The creator of famed British 4x4 company, Land Rover, Charles Spencer King, died earlier this week at the age of 85. King originally engineered the original Range Rover - then the company's only model - in 1970 in hopes of being one of the most capable vehicle created at the time. It's original target market was not the upper-class soccer moms, nor the celebrities, but rather it was for designed with a large V8 engine, large tires and a suspension designed to tackle the harshest of terrains. King eventually told the New York Times that he regretted the image his design had come to be. He says it was never his intent to have it become an "international symbol of gas-guzzling conspicuous consumption." The Land Rover range, but especially the Range Rover, has become one of the most luxurious vehicles on the market, to the extent that stars such as Tom Cruise, Kim Kardashian and even Queen Elizabeth II of England all drive themselves around in the Range Rover.
News of King's death comes in the same week as Land Rover officially unveils their next sport-utility. In fashion show style, Land Rover teamed up with Vogue and Victoria Beckham to unveil their second SUV under India's Tata Motors after Ford Motor Company sold the Land Rover-Jaguar partnership in 2007 and their fifth SUV in the lineup, and the third under the Range Rover moniker. Pictured above, the Range Rover Evoque is almost identical to the Land Rover LRX concept we were treated to at the 2008 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). Land Rover is referring to this third Range Rover model - following the original and the Range Rover Sport - as a coupe considering it's high, rising beltline, sloping roof, and two-doors, but let's face it, this is no Audi A5. When it comes down to it, the Range Rover Evoque, is very much so still a four-wheel-drive SUV and only personifies Land Rover's image as a symbol of consumption.
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Watch the unveiling here: http://tinyurl.com/2dx7jro
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