The Range Rover Hunter concept by Oliver Cattell-Ford is, by his own admission, “a Range Rover that shouts”. Cattell contends it is a “no compromise supercar” imagined for the prestigious British brand. Yet, with its ability to transform from sleek road-hugging supercar to capable off-road adventure mobile, the car looks as if it was designed to cater to users in the wealthy United Arab Emirates.
The supercar is able to undergo its dramatic transformation courtesy of a rising suspension, which comprises 120mm of adjustable, pneumatically controlled travel. This allows the vehicle to rise up, offering familiar Range Rover ground clearance and staying true to the Land Rover luxury brand’s go-anywhere ethos.
When in sleek supercar guise, a race mode ensures the suspension plants the vehicle to the road for a true feeling of speed and a pure supercar driving experience. The lightweight wheel housings move individually of the body, allowing it to retain a balanced visual aesthetic in off- and on-road configurations.
“The styling and design features evolve the Range Rover design language onto a completely different platform,” enthuses Cattell. He cites that his biggest challenge was to create a hood that was high enough to retain Land Rover’s design cues yet sleek enough to enable it to achieve the aerodynamic performance required of a supercar. He sought to conceive this by creating a high hood graphic, which is realized without negative effects on downforce by allowing the car’s front intakes to stream air over the steeply raked hood, thereby creating downforce over the front of the vehicle.
At the rear, active aero ‘feathers’ — independent rear wings that pivot creating downforce over rear wheels for cornering stability and traction — were inspired by Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship 2 feathering system. The ‘feathers’ can also feature as airbrakes when in a stalled position.
The Range Rover Hunter concept sources power from a hybrid drivetrain. The rear wheels are powered by a 2.0-liter, turbocharged Ingenium engine augmented by four electric motors (one at each wheel), which generates 200bhp at each wheel to return a combined 1000bhp.
