These new spy pictures of the 2011 Range Rover LRX suggest it will have one of the smallest rear windows ever seen on a 4×4. Although shrouded by BMW-esque swirly-whirly disguise, playing dot-to-dot with the contours of the side windowline point to an unusually tiny back screen.
Insiders confirm these photos are production-accurate, but say the angle at which our spy shots were taken exaggerate the small size of the rear glass. ‘It’s not quite as small as it appears in these photos,’ said our mole. ‘What they do show is how faithful to the LRX concept car the compact Range Rover will be.’
A clever PR spin, but – on this occasion – we’d have to agree. The new baby Range Rover does appear to honour the slinky, low-slung coupé-SUV crossover chic of the 2008 show car. It’s SUV bluffness meets coupé cool, with a Golf footprint.
Mind you, we wouldn’t fancy reversing one of these in a tight city car park. Any bets on reversing beepers being standard fit?
Range Rover LRX: the overview
We’ll catch our first, official glimpse of the production LRX this summer ahead of a Paris 2010 motor show debut, but UK sales won’t start until May 2011 priced from around £33,000.
The compact Range Rover will be the first Land Rover ever offered with front-wheel drive – to achieve emissions below 130g/km and an average fuel consumption figure of over 50mpg.
Those figures apply to the mainstay engine, expected to be the PSA-sourced 2.2-litre turbodiesel. A 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol will also be offered, but don’t go expecting any V6 whoppers. Four-wheel drive will be available, however.