Geneva show: Range Rover goes coupe

LAND Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations will hand-build just 999 examples of its super-luxurious two-door Range Rover SV Coupe that it plans to reveal in the metal at the Geneva motor show on March 6.

So far, the British company has revealed just one image of the vehicle – a shot of the swish four-seat interior viewed from above.

Billed as “the world’s first full-size luxury SUV coupe”, the vehicle will have a two-door silhouette that pays homage to the original 1970 Range Rover that was also a two-door design when it was launched in 1970.

Nevertheless, Land Rover has promised a thoroughly modern and contemporary look that is expected to include a sloped rear hatch in the mould of the BMW X6 and its many imitators.

Land Rover Special Operations managing director John Edwards said the unveiling of the SV Coupe at Geneva in Land Rover’s 70th anniversary year would be a defining moment.

“Land Rover created the luxury SUV sector with Range Rover almost 50 years ago,” he said. “In launching the new Range Rover SV Coupe, we will offer clients an alluring combination of peerless luxury and rarity.”

Land Rover chief design officer Gerry McGovern describes the vehicle as a “highly compelling design with peerless refinement and uncompromised sophistication from its breathtaking exterior proportions to its sumptuous, beautifully appointed, interior”.

“This is a vehicle that will resonate on an emotional level,” he said.

Curiously, the interior photograph shows four, richly upholstered sports seats in two colours – white for the front and black for the rear. It is unclear if this is the way all of the vehicles will be built or just showing off two colour schemes.

Or perhaps, as Land Rover says, it just shows one of “the many ways it can be personalised”.

A wide centre console finished in traditional wood trim runs down the length of the cabin, supporting armrests for the four occupants, along with multiple nooks for possessions.

If that sounds all a bit much, a revised Range Rover line-up with its conventional four-door body style is set to be rolled out in Australia this year, starting in March.