The agreement is not the beginning of an all-new relationship between the two companies. Instead, it merely turns a decades-old informal collaboration into an official partnership.
The first SUV to wear a "Powered by Land Rover" sticker will coincidentally be Bowler's first-ever road-going model. Dubbed EXR S, it is scheduled to make its worldwide debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed that will take place in England next week.
The EXR S is powered by a remapped version of the Range Rover Sport's supercharged 5.0 liter V8 engine. It churns out 550 horsepower and 460 lb-ft. of torque, enough to propel the 4,000-pound SUV from zero to 62 mph in a brisk 4.2 seconds. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 miles per hour.
The engine is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that features shift paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. Power is sent to all four wheels.
On the outside, the EXR S looks like a two-door variant of the Range Rover, a model that hasn't been offered by the British company for a very long time. Under the skin the EXR S is much more than that and it rides on a race-bred hydroformed chassis.
After debuting at the English event, the EXR S will be offered to the general public for £155,000 before taxes are factored in, a sum which converts to approximately $242,000.
