Five top 4WD vehicles are put through their paces
The four-wheel-drive market has undergone a revolution in the past six years. Volkswagen predicts that by next year 4WDs will account for five million sales globally each year. The premium end of the market is beginning to make its own solid contribution to this figure, even though it has taken almost 30 years.
The original 1970 Range Rover, meant to be a more civilised version of the Land Rover for the landed gentry, was the first luxurious 4WD. Most 4WDs then were crude and basic in every way. They were not much more sophisticated than a small truck.
The Range Rover, with its all-coil suspension, all-alloy V8 engine, aluminium body parts and four-wheel disc brakes was ahead of its time. The Range Rover did better in tough off-road environments than almost any other 4WD, yet rode and performed well enough on the road to put prestige cars of the era to shame.
Well into its second generation in 1998, the Range Rover was for the first time challenged by a genuine luxury competitor: the Mercedes-Benz M-Class.
When the M-Class arrived, many other car manufacturers were already sensing an opportunity and furiously preparing to get their luxury 4WDs to market. They could finally see what the iconic Range Rover was all about: not a volume-selling bread-and-butter 4WD but a highly profitable prestige car alternative - one that buyers were becoming more interested in.
