Namibia's content-driven motoring portal
Sometimes I wonder if car reviews are actually read and appreciated by the subject’s prospective buyer. Whereas I’m sure that small hatchback and family sedan shoppers do a substantial amount of homework before hitting the showrooms, do the punters of an Audi A8 long wheelbase do the same?
What’s this world coming to? At the risk of sounding like the grumpy sod I’m slowly turning into, back when I was young all Landies were slow, noisy and pretty ugly. I know this because my first car was just such a beast and nothing like my latest review victim, Land Rover’s new Range Rover Sport.
The best car in the world. Although Mercedes-Benz South Africa preferred to use the phrase “This changes everything” for their flagship model, the S-Class has long been the leader for pioneering technology. Most of what you discover here will trickle down to other cars in a few years.
Some people like to drive something a little ‘different’, a little more avant-garde if you wish. Some people prefer to drive a car that makes them stand out from the crowd on the highway – that makes people wonder about their tastes and choice. Some people like to proclaim their individuality beyond the clothes they choose to wear and what or where they eat. Some people want more from their car design than most. Those people would drive a Range Rover Evoque.
Hey, you know what? It’s been too long since one of my inexhaustible confessions and here it comes: although I thoroughly enjoy driving a new car every week, there were two vehicles I was especially keen to get my hands on in 2013. One of them just blew my mind, again, and it was the new Range Rover.
I’ve always thought that the Landrover Freelander looked a bit like the odd horse out in the Landy stable – it was just a little bit strange-looking and didn’t fit either the mould of the rough and ready Defender or the more luxurious Discovery. It seemed to hang in there like an uncomfortable third wheel. But no more.
Dear car manufacturers, I’m writing to you today with less of a rant than a positive criticism about a trend that has been slowly creeping into luxury cars over the past few years. It isn’t massage seats, head-up displays or infra-red vision, no, it’s the analogue clock.
International motor shows usually feature a few concept cars to show the press and public what designers would have built if cost and practicality weren’t an issue. Most of these outrageous concepts disappear back into obscurity but a select few make an almost unscathed jump to production.
Mercedes-Benz introduced its first luxury SUV, the popular ML or M-Class, in 1997 with a short cameo appearance in Jurassic Park. Stuttgart just pipped its main German rivals to the start and maintained a strong following for the soft 4×4 built in Alabama, USA.
Vandat die Range Rover Evoque verlede jaar op die mark gekom het, het dit wêreldwyd groot belangstelling uitgelok en was dit met hoë verwagtings dat ek die Evoque onlangs in ontvangs geneem het.