Modified
The electric wizards at Lunaz work their magic on the original Rangie, creating a Bond-spec drop-top we can’t stop thinking about
It was only a year ago that Lunaz announced it was turning its hand to classic Range Rovers. But we get the feeling that we’re looking at… well, a pair of gorgeous Rangies, obviously, but also what might be what Lunaz will be known for from now on.
We don’t come by this assessment lightly, either – electrifying Range Rovers clearly working out for Lunaz, which has hired another 250 staffers to deal with the demand for Rovers (for any Americans reading) that don’t pollute and, unusually enough, do actually work. It’s apparently 45 per cent of the workload at the Silverstone facility these days, which is immediately explained when you look at the finished product.
Lunaz splits its reimagined Rangies into two configurations: Town, which is all about cabin comforts, and Country, which apparently enables “better-than-new off-roading capability”. Even so, buyers still favour the Town configuration seven times out of ten, which honestly does make sense, given how most people use even brand-new Range Rovers.
As befits a bespoke build, everything is tailored to the individual customer. In some cases, that’s “integrating vintage clothing into the vehicle’s fabric palette”, adding that Starlink satellite internet thing by SpaceX or using recycled ocean plastics for switches and seat coverings. One client also apparently asked for “an NFT casting screen”, which is apparently an environmentally friendly thing after Ethereum blockchain reduced its energy consumption by 99.95 per cent in something called ‘The Merge’. And if you do understand everything we’ve just said, feel free to explain it to us sometime.
Something we’re much more au fait with is the restoration process. Each Range Rover gets stripped to bare metal, reinforced with box-section steel and fitted with an all-wheel-drive, all-electric powertrain that’s good for 360bhp and 450lb ft. That’s subject to customer preference as well but, even in standard trim, easily outdoes the V8 the original article came with.
Given the extra power on tap, it’s hardly surprising that Lunaz removes the old suspension in its entirety, right down to bushes and linkages, before fitting adjustable long-travel coilovers. The brakes are also upgraded, with regenerative braking from the motors aided by six-pot calipers up front and four-pots in the rear.
From there, it really is buyer’s choice: the LWB you see here gets a classic, timeless aesthetic woven from walnut, wool and leather. As minimalist as it may seem, it still manages to house a 1,300-watt stereo, wireless charging, watch winder and various drinks heating and cooling devices. We’re guessing the centre console is like Hermione’s beaded bag to fit it all, but we’ll have to report back when we know more.
And if we’d only seen the LWB hard-top, we’d have lusted after it alone. But Lunaz is also building an Octopussy-spec drop-top, and now all bets are off. From the weatherproofed walnut flooring and floating dash to the Land Rover Series-spec bench seats and baby blue colour palette, it’s one of just a handful of times we can remember where a we’ve seen a customer’s bespoke restomod and just thought, ‘Yep, one exactly like that for us, please’.
As you’d expect, given the lack of a roof and other fairly crucial pillars and so on, there’s quite a bit of extra bracing to ensure the whole thing doesn’t fold like a poker player. This, we presume, is achieved through the use of quite a bit of steel and more triangles than an Illuminati Christmas party.
Speaking of, now might be a good idea to work on your secret handshake – Lunaz-restored Range Rovers start at £245,000. And that’s before tax. In any case, that sort of money still feels entirely worth it; if you just take into account the 30,000 hours a regular conversion takes, that works out to paying less than £8.50 per hour. And you get an entire electric Range Rover thrown in. Sounds like a proper bargain, if you think about it.
Especially when we think Lunaz has already absolutely nailed not just the finished product, but the formula, too – taking all that made yesteryear’s Range Rovers great and ensuring that a select few (or indeed 45 per cent of its customers) can enjoy it wherever they want, for years to come. Not a bad effort for a year’s work.
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Keyword: Lunaz reveals electrified classic Range Rover convertible