Minneapolis Street Sighting: Range Rover County LWB

Most Americans think of Range Rovers as high-end vehicles aimed at red-carpet stars, and ghetto fabulous rappers; fortunately, that really is not the case. In countries outside the US, a majority of Range Rovers go off-road, and are shined up to look nice going about the town--as with any car, there are beaters--and those tired Range Rovers are big hits in Africa, Australia, and Great Britain. So why aren't Range Rovers allowed to reach beater status in the United States? Brand perception is the number one reason; most Americans don't realize that the cars we have here as luxury imports really aren't all that special in their home-countries-- or any country outside the US for that matter.

Big, brash SUVs tend to be the most indestructible--especially if said SUV is designed for--and sold in fairly harsh climates; case in point, the Toyota Land Cruiser, the Range Rover brand, and the Mercedes G-Klasse are all favorites abroad--and here, all three of those trucks are favorites with a much different crowd-and all three can trace their heritage way back. The first Range Rovers were introduced in 1969 as 1970 models, and the basic body design stayed the same until 2001 when the new Range Rover was introduced as a very early 2003. In the 1980s, the four-door variant was born, and the brand came to the US in 1986.  Since then, the Range has been seen as the "go-to" luxury sport ute; if the US had their own equivalent, it was the Jeep Grand Wagoneer.

In 2003, the Range Rover was redesigned and moved even further upscale than the previous trucks. By 2006, the Range Rover sat at the top of the high-end SUV food chain right alongside another stalwart--the Mercedes G-Klasse. And with a new version coming out this year, its no doubt that the Range Rover will pushed even further up the ladder.

Most people in the US don't tend to think of Range Rover when the words "beater SUV" come to mind. But that's exactly what most of the Range Rover Classics and Countys are seen as overseas; caked with mild tailgate rust, and inner wheelwell rot, there's no telling what the frame hides. On the surface, though, this old Rover was pretty clean--sort of.  If there's one great thing about this guy, is the paint color is on point. I love these things in deep greens and blues, as they're luxurious and rugged at the same time. I've never been a fan of white vehicles either, and yes--even a white Range Rover looks dumb. The paint on this one is shot, and it obviously has rust, but I would wager that the interior is fairly clean--I would hope anyway. I didn't look inside, so I'm only guessing but still. This one has definitely seen better days. That's not to say I didn't have fun shooting it.