Desie Heita
After decades of churning out much sought after sports utility vehicles and after giving you both the Evoque and Sport models, Range Rover now brings you the Velar. The Velar (pronounced vel-ar, Range Rover public relations people insist the name is pronounced correctly,) would make its first world premier in a couple of weeks – 01 March to be precise – at the Geneva Motor Show.
Allow us to explain before you are confused further: Velar would be the big brother model to the Ranger Rover Evoque, and the little brother to the Range Rover Sport and the Range Rover proper. The Range Rover proper is the original Range Rover model, the bulky SUV that comes as HSE, Vogue or Autobiography.
Also the Velar is to be Range Rover’s all new model in more than a decade. Only that the design, or concept, is really not that new, considering Range Rover went to its tool shed where it found the 1969 prototype. The Velar was one of those prototypes stored away when the original Range Rover was launched in 1970.
According to the company the origin of the Velar name dates back to the first Range Rover prototypes of the Sixties: the pioneers of the luxury SUV landscape.
When development engineers needed to hide the true identity of the 26 pre-production Range Rovers, they chose the name Velar, derived from the Latin “velare” meaning to veil or cover.
Elegant simplicity, a visually reductive approach and pioneering consumer technology are the hallmarks of the new Range Rover Velar.
“We call the Velar the avant-garde Range Rover,” said Land Rover Chief Design Officer, Gerry McGovern. “It brings a new dimension of glamour, modernity and elegance to the brand. The Range Rover Velar changes everything.”
Refined for every occasion, for every terrain, Velar uses unique sustainable materials and advanced engineering to continue Land Rover’s drive to go Above and Beyond.
Is there really a need for another Range Rover on the road? You bet there is! According to Range Rover’s Public Relations people, there is currently a “white space’ between the Range Rover Evoque and Range Rover Sport” that needs to be filled. And doing that would allow Land Rover “to reaffirm its position as the world’s leading SUV brand.”
Land Rover has not indicated what sort of engine they would put in the new Velar, but there are predictions to expect the Velar to feature four- and six-cylinder engines with turbos and superchargers, and hopefully a range-topping, hair-raising V8 version.