Automotive Einstein

Forty years ago, Land Rover took a capable off-road chassis, draped it in stylish duds, and crafted what became known as the Range Rover. The company used this same process to create the new 2011 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque — although it may favor tarmac instead of dusty trails.

Photo Gallery: 2011 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque First Look – Automobile Magazine

Photo Gallery: 2011 Land Rover Range Rover Evoque First Look – Automobile Magazine

What do the Land Rover Defender and the Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen have in common? Answer: They date back to an era when passive safety and exhaust emissions were only vague terms instead of strict norms. Although various exemptions have helped to extend the life for these and other golden oldies, the grace period granted by the European Union ends for certain in 2015. Mercedes has no replacement in the pipeline for the G-class, but Land Rover is exploring ways to replace or overhaul the Defender in time for the 2016 model year — and is even considering a departure from the traditional body-on-frame construction.

Photo Gallery: 2016 Land Rover Defender – Automobile Magazine

Warning: the information and images on the following pages might antagonize you to no end. As you read about the most anticipated cars of the next four years, you might become frustrated by wanting what you can’t yet have. Just remember — good things come to those who wait. For now, dig in to the details, the spy photos, the informed illustrations, and the future-teasing concepts of our annual Sneak Preview. Thanks to our probing questions and well-placed sources, there’s plenty to dream about.

Photo Gallery: 2010 Sneak Preview – 131 Future Cars – Automobile Magazine

At long last, Range Rover and Jaguar have found a common denominator in the sophisticated aluminum spaceframe technology recently introduced on the new XJ, and which will be shared with the next Range Rover (in 2012) and the follow-up to the Range Rover Sport (coming in 2013). Known internally as premium lightweight architecture (PLA), this weight-saving, rigid, cheaper to build and highly flexible components set later is also likely to spawn the follow-up to the XF (in 2014) and its still-to-be-determined derivatives, as well as the next-generation XK sports cars expected in 2013 at the earliest.

Photo Gallery: Jaguar/Land Rover: Premium Lightweight Architecture (PLA) – Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, XF, XK – Automobile Magazine

LAND ROVER 101
By Jason Cammisa

Photo Gallery: Land Rover 101 – Luxury SUV Review – Automobile Magazine

When I emerged from my apartment this morning, a few neighbors could be seen grimly scraping their windows and preparing for another slushy, icy commute. Poor peasants. I simply climbed into my Range Rover Sport, flipped on the front-windscreen heater (not to be confused with a lowly defroster), provided a squirt of heated washer fluid, and turned the Terrain Response dial to snow-and-gravel mode. Within minutes, I was bombing toward downtown Ann Arbor at a 50-mph clip, my forward view obstructed only by the faint wires of that very handy heated windshield. This, my friends, is the Michigan-in-February equivalent of cruising the Pacific Coast Highway in a BMW M3 convertible.

Photo Gallery: 2010 Land Rover Range Rover Sport Supercharged – Land Rover Luxury SUV Review – Automobile Magazine

When I first learned that the LR3 would be gaining a direct-injection engine and changing its name to LR4, I thought the minor changes didn’t warrant a new name. I still don’t think the new name makes any sense (Does this mean that the LR2 will turn into an LR3 if it’s ever refreshed? How confusing will used-vehicle shopping be then?), but I no longer feel the changes are so minor.

Photo Gallery: 2010 Land Rover LR4 – Land Rover Luxury SUV Review – Automobile Magazine