The Land Rover Freelander still looks good, doesn’t it? Ever since that Range Rover-aping clamshell bonnet nosed its way into our showrooms late in ’97, it has remained the quintessential leisure 4x4. The one that still looks right whether in back-street Soho, on school runs or with a surfboard strapped on top.
It’s a lesson in getting it right first time and avoiding having to look back. Which is why we’re now just weeks away from Freelander phase two and, six years on, there hasn’t been a need for radical restyling of metalwork. Yes, the nose has now been brought into line with the latest Rangie and Disco by fitting the twin, clear-lensed headlights and new corporate grille, and we’ve got new bumpers and lights round the back. But it’s still the perfect realisation of just how a scaled-down Land Rover should look.
Inside, though, the Freelander never quite hit the target and this is where the company reckons most of the money has gone. There’s a restyled fascia, which finally banishes most remnants of Austin Rover switchgear to the dustbin, new seats, fabrics and, more important, upgraded materials. There are now far fewer dubious-looking plastics and most of the trim looks like it’s been upgraded a notch or two. In other words, the cabin now looks like something with a £20k price tag attached.
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