LAND ROVER Range Rover 1994-2002 Photos, engines & full specs

After a quarter of a century of production, Land Rover changed the first generation of the Range Rover to a much better vehicle.

Land Rover didn't consider changing the model until it was too obvious that the upgrades and facelifts couldn't improve the car enough to keep up with the competition. After a long debate in their office, the engineering team from Solihull decided to make a new vehicle that resembled the look of its predecessor but improved in any detail.

From the outside, the carmaker dropped the flush door handles and installed regular ones, which were easier to grip and pull, especially with a gloved hand. The front fascia was new and included a broad grille with plastic horizontal slats and big, squared headlights. Its wrapped-around plastic bumpers were modern and improved the drag-coefficient as well. But that was irrelevant for a bus-sized vehicle. The designers kept the slightly raked-forward rear end with a split opening tailgate system where the window was opened upward, and the lower side folded down to make it a bench.

Inside, depending on the trim level, the Range Rover featured cloth or leather seats. A major improvement was for the electrically heated windscreen, which was a unique feature on the market and very useful, especially for the diesel-powered versions.

Under the aluminum body, the carmaker installed live axles both front and rear, with coil-springs all-around. A pneumatic system was fitted as an option later on, and that helped the car get better attack and fording numbers. Land Rover installed an all-wheel-drive system with a locking center differential and a low-range gear.