Range Rover pulling power endures still

Range Rover Sport. Photo / Supplied

Car enthusiasts in Britain have picked the four-wheel-drive Range Rover as their car of the decade.

Monthly magazine Autocar nominated 17 cars launched since 2000 and asked readers to choose a winner.

More than 20 per cent of respondents chose the third-generation Range Rover, casting around 7500 votes in its favour. The luxury off-roader was launched in 2001.

"The Range Rover is a fine choice for car of the decade," said the magazine's editor Chas Hallett.

"Most polls like this have results skewed towards the latter end of their timescale, but not this one.

"That the Range Rover was launched nine years ago yet remains a benchmark speaks volumes for the brilliance of its design - and for the taste of the people who voted for it."

The Range Rover saw off strong showings from the MkII Lotus Elise, which took second place with 12.5 per cent of the vote, and the Bugatti Veyron and Nissan GT-R, which finished joint third.

Associate editor Hilton Holloway also championed the Range Rover. "It defined a new type of luxury - technically sophisticated, beautifully detailed, modern and yet retrospective," he said.

"It was an overwhelming presence, but in way that the majority could admire."

Other placings went to the Lotus Elise-based Vauxhall VX220, Ford Focus, Audi R8, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tata Nano and MkII Toyota Prius.

Top 10

1 Range Rover
2 Lotus Elise Mk2
3 Bugatti Veyron and Nissan GT-R
5 Vauxhall VX220
6 Toyota Prius Mk2
7 Tata Nano
8 Mini Cooper
9 Ford Focus
10 Jaguar XF