In those days Car of the Year meant a great deal, these days every single publication or internet has its own award rendering it meaningless.
The company has been through some really bad times under the British Leyland ownership. Mercifully they have been rescued by Indian automotive company TATA and I am delighted to say that they are turning the corner. Range Rover n particular have become a status symbol and the company is very cleverly capitalizing on it. They’ve decided to forget about huge numbers concentrating on profits instead.
I have had a chance to test the Defender-running under the Land Rover label and the Velar plus the 125 thou wonder the first PHEV offered by the company California.
The local dealer Tom Price lives 700 yards from me. I know because I cycle past his place every day. He has a huge operation. To give you an idea his family dealership sells among other things Rolls Royce, Lamborghini, Ford, Lincoln,McLaren, Aston Martin, Ford, Mercedes and Toyota. Oops, I forgot Cadillac and Lotus. So with all these cars at his disposal what does he drive? A Range Rover. Says it all. The only time I’ve seen him drive anything else was an Aston Martin DBX707 which was astonishing and which he was kind enough to test for a week.
I saw him last week as he was emerging from his RR and mentioned that I have been to the dealership to consult some expert. Wonderful product said Tom, if you talk to the factory tell us to send us more, we can sell everything we can get. Having driven not just the Defender but the Velar and the PHEV as well I can fully understand. The build quality is now quite exceptional. I did not hear a single rattle in any of the three. The one which faces the toughest test was the Velar. Slightly smaller than the RR I had doubts abut getting three sets of skis, boots and the usual paraphernalia up to Northstar. All this plus three passengers. The 400 hundred horsepower V6 coped admirably. It was not all fun and games as the blizzard was closing in and we were anxious to get away. Not a minute too soon. It was already snowing on Interstate 80 and the road was becoming treacherous. With my demon driver daughter Annabelle-formerly of Motor Trend fame- we got down the hill partly by luck and partly by judgement. It was a miracle
That we’ve managed to avoid an imbecile rocketing past us only to do a 360 yards from us. To give you an idea how bad conditions were we followed a huge truck for about 25 miles, it was the only safe way to travel.
The Velar was supremely comfortable all the home and was equally at home in Stanford where we were visiting a professor. He kicked some tires and was most impressed. Monterey was a bit off a challenge with there howling winds but that too was well within the Velar’s capabilities. One disappointment-the fuel consumption. I am known for being careful, dare I say parsimonious when it comes to fuel economy bt much as I tried 22 mpg seemed to it.The price from 62 thousand up is pretty reasonable, clearly the biget engine is the one to go for. It is amusing that my good friends at Car and Driver are still showing their auto British bias by listing it 16th among its competitors, laughable. Of course if you have 22 year old testers with 10 years experience that is what you get.
MInd you, even C&D had problems picking faults with the 125 thou PHEV RR. It is so good, so beautiful and so desirable that much as they hated to admit it-this particular RR is a class act. It is also a case machine because following Ferrari’s example they now have an atelier. For the uninitiated it is luxurious room with all mod cons offering consultants on how to spend thousands more. The most lucrative and popular extra is off course bullet proofing which costs a fortune but rich folks love it.
Most buyers will settle for something in the 150 thou region but there are version that go past the 200 thou mark.
If I were in the market the Velar would be my choice. Prices are holding up well for the 3 liter engine version which is the sensible choice.
It is really refreshing to write good things about RR, for many years all I’v ever heard were complaints about the electrics and rust. Mercifully those are in the past.
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