The aftermarket world is pretty unique and ready to satisfy any desire - and that is also valid across the imaginative realm of customized and personalized automobiles, it seems. Here, let us give you a couple of examples.
Land Rover, the specialized British automaker that started as a Jeep-inspired off-road idea and is today one of the most renowned 4x4 manufacturers in the world, has a distinctive flagship series called Range Rover. Actually, it is an entire family composed of the Evoque (born in 2011, now in its L551 second generation since 2018), the first-ever Velar (now updated for the 2024 model year with fresh technical and design goodies), as well as the Range Rover Sport, which is a sportier take on the classic Range Rover.
The latter was introduced by the Brits as nothing more than a step above the series Land Rover line back in 1970, way before the rugged Defender was even a thought. Anyway, it subsequently evolved throughout five generations into a much ritzier proposition. And to make out the difference, what is currently known as the Range Rover Classic was initially offered just as a three-door SUV and the five-door version only arrived in 1981! Today, though, the U.S.-specification Range Rover does not even kick off below the $100k mark. Actually, the ‘cheapest’ Range Rover you can buy right now is $106,500 (SE P400 with 395 hp, MHEV, and AWD) and you can easily go over $226k (SV, long wheelbase, 523 hp, P530 AWD V8) without even selecting a single optional perk.
Anyway, that astonishing price – for comparison purposes, the ubiquitous American full-size luxury SUV, the Caddy Escalade, kicks off at an MSRP of $79,795 and even the 6.2-liter supercharged V8 Escalade-V with 682 horsepower is ‘just’ $149,695! Frankly, I reckon the massive price has made the current Range Rover even more enticing than before for the affluent folk, as now they can brag about their Land Rover sitting at the gate of the ultra-luxury super-SUV establishment and looking affordable when compared to the Lambo Urus, Bentley Bentayga, Rolls-Royce Cullinan, and the lot.
Anyway, then – if you really want to stand out in any posh crowd – you must start looking at things that can make you unique. And a new set of ‘shoes’ is always a good place to start, so here are the custom-forged wheel experts over at Santa Fe Springs, California-based AG Luxury, who have uncovered yet another potentially outrageous treat. We are dealing here with a Range Rover featured on AGLuxury AGL66 monoblock forged wheels of unknown size – although we do know the posh finish is Matte Black with Gloss Black lips and chromed hardware.
Photo: AG Luxury / HRE Wheels / Instagram
If we look up AGL’s online portal, the series is quite comprehensive with monoblock, dual block, three-piece flat or step lip variants plus 19 to 26-inch sizes. There is no info on the quotation, unfortunately, but at least we know that both standard and concave wheel fans can get a piece of the AGL66 action without any regrets. Alas, maybe a Range Rover dressed in city attire and sporting no chance of going on off-road adventures is not your aftermarket wheel cup of tea. No worries, we have the experts at HRE Performance Wheels to the rescue in the second post embedded below, as it turns out the Ford F-150 Raptor can also play the ritzy forged wheel game.
Plus, I feel that at least in those parts of the world where Lady Winter has not abandoned us yet, the high-performance pickup truck with either a 3.5-liter EcoBoost D35 twin-turbo V6 (good for ‘just’ 450 hp, just like its predecessor) or a 5.2-liter Predator supercharged V8 under the hood, might be a better fit. This example lacks any identification markers, so we cannot be sure if we are dealing with the simpler V6 or the 700-hp V8 option, but I suspect it does not matter too much for the owner.
Instead, the latter probably aimed to go against the current that claims forged aftermarket wheels are for sports cars rather than performance pickup trucks. Besides, he or she also chose an interesting option – the Vintage Series 501 model coming in a two- FMR-X or three-piece format from $2,625 and $2,925 for each wheel, respectively. As such, many HRE fans thought this white and Brushed Clear truck and wheel mix did not fit nicely together. A select few were also courageous enough to claim they appreciate the boldness of such a choice – and I suspect the F-150 Raptor sitting on top of a hill surrounded by nothing but snow, boulders, and trees also had something to do with the opinion.
Well, at least they are not as ‘bland’ as Platinum Motorsport Group’s murdered-out Caddy Escalade on D100s proposal – as if that were the first time we have seen a dark and menacing “big body” rolling down the streets in ominous silence…
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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