Kingsley Range Rover KSR review: the best 4×4 so far?
Out goes the low-range gearbox, in come cupholders and CarPlay. Luxury SUV customers – the kind of folk who might buy a Bentley Bentayga or Rolls-Royce Cullinan – know what their priorities are. “People don’t take these vehicles off-road,” explains Martin Gisborne, sales director at Kingsley Re-Engineered. “They will do most of their miles in London or the Cotswolds.”
Collecting the Range Rover KSR from Kingsley HQ just outside Oxford, I briefly toy with the idea of heading back down the M40 and A40 into central London. Then I remember the ULEZ, the Congestion Charge, the bus lanes, the roadworks and the grinding misery of it all. A trip to the Cotswolds it is.
At first glance, Kingsley’s KSR demonstrator looks little different to how it rolled off the Solihull assembly line in 1990. Only when you climb inside and twist the weighty, billet aluminium key do you start to understand why this Range Rover takes 2,500 hours to (re)build and costs £264,000 (including VAT and a donor car). So, does the ‘Kingsley Superior Restomod’ live up to its name?
Reinventing the Range Rover
Kingsley Re-Engineered has been in business since 2001, during which time it has restored more than 500 classic Land Rovers. However, while other specialists such as Twisted Automotive, Arkonik and Land Rover’s official Classic Works division focus primarily on the Defender, Kingsley is best known for reinventing the original Range Rover.
On sale between 1970 and 1996, the Range Rover Classic – as it later became known – is widely credited with popularising the now-ubiquitous Sport Utility Vehicle. What started life as a utilitarian workhorse with vinyl seats and rubber floor mats gradually evolved into a high-riding luxury car with Connolly leather and deep-pile carpets.
The KSR takes this process several steps further – including beyond the Kingsley KR model I drove in 2021. That car smoothed off the Range Rover’s rough edges with a fuel-injected engine, better brakes and plusher trim. Now Kingsley has gone all-out, with adaptive suspension and an entirely new interior. Ambitiously, it aims to do for this British 4×4 what Singer Vehicle Design did for a certain German sports car.
A Classic class act
Unlike many of today’s blocky, overtly aggressive SUVs, there is an understated elegance about the original Range Rover. David Bache’s clean-cut design appears as fresh today as when the first ‘Velar’ prototypes emerged in 1967. In a very British combination of Brewster Green with Chestnut leather trim, it looks fabulous.
Get closer and there are subtle clues this Range Rover isn’t factory-spec: the deep, mirror-like paint finish, for starters. Look closely and you’ll also spot brighter LED headlamps, extended rubber door seals (to reduce wind noise), alloy wheels from a late-model Defender and ‘Kingsley’ lettering on the bonnet and horizontally split tailgate.
A 4.6-litre Rover V8 with all-new internals develops 270hp, bolstered by 310lb ft of torque from 3,500rpm. Although there is no low range (the transfer case is still present, but with the lever removed), drive still goes to all four wheels via a four-speed automatic gearbox. For a few dollars more, Kingsley can even shoehorn in a Chevrolet LS3 or LT1 V8 crate engine, combined with a six-speed manual gearbox.
Keeping it all on the road are upgraded brakes, now with ABS to prevent the wheels locking up, and new adaptive dampers from TracTive. The suspension of choice for many high-end restomods – including the Porsche 911s built by Theon Design and Paul Stephens AutoArt – these offer five settings for stiffness. They are adjusted via a rotary switch on the centre console, which is designed to resemble the Terrain Response dial in newer Land Rovers.
Inside the Kingsley Range Rover KSR
That brings us to what truly sets the KSR apart from other Range Rovers: its bespoke interior. The entire dashboard is actually new: similar in layout to earlier ‘hard dash’ models, but reshaped to allow for better ergonomics and smoother stitching. The finish is exemplary.
The instrument panel is now digital, while the redesigned centre console incorporates a touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity. There are also USB and USB-C charging sockets, plus new slider controls and larger vents for the modern air-con system. “A massive foible with the original cars is ventilation,” explains Gisborne. “Our upgrades mean the KSR will demist properly on a damp morning.”
Kingsley chose Recaro Expert M front seats, as their relatively flat squabs make it easier to clamber in and out. Bottom heaters are optional. The whole cabin is trimmed in a blend of buttery-soft leather and retro ‘Black Watch’ tartan, with sturdy box-weave carpets underfoot. Tall windows and slim pillars make it feel delightfully open and airy, despite the Classic’s modest exterior dimensions (its footprint is smaller than a new Range Rover Evoque). Only the three-spoke Nardi steering wheel jars a little; it looks like it belongs on a sports car, not an SUV.
A smooth operator
The big-chested V8 fires up with a lusty roar, then I slot the T-shaped shifter into ‘D’ and rumble past the busy Kingsley Cafe: a venue that hosts regular Cars and Coffee gatherings for local enthusiasts. No doubt the Range Rover would fit right in.
This isn’t a fast car by 2025 standards – Kingsley quotes 0-60mph in 9.8 seconds and a top speed slightly north of 120mph – but it gathers pace briskly, the slurring auto ’box making for smooth and relaxed progress. Would you really want a manual?
Much as I love the woofle of a Rover V8, if this were my KSR, I’d swap the sports exhaust for Kingsley’s quieter option. The steady, rather atonal blare from the twin tailpipes gets wearing after a while, and detracts from the car’s aristocratic character. Attention-seekers should buy a Range Rover Sport SVR instead.
With relatively slow and weighty steering, the KSR still requires some management on a twisty road. However, where the standard car wallows and floats, this model has much tauter body control. Stability under braking is particularly improved (“the Classic’s engine and transmission are positioned slightly off-centre, so they can get a bit squirmy”, notes Gisborne), backed up by the new ABS system. The trade-off is a firmer ride, especially at low speeds, although this can be mitigated to some extent by slackening off the TracTive dampers.
Verdict: Kingsley Range Rover KSR
In a world where a flagship Range Rover SV costs £178,290, and a fully loaded Mercedes G-Class will set you back £208,375, perhaps paying a quarter-mill for a reimagined Rangie seems less outlandish. I’d certainly rather be seen driving one than a brash Bentayga or unsightly Cullinan.
And perhaps that’s the point. The Range Rover can’t compete with 21st century super-SUVs in objective terms, even with Kingsley’s well-judged refinements, but its appeal defies logic. For my money – if I had the money – it’s one of only a handful of SUVs that can be considered cool.
Like any restomod, the KSR also offers huge scope for customisation, so you can truly make it your own. Check out the Kingsley configurator and say goodbye to your lunch break: the possibilities are almost endless. They include three- or five-door body styles, some very 1970s paint colours and 48 different wood veneer options, plus more shades of tartan than an Edinburgh souvenir shop. The waiting list already stretches to 18 months, though, so don’t be too long making up your mind.
Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Research
Kingsley Range Rover KSR
PRICE: £264,000
POWER: 270hp
TORQUE: 310lb ft
0-62MPH: 9.8 seconds
TOP SPEED: 120mph+