Range Rover fans may have seen, driven and helped to fix up many a vehicle down the years, but while the name of the brand remains the same, there is no doubt it has come a long way since its earliest days.

Understanding this may inform your decision when you are looking for things like used Range Rover engines to power a restored vehicle, as well as other desirable features and elements that highlight the heritage of Range Rover.

Land Rovers date back to the 1940s, but the First Range Rover appeared in June 1970. The prototype had been designed by Rover in 1966, with production starting in 1969, and the following year brought the formal launch and then the start of sales.

Compared with Land Rovers, which were then functional vehicles, the Range Rover offered a departure towards what Auto Express called a “more civilised and road-biased” vehicle than Land Rovers. 

While this marked the start of a diversification of what a Land Rover could be, Auto Express noted that this was a limited ambition, which “wasn’t to make something opulent,” but to produce something a bit better than a vehicle used for sheep herding. This, however, was to change over time.

How Have Range Rovers Developed Since 1970?

That today’s Range Rovers are indeed about opulence and luxury is not in doubt. Reviewing the 2025 model, Autocar described Range Rover as the “world’s best-known luxury off-roader”.

Does this mean Range Rover just got ambitious on the interior comforts front? That is certainly part of the equation and may be a focus of your restoration job, too, but the wider design is just as important. The Autocar review noted a key feature was the “monolithic exterior” of this, the final iteration of the L460, as well as its hybrid engine.

Between 1970 and the emergence of hybrids, however, Range Rover engine developments have all been about the V8. In 1970, the engine was a 3.5 litre V8 with 126 ps of horsepower, with this model lasting until 1988. Since then, the power has increased, but the V8 has remained central.

This means that various Range Rovers have advanced in luxury and aesthetics, but when it comes to the engine you may put in a restoration, unless you are going for a very modern hybrid, it will always be some form of V8.