Jaguar Land Rover previously mentioned it was working on a two-door flagship sport utility vehicle for Range Rover — a model it promised would be the most expensive in the brand’s 70-year history. It certainly kept that promise. With a starting price of $295,000, the Range Rover SV Coupe fits the bill.
Ditching the “utility” portion of sport utility vehicle, the SV Coupe is all about style over substance. However, it is not the first two-door model offered by the company. Long after the Classic left the lineup, Range Rover built the Evoque Coupe until 2017. But that model was comparably pedestrian and didn’t come anywhere near the SV’s price tag. Nor did it boast the same level of hardware.
Even though you’re primarily paying for exclusivity, as the SV Coupe’s production is limited to only 999 units, Land Rover says it isn’t skimping on substance. Based on the brand’s big four-door (the one without a secondary title), the Coupe is shorter and comes equipped with a 5.0-liter supercharged V8, good for 577 horsepower. The automaker claims a 0-to-60 time of 5 seconds and a top speed of roughly 165 mph.
It’s also endowed with JLR’s Terrain Response 2 system, featuring presets for varied surfaces and an adjustable air suspension.
Land Rover did not neglect the interior either. Assuming you’ll actually want to crawl into the rear passenger compartment, once settled in you’ll be treated with sumptuous quilted leather that can be optioned in a different hue than the front seats. The front doors can also be closed remotely in case you want to sit in the back, alone, like some kind of rich creep.
Taking a page from the Range Rover Velar, the SV’s displays include two 10-inch interactive screens and another 12-inch screen in place of an instrument panel loaded with dials and buttons. There is also a head-up display.
Is it a good deal? Hell no. The Range Rover SVAutobiography Long Wheelbase appears to offer everything the Coupe does and then some. Its passengers also don’t have to climb in through the front and are treated with a refrigerator that holds two champagne-sized bottles and four feet of legroom. The Autobiography also stickers for $100,000 grand less than the new two-door, making the new model’s price very difficult to come to grips with.
Most people don’t walk into the dealership and demand they pay extra for a vehicle that’s missing features. But we suppose that’s not what the SV Coupe is really about. Its customers will want it because it exists — even if it doesn’t really need to. It’s a status vehicle for someone who could easily afford to purchase two.
Land Rover says the Coupe will be hand assembled at JLR’s SVO Technical Centre in Warwickshire, with deliveries beginning near the tail of 2018. Meanwhile, the base trim SVAutobiography is available now for $177,200, assuming you can handle ludicrous levels of luxury and two additional doors at a lower price.
[Images: Jaguar Land Rover]
Poor man’s Cullinan. Tres gauche.
Being prestigious is important, even if it occasionally exceeds one’s parameters of pretension.
I’ll take mine in navy metallic paint, with white front seats and navy rear seats. Contrast quilt stitching both rows. Alternate: BRG, with cream front seats and peanut butter rears.
It’s your money, guys.
(Shakes head)
The rich really are different than you and I.
For $295K this needs to look far more distinct. The A and B pillars need to be pushed back about 6-in to get a longer hood coupe look, instead of the welded-up rear doors look here. Flatten the roofline one-inch at the top of the A-pillar and lower the whole car 2-inces. There, a proper shooting-brake.
By the way, for reference:
A new (real coupe) Bentley Continental GT Speed with 633 horsepower and a twin-turbo W12 costs just $264,000.
https://www.guideautoweb.com/galeries/43979/la-bentley-continental-gt-2018-revelee/?im=3
I’d rather have four or five Hellcat Challengers.
*special accent*
I started reading, but then you sounded so poor all the words became jibberish.
A Hallenge what?
What a waste of money….I will take mine in Hunter Green with the first interior.
Coupe looks nice but its still a joke.
Range Rover’s answer to a question no one asked. And the different color front/rear seats is simply awful.
^THIS^
So the company that was once owned by ford is going to build a bronco and sell it at 10 times the price that ford ever could assuming ford eventually build the bronco. Man karma’s tough.
Hey, if Ford even started pricing for the Bronco at $29,500 I’d be shocked.
And the extremely well off will be delighted to lease one and show off, Trumpian tariffs included, because they got a tax break to pay for it already. What the proles think about it matters not one whit.
This is a very beautiful luxury SUV. A shame that it is only available with one engine choice, and a potentially very inefficient engine at that.
With a limited run like that, it doesn’t really matter.
This feels like a bit of a cynical marketing exercise, with JLR dipping its toe in the water to try and figure out if the can go toe to toe with Bentley.
The answer is that they can but that they need to invest in an all new body and levels of luxury not found in an ordinary car. It also must be the best off-roader in its class bar none.
I do wonder if Jaguar will try something similar using the Daimler brand….