While the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and Lamborghini Urus are still the kings and queens of the ultra-luxury super-SUV market, especially when it comes to imaginative realms such as the aftermarket world, there are other successful options for those who seek to stand out in a (ritzy) crowd.
Sure, some of them will just wait a bit until Ferrari starts deliveries of the 715-horsepower V12-powered coach door Purosangue, which is probably not just their first ‘don’t-call-it-an-SUV’ but also one final hurrah for the ICE lifestyle. Others will seek to make everyone run amok crying their outrage at the sight of the BMW XM, which can also be had as a 738-horsepower Label Red model in its most ‘sustainable’ PHEV form.
But, no worries, people will keep on buying their luxury counterparts – such as the Mercedes-AMG G 63 (now also flavored as a 4x4 Squared that could make school vans look like dwarfs). Or maybe they will go down the Americana route with the Cadillac Escalade, which can be even more humongous in 682-horsepower Escalade-V ESV form thanks to that extra-long wheelbase. Alas, let us not kid ourselves and understand that some people are more traditional than others. As such, maybe a Range Rover will do the better British trick.
After all, the Land Rover Range Rover has been around since the early 1970s – first as a no-frills project with three-door SUV attire and then as the posh and posher model we have all known to love (with both its goodies and bad stuff) over the years and across no less than five generations. The latest and (arguably) greatest may not have escaped the classic thrills of finding out if the owner drew the short reliability straw or not, but that does not make it any less successful and popular – including around the aftermarket realm.
And that is despite surging MSRPs – in the United States, for example, the ‘base’ Range Rover kicks off at no less than $106,500 with the standard wheelbase and P400 powertrain – which consists of a 395-horsepower MHEV assembly. Then you can easily go all the way up to $226,500 when selecting the long-wheelbase Range Rover SV with the P530 mill (523 horsepower, V8) – and that is before adding any options from the extensive list of additional perks. Sure, it’s still around half the price of a fresh Cullinan, but we are also pretty sure that no one guessed they would pay up to $226k on a Range Rover, just a decade ago.
Photo: RDB LA / Instagram
Anyway, that does not mean these flagship Land Rovers are any less popular than before. Frankly, judging by the hype surrounding the current L460 iteration, we can almost be sure that it’s more successful than ever before. And there is no need to take our word for granted, as we have an eloquent example from across the aftermarket realm. And, this time, it is (most likely), a positive one!
So, as opposed to that one time when, unfortunately, the popular L460 Range Rover attracted the unwanted attention of a German tuning brand called Keyvany (they are veritable pupils or Mansory-style outrageousness), now the top Land Rover has reached the stable of Hollywood, Los Angeles-based RDB LA. It is not the first time when a Range Rover gets customized and personalized by these West Coast experts – but for sure it is the very first time when they are working together with 1016Industries to create the perfect widebody kit, complete with a new front bumper, extended wheel arches, side skirts, new rear bumper, plus a roof spoiler.
Right now, this is still a work-in-progress situation, but we can still notice the matte green paint of the test-fitment example, along with the Aerodisc-style aftermarket wheels. Anyway, as always when the good folks have a new YouTube vlog episode out and about, this is not all that is going on around the shop – and it is also not the only first-ever widebody kit they are working on, given the Urus Performante project that is also in development. By the way, speaking of the Italians from the Sant’Agata Bolognese borough, we simply cannot wrap this feature without pointing out that embedded second below is also a stunningly dark and menacing Lamborghini Aventador.
It is of the LP 770-4 SVJ (Super Veloce Jota) variety, the track-focused iteration of the V12-powered supercar that came after the Aventador S and SV with the 6.5-liter L539 V12 engine massaged to 770 ps (759 hp) and 720 Nm (531 lb-ft) for a 62 mph (100 kph) sprint in 2.8 seconds on the way to a maximum speed of more than 352 kph (219 mph). This customized example is dressed in ‘Nero Nemesis’ (a matte black hue with a subtle hint of gray for its undertone) with a clear bra, sits lowered on HRE performance aftermarket wheels that are also dressed accordingly, and features a host of other modifications to stand apart.
Those include an alleged first-ever Ryft hood dressed in exposed carbon fiber, a Gintani exhaust system, and even a unique steering wheel to befit the spaceship approach! Now, which one do you think is going to be cooler – the widebody Range Rover or the ‘Darth Vader’ SVJ?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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