Land Rover to bring Evoque Cabriolet
Everybody loves a concept, but every now and then, a manufacturer comes up and produces a concept that takes our breath away. Sometimes it’s in the nice ways, with butterflies, weak knees and rainbows, otherwise, it’s the kind you feel after you’ve been hit in the solar-plexes (with a jackhammer). Then there’s this new Range Rover Evoque Cabriolet that has been running amok on the interwebs, we first saw the outrageous SUV Convertible, at the Milan Motor Show in 2012, needless to say it took our breath away. Two years down the line, after Autocar UK showcased spy pictures of the car, the jury’s still out as to how we really feel about it. For starters, it’s an SUV pretending to be a sports car which is bad enough, then they go and chop the roof off. This confuses my brain. I like SUVs, I like things that go fast and I like drop-tops, but putting them all together is a bit like a perfectly cooked steak, with a large scoop of Haagen Das, in a bowl of clam chowder.
The grapevine has it, that if the Evoque drop-top has already completed this level of testing, the new car could hit showrooms in the year to come, and may coincide with the launch of the heavily upgraded Evoque, which may feature the JLR’s all-new Ingenium four-cylinder engines. Also, Land Rover claims that if you roll it, you will be safe because the fully retractable roof system, comes with JLR’s patented Roll-over Protection System (ROPS). In essence, everything else is the same as the regular Evoque, you get all the bells and whistles, like Park Assist and an 8-inch dual view touch screen and a sound system by Meridian.
“The Evoque lends itself beautifully to the idea of a convertible. This study is not a traditional convertible design execution — instead we have worked with the balance of the Evoque’s lines to retain its distinctive shape and create something that is unique and, we believe, highly desirable.” says Gerry McGovern, Land Rover’s Design Director.
After a long discussion, as to who would buy the new Evoque Cabriolet, we then realized that the answer was right in front of us the whole time. The same people who bought the Evoque, which is basically the who’s who of the Premier League and their WAGs. Which is brilliant. Although we think that the sight of Posh Spice, in a drop top Land Rover with 22-inch chrome spinners, might just take our breath away. Go figure.
