Land Rover has today confirmed what we've long expected – that the popular LRX Concept from the 2008 edition of the Detroit Auto Show is headed for production. The British-born automaker doesn't actually say the new 'ute will be called the LRX when it hits the market in 2011, but it definitely will be wearing the Range Rover moniker and will therefore likely be marketed as a premium vehicle.

No details are given about the coupelike SUV's powertrain, but Land Rover does say the new vehicle "will be the smallest, lightest and most efficient vehicle the company has ever produced." Previous reports have suggested the production LRX will share underpinnings with the LR2 (a.k.a. the Freelander) and will be offered with an optional all-wheel drive hybrid powertrain that may use an electric motor to power the rear wheels and a transverse engine underhood driving the front wheels.

Judging from the lone rendering released with this announcement, the basic shape from the LRX Concept should survive mostly intact, perhaps gaining a slightly more pronounced front fascia to go along with the production-necessary external door handles. Expect more details to filter out at the beginning of 2010, but in the meantime, click past the break for the press release.

Those looking for a hard-core, bare-bones off-roader have always had the Land Rover Defender to turn to. The same basic design has been hand-assembled at Land Rover's factory in the UK for over sixty years, equipped with only the features needed to make it across the Sahara or over the next mountain. But with the Fire & Ice editions, Land Rover has given the Defender all the luxury touches customers have come to expect from their SUVs. The interior is wrapped in leather and Alcantara suede, the seats have been replaced by Recaro buckets, there's a glass sunroof, alloy wheels, body-colored headlamp housings and more. The Fire edition features a special Vesuvius Orange metallic paint, the Ice edition in Alaska white, both of which are contrasted by Santorini black hoods, roofs and other accents. Only 850 examples will be produced at €68,400 ($95,000) and distributed across Europe, China and South Africa.

Earlier this week we told you about Land Rover's polo team sporting in the snow in Aspen. Now the British auto maker has signed on to sponsor the inaugural Desert Palm Nations Polo Tournament in Dubai this Friday. The event is designed to "highlight and celebrate Dubai's achievements in the sport of polo" and will also serve as the official launch of the Desert Palm, Dubai, a Per AQUUM Resort & Spa and "the first dedicated boutique polo spa resort in the world." Participating in Desert Palm Nations tournament and representing the UAE team, sponsored by Land Rover, will be Adolfo Cambiaso, the number one polo player in the world, who will also playing for the first time in the Middle East. The tournament is set to become an annual affair and a highlight of the social season.

Snow polo was first introduced in 1985 in Switzerland's swank St. Moritz, and caught on immediately among the bon ton. It's no surprise that swells in equally upscale Aspen, CO decided to stage their own snow polo tournament nine years ago, the only one of its kind in the United States. The ninth annual World Snow Polo Championships just took place there, and the Land Rover America's Polo Cup Team, fielded by the famed British auto marque and the luxurious St. Regis Aspen Resort, made a strong showing.

The Land Rover team - comprised of John Gobin at 8 goals, (one of the highest rated arena polo players in the world) at position 3; Doug Barnes at position 2, rated at 3 goals; and Team Captain Tareq Salahi at position 1, rated at 1 goal - usually plays on grass, and of course some changes to the game are required for playing on snow.

For one thing, the polo ponies are shod with special cleated shoes to provide better traction in the snow, and the ball is larger, lighter, and painted bright red to accommodate winter conditions. The Championship is a four-team elimination tournament comprised of local and international players mounted on Colorado-raised ponies; teams are comprised of three players and play consists of four seven-minute chukkers.



The game played on snow is every bit as dramatic, aristocratic and, of course, expensive as the original. In Aspen, the Land Rover America's Cup Polo Team played a dramatic match against the Roaring Fork Polo Team, scoring the winning goal in the final five seconds. Prizes were presented by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and model Michaele Salahi. The game has now become so popular it has even spread to the Middle East; a tournament was held in Iran in 2006 and it and will be played in Dubai next winter, no doubt on artificially created snow.

The Land Rover America's Polo Cup is the world's most prestigious and largest international televised charity grass polo sporting event. The Land Rover team will take the field at the America's World Cup on May 9th, 2009 at their host club, the Capitol Polo Club in Potomac, Maryland. The first polo match will feature the New York Empires vs. the Washington DC Patriots. The main polo match will be the World Cup, in which team USA will being challenged by Australia in a weekend featuring concerts, fashion shows, military exhibitions and a spectacular fireworks show said to rival the 4th of July.

Luxury yacht brokerage Edmiston has commissioned seven avant-garde marine designers to come up with a nautical-themed take on Land Rover's classic Range Rover. The entry shown here, by self-described "yacht design pioneer" Dickie Bannenberg, features wooden side panels and a tailgate that folds into a nautical-style wooden bench, complete with champagne holders, while the rear windshield converts into a sun visor to shade it. The winner of the design competition will be announced on Sept. 25th during the Monaco Yacht Show, one of the megayacht community's biggest annual events. Visitors to the show will be able to custom order a Range Rover in any of the seven designs, with a delivery time of three to six months and a price range of about $300,000 - $1.2 million.

[via Megayacht News]

2008 is the 60th anniversary of storied British SUV manufacturer Land Rover, and to mark the occasion the company has embarked on a "Choice of Experts" tour showcasing its capabilities. The other day we caught up with them at the historic Astor Courts in Rhinebeck, N.Y, designed by Stanford White as a country retreat for John Jacob Astor IV in 1902. It was the perfect setting for a brand that has come to signify rugged elegance and luxurious rusticity, and while there we got the opportunity to drive a new Range Rover Sport on a hazardous off-road course that showed style and comfort needn't sacrifice anything in the way of practical ability.

We've owned both Land Rovers and Range Rovers over the years, and though these days we don't particularly miss pulling up to the gas pump we certainly pine for them whenever the weather turns particularly nasty or we're called upon to do even the slightest bit of off-roading, so it was something of a treat. Land Rover and especially the Range Rover is the automotive embodiment of a distinctly English aesthetic - regular readers of The Classicist will recognize this as a recurring motif - as portrayed in books like Bernhard Roetzel's British Tradition. The luxe Range Rover was first introduced in 1970, expanding upon the utilitarian Land Rover first designed by the Wilks Brothers in 1948.

The Queen of England drives a Range Rover in the country, and Prince Charles is a longtime enthusiast. His 1978 Range Rover was auctioned off on eBay in 2005. While out for sport in inclement weather he is said to have simply opened a special "huntsman" sunroof, stood on the back seat and poked his Asprey shotgun out to shoot from the comfort of the cabin. We can't say we've ever tried that maneuver and we daresay it isn't the sort of thing encouraged by the company these days. In any case there was unfortunately no shooting to be had at Astor Courts, only demonstrations about cooking and decorating and so forth, but such are the depredations of the modern era.

Sure, it's nice to ogle cars in the 200 mph club, or even the 150 mph club, for that matter. But have you ever considered the costs of insuring such prized possessions?

Forbes has done a little study on the subject for us, and while we're not surprised to find that the pricier the vehicle, the pricier the insurance, we're shocked to see how much it really costs to insure these beasts. Check it out:

That Mercedes S-class you've been hot for? Try in excess of $22,500 per year, and this with just $500 deductibles on collision and comprehensive coverage, $100,000 each for personal and property coverage and $25,000 each for medical and uninsured coverage, according to Forbes. Considering the likely owner of the car will have assets far beyond what's listed there, we're talking a huge chunk of change.

According to Forbes, 20% of the price of luxury cars is a good rule of thumb. That means, however, that someone paying a low lease payment on a car like the Mercedes S-class will likely end up paying more to cover it than the actual monthly payment itself.

Other surprising numbers:

BMW M5 and M6: $18,548
Mercedes G-Class: $17,784
Jaguar XK: $16,154
Land Rover Range Rover: $16,042

The moral of the story? Check with your insurer before committing to buy a lease a car to be sure on overall costs.

[Source: Forbes]

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to combining technology and luxury vehicles is doing it in a way that is user-friendly, because it's about convenience, fun, and safety -- not frustration. These luxury cars can do everything from play your mp3s and DVDs to adjust automatically to treacherous driving conditions and off-road terrain. And perhaps best of all, they look good doing it.

• Audi TT Roadster 3.2 Quattro $44,500
• BMW 335i Sedan $39,675
• Cadillac CTS $32,500
• Ferrari 430 Scuderia
• Infinity G37 $32,000
• Lexus LS600h L $104,765
• Land Rover LR3 $49,300
• Mercedes-Benz C350 Sport $37,275
• Porsche 911 GT2
• Volvo XC70

Ford Motor Company has begun shopping around its Premiere Automotive Group, consisting of Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo and formerly Aston Martin. The news comes as no surprise as rumors floated about indicating Ford's interest in selling pretty much anything in its stable at the right price, though this time around, the rumors are accompanied by news that Ford has retained Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to find a buyer.

Ford reportedly broke off talks with Fiat recently regarding the group, though now it appears that potential suitors include Renault, David Richards (new Aston owner), and David James, who acquired the rights to manufacture a car based on smart roadster components and designs.Rumors also abound regarding BMW's interest in Volvo as it seeks to add a fourth brand to its lineup, supplementing BMW, MINI and Rolls Royce.

[Source: AutoIndustry.co.uk]

Jaguar die-hards scoffed at the X-type when it came out, seeing it as the automaker's attempt to woo drivers with a Cadillac bank account to the high-end brand. Like any automaker's foray into cheaper waters, the volume helped the bottom line for Jaguar, but slumming it may have done damage to the brand. Those die-hards may be in luck -- it seems that the automaker is considering axeing the X-type from its lineup.

Jaguar introduced the X-type in 2001 to attract the typical BMW 3-series owner, but stuffy styling, a Ford platform and quality issues held the model back from breaking the 100,000 unit/year barrier. Despite the drawbacks, the model accounts for as much as 60 percent of Jaguar's sales depending upon the market. As Jaguar plans its future, it may axe the X-type, despite the model's impact upon the automaker's financial success.

The move comes as Jaguar aims to move back upscale to a lower volume, higher profit situation, which it may be pursuing in order to be more attractive to would-be investors should Ford decide to put Jaguar on the bloc k. Instead of the X-type, Jaguar dealers will rely upon the XF, the S-type's replacement, for its sales. More comparable to a 5-series or Mercedes E-class sedan, the XF as the entry level vehicle should move Jaguar back up the ladder perception-wise. Other new models, such as the XK, will also be important as Jaguar seeks to come back from its slump.

[Source: The Age]

While we'd like to think that all of our favorite luxury cars are as reliable as they are desirable, that is not the case. Autoblog just listed the five least reliable luxury cars of the year. The list comes from Forbes and was compiled using data from J.D. Power and Consumer Reports.:

• Land Rover LR3 SUV (pictured is the 2007 model)
• Land Rover Range Rover SUV
• Lincoln Navigator SUV
• Saab 9-3
• Volkswagen Touareg SUV

The only questionable choice on the list is the Volkswagen - is a Touareg really a luxury car? If they had to reach that far down-market, it probably bodes well for some of out favorite wheels in terms of reliability.