Range Rover has opened its first Bespoke Commissioning Suite in Australia, and it wants buyers to treat specifying their next car more like a long weekend than a dealership visit.
The atelier sits inside JLR Australia’s headquarters in Mascot, Sydney, and DMARGE got a look through it the day before it officially opened on 28 October.
The suite is open to buyers of Range Rover and Range Rover Sport Autobiography and SV models. Working with Range Rover’s design team, clients can specify custom paint, hand-selected leathers, bespoke veneers, embroidery, contrast stitching, precious metal accents and personalised insignia.
The part that sets it apart is the hotel. Every commission comes with a two-night stay at Capella Sydney, access to the hotel’s Culturists to plan the rest of your time in town, and Range Rover transfers between the hotel and the suite for your appointment.
It’s a smart pairing. Capella’s whole pitch is hyper-personalised service in a heritage building, which is more or less what Range Rover is trying to sell with its Bespoke program, just with a 4.4-litre V8 attached.
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To mark the opening, Range Rover rolled out two cars side by side. The first is the very first Range Rover to arrive in Australia, a Davos White demonstrator, serial number 35600022A, that landed in early 1970, two years ahead of the model’s official local launch in 1972.
Remarkably, it still wears its original patina. Head of Range Rover Australia Tom Anderson told GoAuto the company tracked the car down, rented it and then bought it, using the owner’s detailed history of the car as the starting point for what came next.
What came next is the Range Rover SV Bespoke Pioneer 1972, a one-of-one commission built to show what the new suite can do. Where the original’s Davos White was named for the Swiss Alps, the Pioneer takes its cue from the light and shadow of Mount Kosciuszko.
That translates to a custom Bespoke White Gloss with fine metallic flake meant to mimic shimmering snow, set against Gloss Black mirror caps and 23-inch Oblivion Diamond Turned wheels with a Gloss Dark Grey contrast.
Inside, it’s Caraway and Ebony leather with Natural Black Birch veneer and Satin Black ceramic controls. The seat embroidery and scatter cushions use a Perlino and Caraway stitch inspired by Kosciuszko’s snow-capped peaks, and the illuminated treadplates read “Pioneer 1972 One of One”.
Under the bonnet is the SV’s 4.4-litre twin-turbo mild-hybrid V8, making 452kW. It’s the same engine Range Rover has promised to keep alive even as it goes electric.
JLR Australia managing director Penny Ferguson called the opening “a significant milestone for Range Rover in Australia”. She said the Pioneer is meant to honour the first car while showing off what the SV Bespoke team can do today.
What nobody is talking about yet is money. JLR hasn’t published pricing for Bespoke commissions, and it hasn’t said whether the Pioneer 1972 will be offered for sale. Buyers who want to find out are being directed to their local Range Rover retailer to book a private consultation.
Range Rover’s SV Bespoke program has long centred on its commissioning suite in the UK, near the brand’s Midlands design headquarters. Having a physical studio in Sydney brings it closer to the in-person experience buyers expect at this end of the market, and as Chinese EVs keep beating the Europeans on paper, feel and personal touch are becoming the luxury brands’ best defence.
