If you were already confused about the proliferating number of Land Rover/Range Rover models, they’ve gone and built another. Once upon a simple time, there was the Land Rover, one model only, good enough for The Queen and 23 years of uncomplicated, go-anywhere motoring. When choice came, it was straightforward and binary. Land Rover or Range Rover. Rough or smooth.
Ten years later, the Discovery plugged a widening gap between the two, the car that started it all was re-christened the Defender and we could still get our heads around the line-up. Defending home territory, discovering new and ranging between the two – that kind of thing. More or less always, there were pheasants involved.
Now? There are four different types of Range Rover, three of the Discovery. Five of those seven are soft-roaders, with urbane names such as Evoque, and they’ve temporarily dropped the mud-plugging vehicle that defined the marque. All is changed, changed utterly.
'It’s clean, balanced and extraordinarily elegant for an SUV.'
From where I’m standing, the biggest gap in the range is now Defender-shaped, but while we wait for that to be fixed, Range Rover has found another no one knew was even there. Then again, so did Steve Jobs. Room, anyone, for an iPhone on wheels? Meet the Velar.
Self-termed the ‘avant-garde’ Range Rover (distinct from the ‘ultimate’, the ‘most dynamic’ or ‘the most compact’), the Velar is quite a thing to behold. It might have the styling DNA of its stablemates, but, somehow, everything comes together better in the Velar: it’s clean, balanced and extraordinarily elegant for an SUV.
It gets better on the inside, too, where you’ll find a concept car that’s made it all the way to the showroom floor. Vast sweeps of touchy-feely futuristic textiles are inset with pools of polished, seamless black glass. Press the start button and the roof lining peels back to reveal a front-to-back panorama of sky. Destination Pluto.
The Velar is a car, of course, so you must have a wheel and pedals, but you get the idea the designers would have done away with those and taken to the skies, if only they could have.
'Velar feels classy and timeless: a Citroën DS for the 2010s.'
Obviously, nothing dates like a vision of the future, but, right now, the Velar feels classy and timeless: a Citroën DS for the 2010s. Those pools of glass are vast, high-resolution touchscreens, split three ways between the dashboard and the centre console, upper deck and lower. The motoring industry seems in thrall to the touchscreen now, so, one day, I’ll have to stop my antediluvian griping about a system that requires fiddly, distracting coordination between eye, fingertip and glass when you should be driving.
The Velar’s is one of the best, at least. You can customise what goes where, put the important stuff in your sightline and navigate your way round the primary controls with a combination of fingertip on glass, integrated buttons and dials.
Not forgetting that this luxurious entertainment suite is actually supposed to move, I ought to add that I liked the way it drove. Except when cold or really pushed, the 240bhp Ingenium engine (shared with the Jaguar F-Pace) defies you to believe it’s a four-pot. Or only two litres.
The ride is silent and smooth. I’d specify the air suspension, if it was my money (and 19in wheels, not those 21in bling-rings). For a little over £1,000, you get more control, adjustable height settings, extra wading depth and a better ride.
As for the name: it’s from velare, to hide, and was the name of a fictional car-maker from Croydon under the cloak of which the original Range Rover was developed. Obvious, when you think about it.
On the road: Range Rover Velar HSE D240
- Priced from £61,790 (£64,160 as driven)
- Combined fuel consumption 48.7mpg
- Power 240bhp
- 0–60mph 6.6sec
- Top speed 135mph
Credit: Twisted Land Rover PR (fine for reuse)
Twisted Land Rover Defender review: 'The throttle pick-up of an F1 car, the aerodynamic profile of a washing machine'
It's several years since the discontinuation of the much-beloved Land Rover Defender, but companies such as Twisted are making sure
Alfa Romeo Giulia Super review: An Italian masterpiece
Our motoring expert Charles Rangeley-Wilson will never look back after test driving this incredible car.
Credit: Jeep
Jeep Grand Cherokee review: More Vegas than Tisbury, but you can't argue with its bang-for-buck
Our motoring correspondent Charles Rangeley-Wilson tries out the Jeep Grand Cherokee and comes away impressed.
Jeep Renegade review: A car that's happy in city or country, with a steering wheel that will spark joy
The Jeep Renegade has proven a huge hit among those who are after a car that promises to fit in
Top 10 driving songs: Country Life's road trip playlist
What could be better than cruising down a country lane beneath a crisp, blue sky? Doing it to the perfect
-
A 500-year-old cottage in West Sussex that's as beautiful as you could ever hope to see, with a pool ringed by flowers, stables and a croquet lawnJames Fisher was in need of some balm for the soul when he came across Woodshill House.
-
From Cornish Gilliflower to Rivers Early Peach: An apple a day keeps Britain’s heritage native fruit from dying out81% of traditional apple orchards have vanished from Britain, but ‘heritage’ apples retain a following, says Jack Watkins, who rounds up nine of the most interesting.
-
Goodwood Revival 2025: Pictures from the 'F1 of classic car races'Here's everything you might have missed if you didn't get the chance to make it to West Sussex's most elegant event.
-
Rust-free romance: hire a classic, not the headachesWant to drive a classic car, but don't fancy the headaches of ownership? Why not borrow one for a day and explore the most beautiful parts of England while you're at it.
-
(Space) oddities: New David Bowie centre opens at V&A East StorehouseThe museum will house and display the largest collection of the artist's costumes, musical instruments, set models, props and more.
-
Straw, stables and a bit of s**t: The fragrant story behind one of Hermès's most exclusive perfumesThis is the story of how one woman used fragrance to cure her fear of horses.
-
Goodwood Revival and the Scottish sheep farmer who dominated the world of motor racing in 1965The 2025 Goodwood Revival will celebrate the 60th anniversary of legendary race car driver Jim Clark's most impressive year.
-
The captivating art of the Japanese woodblockHokusai’s ferocious wave and Hiroshige’s relentless downpour stole the show at a sale of ukiyo-e prints earlier in the summer
-
Marie Antoinette: How the most fashionable queen in history transformed French styleMarie Antoinette’s passion for furniture and genius for bagatelles, however evanescent their purpose, filled the French royal palaces with beauty and charm, as a new show at the V&A Museum shows.
-
A feat of clay: How ceramics have taken on the fine art world'Not a Pot’, a sculptural pottery exhibition open at York Art Gallery, throws light onto the art form's evolution.
