OPEN SEASON
The new Range Rover Evoque Convertible turns out to be every bit as much of a trail-blazing pioneer as its distant ancestor of 68 years ago By Charles Armstrong-Wilson
ave you ever had an anxiety dream ? You know the sort
H of thing ; waiting with
a group of friends to be shown to your table at a particularly smart London restaurant , suddenly you realise the place has gone quiet and everyone is staring . Looking down , everything seems to be in order , your outfit is impeccable , but suddenly you spot it . For some unaccountable reason you are wearing wellingtons . This is the point where you wake up with a start , gripped by the embarrassment of the faux pas .
Apart from the extremes of hipster culture , wellingtons are not usually worn in smart metropolitan restaurants . There was a time when pretty much the same thing could be said about 4x4 vehicles . They belonged in the Shires ; not in the city . But times have changed , as have off roaders .
When Rover cars unveiled its Land Rover in 1948 , it was a purely utilitarian development of a military vehicle . Everyone from farmers to the armed forces , construction workers to emergency services lapped them up . But with its canvas tilt and no-nonsense design , it was utterly alien to urban domesticity .
Well , until 1970 when Land Rover reinvented the breed with its civilised and sophisticated Range Rover . Soberly designed , but comfortably appointed , it was accepted in the smartest of places . Five years ago , the company changed the rules again , adding design to practicality with the groundbreaking Range Rover Evoque . Now , undaunted by convention , Land Rover has pushed the concept even further by releasing the first factory Range Rover Convertible .
So , they ’ ve chopped the roof off the Evoque . Big deal . What ’ s so clever about
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