・Autobiography Sport spec, with all the trimmings

・Very low mileage

・Beautiful condition inside and out

・Light tune to take it to 545bhp 

In early 2004, Land Rover launched a pivotal concept car by the name of the “Range Stormer” which tied Range Rover styling to a lower-slung gullwing 3 door coupe shape. It went down (pun intended) a storm, and in 2005 the production model that it was intended to preview, the Range Rover Sport, was launched. Actually based on the underpinnings of the Land Rover Discovery rather than those of its bigger brother with which it shares its branding, the Sport came with a more conventional 5 door set up and, although it was obviously a more road-biased offering, it still possessed off road capabilities that most of its competitors could only dream of with its Terrain Response system. 

The majority of the sales were the turbodiesel version but a full fat V8 option was available from the outset, underlining the more sporting intent. 2010 saw the introduction of the 5 litre supercharged version which, with just shy of 500bhp, was good for 0-60 in 5.9 seconds. Mirroring the naming convention of the larger Range Rover, the spec levels included ‘Autobiography’, which was intended to appeal to the most wealthy customers with very high levels of standard equipment and a luxurious interior. Even by today’s standards, it has a very upmarket feel and with depreciation having taken the sting out of the price, a Range Rover Sport Autobiography looks like great value.

The vendor is the second owner with the first having reportedly been a wealthy lady in her eighties who owned a collection of classic sports cars but chose to be chauffeur-driven in her Range Rover. She upgraded to the latest model in 2019 when the vendor acquired the car. Initially the car had always been back to the main dealer for servicing, moving to independents from 2017.  The current owner, deciding to add a little spice, took it to be tuned at Viezu where a dyno print out confirms that it was successfully tuned to 545bhp with 565lbft of torque. Since then it has been completely reliable and was sent to a local independent specialist for servicing, with the most recent Inspection 2 service having been completed in April 2021. Having enjoyed the car, mostly on long journeys, the owner finds himself with the familiar-to-many-of-us problem of too many cars on the drive and is offering the car for sale.

The original manuals are present with both keys and a fully stamped service book. There are invoices for the tuning and all of the servicing work completed in the current ownership and the MOT is valid to 5 March 2022.

From the moment you open the door and witness the “Autobiography Sport” script next to the door handle, it’s clear that the spec of this Range Rover is a cut above. The two-tone black and leather seats have contrasting cream stitching on the black which is matched on the door panels and gives the interior a more bespoke feel. The condition throughout is immaculate. Only some scuffing to the door plates and light wear to the driver’s seat show any signs of real use. The leather-covered dashboard is unmarked, the cream-edged deep carpet mats all in good condition and the headlining unmarked. 

All the buttons – and there are plenty to choose from – work as intended. Aside from the Terrain control system, the generous spec includes electric heated front seats, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, parking sensors front and rear with rear camera, an 11 speaker Harmon Kardon Logic7 surround system, integrated Bluetooth phone, voice activation, sunroof, and, most outrageously of all, a fridge in the cubby between the front seats. Though not large enough to accommodate a full-size bottle of champagne, it is apparently just right for a four-pack of beer.

Although now ‘old’ in terms of the frightening pace of technological progress, the sat nav remains usable. Moving to the rear, the boot is also very clean and tidy and houses the original, unused, toolkit below the floor and the rear seats are split folding. Overall, it’s a massive specification and only showing light signs of use.

For all it’s high spec, the appearance of the Autobiography is actually quite subtle, particularly in a dark colour and with the standard wheels.

The Santorini Black paintwork contains a metallic fleck which sparkles in the sunlight and presents very well, adorning bodywork which is all straight and with tight panel gaps. There is a small mark to the offside rear door which is shown in the photographs but it’s not noticeable unless pointed out and the wheels are in good condition with only light kerbing to a couple. LED lights nestle behind unmarked lenses, front and rear, and this example is notable for not having the side steps fitted which, it has to be said, make no difference to the ease of entry and exit on a RR Sport, having been designed more with the Discovery in mind (not that it stopped them being a popular addition). The private plate which is currently on the car and which has been obscured in the photos will be removed prior to sale and the original plate reinstated.

Underneath there appears to be only light surface corrosion and the powered tailgate functions exactly as it should, including the anti-trap detection which we accidentally tested during the photo shoot and can confirm does not squash your arm when reaching under a closing boot to retrieve the pen you just dropped.

In common with many modern cars, opening the bonnet isn’t terribly revealing, concealed by plastic covers as most of it is. However, when you press the start button there’s little doubt as to which engine is there as it fires up with the unmistakable growl of a V8. It pulls as strongly as the numbers suggest while the massive Brembo brakes provide huge stopping power. On the road it drives exactly as it should with no untoward noises, a smooth gear change and a lovely exhaust note.

The Range Rover Sport has been a popular car since its launch and with good reason. It provides the best on-road drive of all the Land Rover models, while sacrificing little in terms of off-road ability. The V8 models, in particular, combine a high driving position with a meaty soundtrack and plenty of shove to great effect. Especially in the luxury Autobiography Sport trim, it really is a cake-and-eat-it kind of car.

The model’s popularity means that there are plenty on the market to choose from across a range of prices. But these were, let’s not forget, expensive cars from new – back in 2013, this one would have set you back over £75k. Today’s prices really look like great value but you will struggle to find one with so few miles and such high specs as this one. Add in a light tune that takes the power output up to be in line with the later SVR version and it’s very tempting indeed.