In August 1996 we printed our first ever images of the Land Rover Freelander, then known as the Highlander.
Codenamed CB40, it was billed as “the first Land Rover to be engineered like a regular car, with a unitary monocoque construction and not the separate chassis and body of the Range Rover, Discovery and Defender”.
There was no sign of the beam axles partly responsible for the offroad ability of the Discovery and Defender, the saving in unsprung weight yielded a much better ride.
Another example of on-road manners being prioritised was the steering. The sensitive rack-and-pinion set-up was an unwelcome hindrance off road but expected to “make for good feel” on Tarmac. In regards to its immediate rivals, we were told by an insider that it had the measure of the contemporary Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4.
The majority of our predictions in regards to the car’s appearance and engine size would turn out to be accurate. The CB40 underwent a slight name change, going on sale in 1997 as the Land Rover Freelander, but its shape was broadly similar to that of the prototype we had spied. It was equipped with 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre four-pot petrol and diesel engines and front-wheel drive.
The Freelander remained in production for nine years, with more than 540,000 being sold before it was replaced in 2006.
Limey beats the Yank