Revealed: Range Rover SVAutobiography

By: Steve Smith

Jaguar Land Rover has a little extra luxury to their luxury SUV offering with the announcement of the new Range Rover SVAutobiography.

Due for its unveiling later this week at the New York Auto Show, that new Rangey has been marched to the front-lines to take on fellow only-for-the-rich-famous-and-Premiership-footballers brands Bentley and Maserati who are about to dip their Gucci loafers in the luxury SUV segment.

The SUV has been developed by JLR’s Special Vehicles Operations bunch – essentially their bespoke personalization department – who have not only spooned in a more powerful engine, but also turned the Luxury Dial up to 11.

The engine is a 5,0-litre, supercharged V8 (405 kW/680 N.m) taken from the Range Rover Sport SVR and you can order yours in either standard length or long-wheelbase specification. There’s a two-tone exterior option with Santorini Black on upper section and a choice of nine different colours for the lower part. A unique Graphite Atlas finish to the grille and “SVAutobiography” badging at the rear let your fellow road users know exactly what they’re gawping at.

It’s what you’ll find inside, however, that really sets this SUV apart from its siblings. Most of the switchgear (including the start-stop surround and rotary controls) are machined from solid aluminium with knurled details. So, if you cared to look down, are the foot pedals. Rear passengers will be happy to know their Moët will remain nice and cold thanks to a beverage chiller compartment and, with powered deployable tables, they have a perfect place to put the equally chilled caviar.

There’s also a sliding luggage floor option for the boot that’s made from aluminium and a choice of wood veneer options. It slides rearwards to optimise ease of use for loading and unloading. Watching the weekend’s polo is also now a lot more comfy thanks to the (again, optional) frame to which two exterior seats can be mounted.

There’s no local price yet, but in the USA it will start from $199 495 which, in that market, is a 45% premium over the standard Range Rover Autobiography. In SA the the standard Range Rover Autobiography goes for R1 556 000 which, adding 45%, means it could sell for in the region of R2 256 000 here.

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