NICHE WORK

A crossover model before the term had even been invented, the original Range Rover could well be the perfect multi-purpose classic.

- Paul Wager

If you’ve kept even half an eye on early Range Rover values of late, you’ll know that the three-door models in particular have shot up significantly, their value no doubt being enhanced by the sheer useability of the vehicles.

A collectible classic isn’t quite how the Range Rover’s original designers saw it ending up though, since the original brief was aimed at creating a more user-friendly Land Rover rather than the prestige executive conveyance the Range Rover later became.

The Range Rover’s genesis was in the growing realisation at Solihull that the original Land Rover was severely limited as a road car, even in Tickford-developed station wagon form. A Rover P4-based prototype had even been worked up in 1951 under the Road Rover name which was more of a high-riding estate car than a serious off-roader but with Land Rover sales still buoyant, it was never pursued.

The idea was revisited in the early ’60s when Rover management was keen to enter the US market and after fact-finding junkets to America decided that the growth area was the leisure orientated 4x4 vehicle, as illustrated by the Jeep Wagoneer and the Ford Bronco. The Road Rover concept was dusted off again, but to compete in this market would need all-wheel drive, while engineering chief Spen King also suggested coil spring suspension. At the time, leaf springs were accepted as the way to go off-road, but during trials of a Bronco it had been discovered that the Ford’s front coils allowed greater wheel travel and thus superior traction.