles like the E-PACE, F-PACE and the electric I-PACE, it wouldn’t be inconceivable to imagine Range Rover doing the reverse.
In any case, JLR continues to hold Road Rover trademark and the nameplate could be seen in showrooms one day.
Related: BEST OF BRITISH: Driving the born-again 1978 Range Rover
Join the conversation at
Or email us at
Or email us at
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
