What does a Range Rover have in common with the SS United States?
Proving once again that America's Flagship has the enduring ability to inspire, one car reviewer turned an article about a test drive into a paean to the Big U.
Photo courtesy of Mike Zecchino
Here's what The Drive's Will Sabel Courtney wrote in his piece entitled "The 2017 Land Rover Range Rover HSE Is a Road-Going Ocean Liner":
On my way back from D.C., I drove the Range Rover through Philly to try and line up a photo of it with the SS United States—the derelict ocean liner that lies moored there until someone can find a better home for it.
The United States and the latest Range Rover, odd as it may seem, have a lot in common. Both are made in large part from aluminum, in order to save weight without sacrificing strength. Both can draw connections to the military; Land Rovers have served with the British armed forces, as well as other armies around the globe, for decades; the United States was designed to be pressed into service as a troop transport in the event that World War III broke out (and didn’t wind up being over in half an hour). Both are faster than you'd expect; the United States holds the Blue Riband, the speed record for fastest ocean-going passenger vessel to cross the Atlantic, while the Range Rover can blast from 0 to 60 miles per hour in seven seconds or less. (Exact figures are hard to come by for the HSE; the Land Rover website only lists a 7.1 second run for the lesser, 340-hp version.)
And just to cap it off, my test car happened to share the United States’s black-and-white livery. How 'bout dem apples, as they say.
Does America's Flagship inspire you, too? Visit our GoFundMe page and support the WE ARE THE UNITED STATES campaign today!
