What's this then?
This is the car for when your top-spec Range Rover isn't quite top-spec enough. Also the car for people who enjoy blasting innocent woodland creatures in the face with white hot buckshot. It's the Range Rover Holland & Holland.
Why is it named after a European country? Twice?
Well actually, the correct name for Holland is The Netherlands, but that pedantic point aside, it's a collaboration between Land Rover's newly-formed Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division and that famed maker of shotguns and rifles for the landed gentry, Holland & Holland.
Based on the Range Rover Autobiography and sporting either the 4.4-litre V8 diesel engine or the supercharged 5.0-litre V8 petrol, the RR Holland & Holland is doused in gorgeous deep Holland & Holland green and the cabin is swathed in tan and espresso leather. The long wheelbase versions have motorised rear everything, from the seats to the footrests to the picnic tables, while up front and all around there are slabs of (sustainably sourced) French walnut, polished and oiled to resemble the stock of a shotgun - every car's interior wood is made from slices from a single piece, so that it all matches perfectly. Holland & Holland's famous swirly embossing of metalwork also appears on the door handles and trim inserts.
Out back there's a wooden cabinet, leather and Alcantara lined, that slides out on damped rails and which is designed to contain a pair of Holland & Holland's finest guns. You can take it out, to boost luggage space (or just when trying to board a cross-channel ferry - customs and excise are likely to get a bit put out if you try to board with a pair of shotguns in the boot...) and the deployable floor on which it sits can bear the weight of two people sitting down to change their shoes or to have a picnic.
The price of all this firepower-related-finery? £180,000 to you, m'lud. Only 40 Holland & Hollands will be made, over a four-year period so this is going to be one of the most exclusive Range Rovers ever.
John Edwards, managing director of Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations, said, "The whole SVO team is very proud of this car, a bespoke design, which perfectly meets the very particular needs of Holland & Holland's customers. This shows the huge potential of SVO, which encapsulates both off- and on-road performance as well as luxury and craftsmanship."
Daryl Greatrex, managing director of Holland & Holland, commented: "This project represents two great British brands working together to produce a car that perfectly represents our shared brand values. Stunning form and perfect functionality unite in a car that is supremely fit for purpose."
Neil Briscoe - 14 Nov 2014