► New Range Rover Sentinel
► Fully armoured Rangie
► Costs £300,000!
Land Rover knows its Range Rover owners only too well: these cars are driven by some of the wealthiest stars and power brokers around the world – the sort of people for whom target practice isn’t something just played at the golf driving range, but an everyday occupational hazard.
So it should come as no surprise that Jaguar Land Rover’s fledgling Special Vehicle Operations department has turned its bespoke attention to this armoured Range Rover Sentinel, the even more tank-like Rangie. It’ll be shown at this month’s Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) Show in London, carrying an eye-watering cost of €400,000. That euro price tag – £295,000 in sterling – is telling, as most will be sold overseas, Land Rover predicts.
How to armour a Range Rover
Taking one long-wheelbase Autobiography, SVO add a six-piece armoured passenger cell made from super-strength steel thick enough to withstand high-velocity 7.62mm armour-piercing rounds and 15kg of TNT explosive. All windows are replaced by multi-laminated bulletproof glass and Land Rover says the bombproof Rangie can even survive grenades tossed under the vehicle. It’s strong enough to meet the VR8 ballistic certification – the Euro NCAP of the bombproofing industry.
Sadly no kerbweight has been listed for this super-secure Rangie, but there is an F-type-related 335bhp 3.0-litre supercharged V6 to keep the thing going in the event of an emergency and those 20in tyres are run-flats, naturally. If things get really sticky, there’s even an escape hatch behind the seats in case the doors aren’t functioning in an ambush.
But the ace up the Sentinel’s well-tailored sleeve is that it looks no different to your average or cooking Range Rover. Discretion is half the battle, after all…