Range Rover Story Exhibition Opens at Solihull Plant

In celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the Range Rover, Land Rover has opened a new visitor experience at the Solihull, UK manufacturing facility, where all of the original Land Rover vehicles were manufactured. While Range Rover production began at Solihull in 1970, the model’s history goes back to the 1967 when the first secret, code named “Velar” prototypes were conceived and then later placed into service.

The visitor experience includes a new exhibition that presents the history of the Range Rover from its inception in the mid-1960s, all the way up to the introduction of the Range Rover Sport and Range Rover Evoque of more recent years. At the end of the exhibition is an unveiling of the latest Range Rover variant, the Velar, a celebration of The Range Rover and its historical contribution to British design and engineering integrity.

“The Range Rover Story” is the second visitor attraction of its kind to open at the Solihull manufacturing facility, following closely on the heels of the Defender Celebration exhibit, which attracted more than 11,000 visitors in 2015.

Roger Crathorne, who worked at Land Rover for 50 years, and has been actively involved in the creation of the new exhibition, said: “The exhibit tells the incredible story of the Range Rover, from the original Velar prototype through to today’s new model. At the time I began my career in 1967 as a Technical Assistant on the Velar team, the intention was never to build a luxury vehicle. Over the 50 years since, the Range Rover has come a long way. We wanted to develop a more comfortable on-road Land Rover that would combine the comfort of the Rover with the Land Rover 4x4 capability to support a growing leisure market.”

In addition to the exhibition, Land Rover is also launching manufacturing tours of the Velar manufacturing facility. Just as the Defender Celebration exhibit originally ran as part of the Defender assembly line tour.