50 Years of Velar: the story of Range Rover

Land Rover has opened a new visitor attraction at its thriving Solihull manufacturing plant. ‘The Range Rover Story’ is an interactive exhibit created to celebrate 50 years of the world’s most revered luxury SUV.
Range Rover has been manufactured at Solihull since 1970, but its history with the site goes back to 1967 when the first secret prototype was conceived, codenamed Velar. The new exhibit will take visitors on a time-travelling voyage from its inception in the mid-1960s, through to the introduction of the Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque. The exhibition culminates in an exciting unveiling of the new Range Rover Velar, celebrating British design and engineering integrity.

Roger Crathorne (known as Mr Land Rover) dedicated fifty years’ service to Land Rover and has been heavily involved in the creation of the exhibition. He said: “The exhibit tells the incredible story of the Range Rover, from the original Velar prototype through to today’s new model. At the time I began my career in 1967 as a technical assistant on the Velar Team, the intention was never to build a luxury vehicle. Over the fifty years since, the Range Rover has come a long way. We wanted to develop a more comfortable on-road Land Rover that would combine the comfort of the Rover with the Land Rover 4×4 capability to support a growing leisure market.”

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