Range Rover SUVs: Books - History and Models

Range Rover - The Creators of an Icon - Origins and History of the Marque, Design & Development of Early Models

A personal memoir by, author, Graham Bannock, of his time with the Rover Company in the late 1950s and the 1960s, which was the time the Range Rover was under development.

Contents: Introduction - The Pearl in the Oyster: Origins of the Range Rover - Earlier History - How it was: Solihull in the 1960s - Across Africa: I The Sudan - Across Africa: II Ethiopia: Travels in North America, Europe and Africa - Renaissance - Appendix I: Rover's Finances by Graham Bannock and Alan Doran - Appendix II: Rover Gas Turbines by Graham Bannock and James Taylor - Appendix III - Internal memoranda - Bibliography.

Contents:
- Introduction
- The Pearl in the Oyster: Origins of the Range Rover
- Earlier History
- How it was: Solihull in the 1960s
- Across Africa: I The Sudan
- Across Africa: II Ethiopia: Travels in North America, Europe and Africa
- Renaissance
- Appendix I: Rover's Finances by Graham Bannock and Alan Doran
- Appendix II: Rover Gas Turbines by Graham Bannock and James Taylor
- Appendix III
- Internal memoranda
- Bibliography.

Range Rover

When the Range Rover was launched in 1970 it immediately drew attention. Its elegant but practical design mixed with exceptional off-road handling, as well as comfort on metalled roads, seemed to introduce a whole new way of driving.
The Louvre museum in Paris exhibited it as a model of industrial design. Fifty years later, the Range Rover continues to be in demand.

In this comprehensive book, Rover expert James Taylor covers all of the Range Rover models from the 1970s 'classic' to the fifth generation Range Rover of today. The book covers the remarkable engineering achievements of Land Rover in developing a vehicle just as at home on rugged hillsides as it was on the streets of Chelsea. He follows the developments that made the Range Rover ever more in demand as a luxury status symbol.

This book will appeal to all Range Rover enthusiasts, offering concise but comprehensive coverage of one of the most admired British cars.

The Range Rover Story

It's easy to forget that the original Range Rover, launched in 1970, created the luxury sport-utility vehicle market from scratch. A marvel of British ingenuity developed on a shoestring budget, it was the first four-wheel drive car that was as happy on tarmac as it was on rocky terrain. It truly blazed a trail for a worldwide motoring trend.

The Range Rover Story is a timely and concise reminder of all that Range Rover has achieved since a tight-knit group of engineers first turned their thoughts to something ground-breaking.

Police Range Rovers - A 50 Year Story

The complete story of the Range Rover in UK Police service from 1971 until the present day; a record unsurpassed by any other Police vehicle. The book covers the Range Rover's introduction into Police service, the competition it faced from other vehicles, the markings, the roles and the Range Rovers used by UK Police forces in the last 50 years.
Also featured are a number of ex-Police Range Rovers that have survived to be preserved as historic vehicles. The book contains over 300 photographs, most of which have never been seen in print before.

Making the Range Rover Legend: The 1971-72 British Trans-Americas Expedition

At the bidding of a London-based committee, a team from the British Army undertook the challenge of driving the Pan-American Highway in its entirety from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego. This would include finding a route for the projected road through Darién in Panama by crossing the notorious Darién Gap.
The Gap was approximately 200 miles long in Panama and northern Colombia and was the missing link in the intercontinental highway's entire length. It would take almost 100 days of concerted effort for the British Trans-America Expedition to drive, winch and float two Range Rovers through this trackless jungle terrain.

The British Trans-America Expedition of 1971/72 wasn't the first to cross the Darién Gap with vehicles as it followed in the wake of expeditions in 1960 and 1961 that variously used a Land Rover, a Jeep pick-up and Chevrolet Corvair cars.
However, its Range Rovers were the first vehicles to cover the whole distance from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina, a journey that has become legendary and did much to forge the legend of the Range Rover SUV, which was unveiled just a year before the expedition took place.

This book looks at the history of the Darién region and the expeditions of 1960 and 1961 that set the scene for the epic 100 days of Darién a decade later. It contains reminiscences and anecdotes from eight members of the expedition - six soldiers and two Rover Company engineers - as well as previously unpublished photographs, decorative maps and commemorative postal covers.

La dynastie Range Rover

La Range Rover, souvent surnommé la "Rolls" des tout-terrain, a connu depuis sa première apparition, en juin 1970, un succès qui ne s'est jamais démenti. Toutefois sa gestation a été difficile car c'est dès 1952 que Maurice Wilks, qui dirige avec son frère la firme britannique Rover, à l'idée de transformer le fameux Land Rover en limousine.

En fait, la première tentative sera réalisée à partir du châssis d'une limousine Rover P 4 bricolée en tout-terrain avec le moteur de 60 ch du Land Rover. Elle ne sera pas suivie car, à l'époque, on en reste encore en Grande-Bretagne à un véhicule pour chaque usage : le Land Rover pour la campagne et la limousine pour la ville et les réceptions.
Dans le courant des années 1950, la société de loisirs se développe aux États-Unis. Parallèlement, le marché des Station Wagon explose. Ces 4x4 confortablement équipés relancent l'idée chez Rover d'un 4x4 de luxe. C'est aussi aux États-Unis que Rover va trouver le moteur qui va bien pour son projet sous la forme d'un superbe moteur V8 tout en aluminium, la X 100. Toutefois, ce n'est qu'à partir de 1966 que l'idée d'un 4x4 de luxe se concrétise chez Rover. Pas question de faire dans le country à l'américaine, il faut faire cottage. Il est impératif que ce dernier puisse descendre de son véhicule en smoking pour assister à une soirée londonienne. D'abord appelé Road Rover, le nouveau 4x4 est bientôt rebaptisé Range Rover, ce qui permet de continuer à l'appeler "RR", sans en avoir l'air...

Aujourd'hui, la grande aventure du Range se poursuit car il a su évoluer et rester la "RR" du tout terrain malgré la concurrence de 4x4 de plus en plus "RR" mais sans atteindre le niveau qui leur permette de rivaliser avec lui, yes indeed ! Aujourd'hui, plus que jamais, le Range Rover reste synonyme de qualité, d'un art de vivre automobile pour tous ceux qui n'achètent pas un 4x4 haut de gamme pour seulement monter les trottoirs des Champs-Élysées. Même si, en évoluant, le Range a pris quelques rondeurs il est resté avant tout un remarquable 4x4, so british bien sûr !