IS THE LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER A STATUS SYMBOL?

If you are are judged by the company you keep (as Grandma used to remind me every time she saw me with my friends) then you’d better get used to people assuming you’re some kind of mover or shaker when they spot you behind the wheel of a Range Rover. Because surely you have achieved something of merit to be driving a car long considered the gold standard of luxury SUVs.

Range Rover’s reputation as a symbol of privilege is rather obvious. After all, if you must have a luxury SUV, there are plenty of competent ones on the market that sell for less than half the price of a Range Rover. Which is not to say that the Range Rover isn’t worth every penny, because it is.
Beyond simply being a competent SUV, a Range Rover—its many stylish features notwithstanding— is capable of serious off-roading, rock climbing and desert crawling, especially if you know what you’re doing and don’t mind a few dings and a little dirt. That said, it may surprise you to learn that fewer than one out of every ten Range Rover owners ever use their vehicle off road. Instead, you are more likely to see it cruising along city and suburban streets, parked at the country club; or picking up the kids at soccer practice.

Having proclaimed Range Rover a status symbol, I am first to admit that it is a very practical choice as far as automotive status symbols are concerned. After all, can you go mudding in a Porsche Carrera, rock climbing in a Ferrari or load your kid’s entire soccer team into a Jaguar XKR? Of course not! These cars are built to look good and move fast, whereas a Range Rover does all that while possessing more than enough utility to transport the entire soccer team (and all its gear!) way past where the pavement ends and other cars are unable to go.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Queen Elizabeth II, the ultimate symbol of British status, prefers to motor around her various country estates behind the wheel of her Land Rover Defender. In fact, her late husband, Prince Philip, was so partial to Land Rover that he had another Defender tricked-out as a funeral hearse in preparation for the day he would actually need to be transported in one, which sadly came on April 17, 2021. On that day, his bespoke Land Rover stepped-in for the horse-drawn gun carriage that had traditionally been the royal family’s preferred mode of final transport. Its modifications included an open top rear section, where his coffin could be carried in full view of spectators; and bore the dark bronze-green color reserved for military Land Rovers.
“Just stick me in the back of a Land Rover and drive me to Windsor,” Prince Philip, is reported to have quipped about his funeral arrangements, which he began planning as far back as 2003.

With all this talk of royal status, it is definitely worth noting that Land Rover is the only automaker—along with its sister brand Jaguar—to hold all three royal warrants, that of the Queen, the Duke and Prince Charles.

Meanwhile, back in the colonies, no less a status-driven American than its reigning queen of reality TV—Kim Kardashian—has frequently been spotted in the San Fernando Valley driving her new Land Rover Range Rover SVAutobiography.

There are a few flashier SUVs currently on the market that may cost more than a Range Rover. But none convey the elevated status or match the refined level of luxury, performance, and off-road prowess of a Range Rover. And none can lay claim to a more distinguished pedigree.