Happy 45th Birthday Range Rover

Quick: how old is the Range Rover marque? As the “new” addition to the Land Rover family, even many owners are surprised to know that Range Rover celebrated its 45th birthday in 2015.

Launched in 1970, the idea for the Range Rover began to take shape almost 20 years before that. As the Land Rover Series quickly gained popularity following its launch in 1947, the Rover Company saw an opportunity to expand their markets with a larger, better appointed vehicle.

But the early “Road Rover” project didn’t get off the ground until 1966, when the company committed to the new model. Not only was the first Range Rover “Classic” and instant hit with the newly upwardly-mobile British driving public, it received critical praise and praise from some unexpected places.

In the early 1970’s, the highly respected Musée du Louvre (home of the Mona Lisa, among other notable and historic works of art) displayed an early Range Rover as an “exemplary work of industrial design”.

Not forgetting its heritage as part of the Land Rover family, the company quickly set about proving that the Range Rover was not just a pretty face. In late 1971, two Range Rovers set off from anchorage, Alaska, in an attempt to become the first vehicle-based expedition to travel the full length of the Americas from north to south.

Including the three months it took to cross 250 miles of the treacherous Darien Gap, and road less area of unforgiving jungle. The vehicles and the people who drove them reached the end of the journey in Tierra del Fuego on June 10th, 1972.

In the intervening 45 years, Range Rover has developed a reputation for being at the head-of-the-class for innovation. In addition to being generally accepted as the first luxury SUV, the Range Rover was the world’s first 4×4 to feature electronic traction control, the first premium diesel SUV hybrid and the first all-aluminum SUV.

Currently in its fourth generation, the Range Rover “Classic” is now the flagship of the Range Rover family, which includes the Sport and Evoque, both of which offer the unique combination of beautifully refined design and unmatched on- and off-road performance.