The Long and
Winding Road

(Road Trip) “There’s a rock just around that bend. Keep to the right.” Who needs satellite navigation when your driving instructor knows every meter of the route by heart? We are winding our way through the hills above Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda and, with views as breathtaking as these, I’m finding it difficult to focus on the road ahead. To one side, the Tyrrhenian Sea glitters in the morning sun, dotted with an armada of super yachts and schooners; on the other, the Monti di Mola mountains rise, with jagged peaks that would not look out of place on Mars.

Daniel, the instructor assigned to the Range Rover I am driving, has completed this stretch of the coast countless times, but gamely indulges my oohs and aahs as another epic landscape sweeps into view. At times, the roads we are barreling down are barely more than goat trails and reception is spotty at best, which only amplifies my sense of adventure. In conditions such as these, my instinct—somewhat counterintuitively—is to throw caution to the wind and really let loose, but thankfully Daniel never loses his grip on common sense. “Last week a lady blew a tire right here,” he mentions seemingly offhandedly as I careen around a corner. Point taken.

Throughout the day’s drive, ascents that seemed impossible turn out to be child’s play. To the untrained eye—mine first and foremost—the Range Rover I’ve been graciously lent for the day is very much what you’ve come to expect: capable, dependable, completely in its element in this rocky terrain, and staggeringly good-looking to boot. The kicker? It’s electric. Fully.

SENSORY OVERLOAD
My first encounter with the new Electric comes the day before the road trip, at the Range Rover Bespoke Studio on the Promenade du Port in Porto Cervo. For all its glamour, there is nothing flashy about this place (with the exception of one or two boats in the marina); there’s an earthy solidity to the architecture, in keeping with the Aga Khan’s 1960’s vision for his made-to-measure utopia—and with Range Rover’s MO. Perhaps that is one of the reasons the company decided on a seasonal atelier here (open until September 30th), designed and curated by the Italian design house Molteni&C. Among the highlights is the fabled “one-of-one” Range Rover Bespoke Pearl of Tay. As an example of the craftsmanship on offer for those who have the opportunity to order a custom vehicle, the Pearl of Tay emits a siren call, luring clients straight to the commissioning suite, where design experts offer eye-popping displays of every conceivable material, finish, and paint color—talk about feeling like a kid in a candy shop… Prominently on display is the new Range Rover logo, comprised of two interlocking capital Rs.

The Pearl of Tay itself—the name a nod to the treasures to be found in days of yore in the waters of Scotland’s River Tay—is upholstered in Tyrian Purple, a new addition to Range Rover’s palette. Audiophiles will rejoice at the 21 lightweight, millimeter-thin electrostatic audio panels by Warwick Acoustics, which together with the Body and Soul Seats and Sensory Floor (a world-first), provide an immersive full‑body audio environment—one which had me initially a little unsettled by the novelty of the sensation, then melting into a state of bliss and relaxation. I can understand why some prefer to travel as passengers. For me, however, the fun, the magic of Range Rover, lies behind the wheel.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK
That playful spirit is in full effect the next day as I take my place behind the steering wheel of the Range Rover Electric for the first time. The car seems massive from the outside, and for a second I wonder how I’ll be able to maneuver it down the narrow country lanes. Yet once inside, it feels surprisingly compact, snug almost, and as I make my way down the winding driveway, extremely zippy (to use a technical term I’m sure Range Rover will be thrilled with).

Daniel is there to chaperone me, and while I usually prefer to drive in silence, lost in thought, his banter soon has me cracking up. He is not just there for my amusement, however, but for my safety. As the asphalt peters out and dust clouds billow all around us, one false move and we’re in the scrub—or off a cliff. Range Rover’s All Wheel Steering means hairpin turns are taken in one, and the vehicle feels firmly, reassuringly attached to the road at all times. That kind of assurance can quickly lead to cockiness, and Daniel is there to ensure I don’t go off the literal rails. His expertise shifts into top gear as we weave through the active Lu Patenti quarry, up rough-hewn ramps to the top of Mount Mazzolu.

“Two centimeters to your left,” he suggests. “Easy now by this ledge.”

In addition to Daniel’s sound advice, I am aided by the ClearSight Ground View display, which shows the ground below on a touchscreen and our wheels crunching along just shy of a ledge. My exhilaration is total; I feel like a protagonist in The Wages of Fear. From the summit, a landscape of gullies, crags, and gigantic boulders inconceivably perched one atop another extends toward the horizon. Apart from the quarry machinery and a scattering of modern buildings in the distance, it’s safe to say not much has changed since the Nuragic tribes lived on this land in the Bronze and Iron ages. Two eagles circle meaningfully overhead. For all the trimmings, all the technology, it is this kind of experience that drives home the sheer indispensability of Range Rover.