The ALL NEW 2002 Range Rover

We Spy the new Range Rover being road tested in the UK

The original 'Classic' range rover lasted 25 years the next model lasted less than 10 before being replaced and during that time it changed hands TWICE.

The 2002 model began on the BMW drawing boards before being passed over to Ford for final development and testing. A remarkable first for the motor industry saw engineers from Land-Rover, BMW and Ford all working on the vehicle at the same time during the hand over period.

Originally the idea was to carry on using BMW petrol and diesel engines, but following the problems Ford has had securing enough powerplants for the existing Freelander it surely will not be long before they switch to Ford developed units. With quite a range of engines currently powering their SUVs and Trucks in the US, Ford will not have a problem replacing the BMW derived ones.

It has been widely suggested that the price range for the new Model will be from £60,000 to over £100,000 for 'Special Editions' and other Autobiography variants. If this is the case it would seem to create a large hole in their model line-up between the top-of-the-range Discovery and the basic Range Rover.

Various rumours have surfaced about what will fill this hole; including a stretched Discovery 'Plus' model and an all new 'baby' Range Rover that will take on the BMW X5 head-to-head. Ford could even decide to continue production of the existing Range Rover along side the new model. Land Rover have done this in the past both when the 110 replaced the 109 and the current Range Rover replaced the Classic.

The pictures shown here are 'Digitally Enhanced' from the photos we shot of the vehicle on the road. The front and rear lights were disguised with dummy plastic covers and all the badges and other distinguishing marks had been removed.

The vehicle we saw was Left Hand Drive but we have created a mock-up of what we think the final interior will look like at launch in March 2002. It is radically different to the existing model with more than a little BMW influence showing through

The Proposed Discovery PLUS
	Back in 1993 Land-Rover introduced a stretched version of the Range Rover. The 4.2 LSE was more than just an extra 230mm in the wheelbase. It was also the first model to use Air suspension and other gadgets that are now standard fit on current models. Land-Rover - now part of the Ford portfolio - could quite easily create a stretched version of the current discovery model. This would give them the extra room for the rear most seats that is so desperately needed for anyone over 1metre tall to use them comfortably. The pictures on the left show where we applied the stretch as illustrated above. An extra 150mm in each of these places would create a huge amount of extra legroom for the rear passengers. Throw in a luxurious interior and a few extra 'Boys Toys' like Sat. Nav. etc and you instantly get a vehicle thast fills the gap left by the basic Range Rover