Elite Traveler July-August 2017

INSPIRE TOP CARS

Land Rover ENGLAND, 1947

It all began with a sketch made on the sand of a Welsh beach in 1947, when Maurice Wilks, technical director of the British car company Rover, and his brother Spencer, managing director of the same company, saw a market for a rugged 4x4 vehicle. The first Land Rover was launched in 1948 and by the end of that year it was being exported to more than 70 countries. Land Rover has come a long way since that beach. In 2008 it was sold to Tata Motors and today offers six models boasting materials and technology previously the preserve of luxury sedans. landrover.com Defender CLASSIC It has been said that for more than half of the people on the planet, the first motor vehicle they ever saw was a Land Rover Defender; such was its ability to go where no other car had gone before. Britain’s SAS regiment painted their vehicles pink to create a desert camouflage effect, while Her Majesty the Queen, who has owned around 30 examples, prefers hers in more subtle hues. During seven decades, more than two million examples were built, but in the end the vehicle that crossed inhospitable terrain with ease was defeated by high emissions, and production ended in 2016. Range Rover Velar MODERN Launched at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, Land Rover’s new elegantly styled Range Rover Velar is positioned between the Evoque and Range Rover Sport models. Naturally, the vehicle is equipped with four-wheel drive and should prove capable of dealing with muddy tracks and wading shallow rivers. However, the Velar is more of an SUV crossover than a hard-core off roader, and the emphasis is placed firmly on uptown as opposed to up-country living. Easily capable of accommodating a family of five, the lavish interior features advanced multi-function rotary controls and state-of-the-art screen technology.

Lamborghini Miura

Lamborghini Huracán Performante

Lamborghini ITALY, 1963

Ferruccio Lamborghini was born in 1916 under the star sign of Taurus the bull. He formed his car company following a spat with Enzo Ferrari. Already a very successful manufacturer of tractors, Ferruccio produced his first car, the 350 GT, in 1964. However, the big breakthrough came in 1966 with the mid-engined Miura — the world’s first supercar. Over the years, subsequent Lamborghini creations such as the Countach and the Diablo have been a cause of shock and awe. Today, under the ownership of Audi, models with the raging bull on their noses, such as the Huracán and Aventador continue to have the same effect. lamborghini.com Miura CLASSIC Up until 1965, conventional wisdom dictated that racing cars had their engines mounted in the middle of the chassis, while all road cars, including the very fastest, had theirs mounted up front under the hood. Lamborghini changed all that when it revealed a bare road-car chassis with the engine mounted in the middle, racecar style. The only problemwas it did not have a body to cover its revolutionary chassis. “I’m the one who can make the shoe to fit your boot,” bus-builder Nuccio Bertone told Ferruccio Lamborghini. Thus the sublimely beautiful Miura, designed by Bertone employee Marcello Gandini, was born. However, only 764 were ever built and just one single roadster, that upon valuation back in 2013 was deemed the most expensive Lamborghini in the world at $8-10m. Huracán Performante MODERN Lamborghini already has five versions of its Huracán on sale, but that hasn’t stopped its engineers creating an even more intense, driver-focused version, the Performante, which the company says takes the notion of performance to levels never seen before. The development program focused on cutting weight by 88lb, boosting engine power by 30bhp, sharpening the chassis to a knife-edge and introducing an innovative system of active aerodynamics known as Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva (ALA) to significantly increase downforce. Has it worked?Well, the car lapped Germany’s fearsome Nürburgring race circuit in 06:52:01, the fastest time ever for a standard production car.

THE RANGE ROVER VELAR IN NUMBERS

Price from $58,000 Number of seats 5 Power 380hp (3.0-liter engine) Maximum towing capacity 5,511lb Maximum speed 155mph

Range Rover Velar