The 1992 Range Rover Ascot, Windsor and Brooklands limited editions all featured TWR bodykits, or ‘Brooklands bumpers’ as they are now known. This is their story.

The Range Rover Windsor you see in the image above was a Dutch market only limited edition, based on the UK market ‘Range Rover in Brooklands Green’. Both models were anounced in June 1992, supposedly to get rid of a stock of TWR bodykits Solihull had lying around. The Germans were first though, with their September 1991 announcement of their Range Rover Ascot.

Bumpers with racing pedigree
According to the excellent Range Rover, The Complete Story by James Taylor and Nick Dimbleby, Tom Walkinshaw Racing designed a special GRP bodykit for the Range Rover. It consisted of a front and rear bumper, special sills and a roof spoiler. Land Rover tought the spoiler was a bit too much, but ordered a batch of bumpers and sills, which they offered as an (1.250 GBP) factory fit option.
They soon found out there weren’t many takers for the bodykit, so in order to get rid of them Land Rover fitted these kits to a few limited editions. It was the early nineties, the original Range Rover was at the end of its lifecycle and Land Rover hoped these special versions would renew interest.

Range Rover Ascot
The first TWR bodystyle kitted out Range Rover was the German market Range Rover Ascot, first shown in a September 1991 ‘Sondermodelle’ (Special models) brochure alongside the Range Rover Westminster (a 1991 special with chrome bumpers) with small print stating the Ascot would be available from Spring 92.

The Range Rover shown in the brochure was an Ardennes green Vogue SE with colour coded ‘Vogue’ wheels. Close inspection reveals it was a RHD vehicle, sporting a pre-Photoshop fake German numberplate. When the production version of the Range Rover Ascot arrived at the dealers in 1992 however, it was Beluga Black with Winchester (grey) leather. The wheels (RTC9526) were not colour coded, but silver and had a different design.

Range Rover in Brooklands Green

1992 also saw the introduction of the ‘Range Rover in Brooklands Green’ (yes, that was what is called). ‘A sporting classic’ according to the sales brochure, with photographs taken on a circuit (not Brooklands!) instead of in front of a castle or at a horse show. ‘This special edition Range Rover is true to its heritage, but it offers a fresh perspective on the classic Range Rover. It offers the toughness and elegance associated with the Range Rover’s unrivalled all-round performance and timeless style – plus a sporty new profile, with front and rear spoilers, side-sills and five-spoke gunmetal-grey alloy wheels.’ They were not sporty at all, but found 150 buyers anyway for a 31.500 GBP price.

According to James Taylor’s Range Rover, The Complete Story, sixty-five ‘Brookslands’ examples found their way to Switzerland. LHD ofcourse, with identical specification to the UK market version, but the Swiss cars had a ‘Brooklands’ decal on the wing. Taylor also states in the book the Brooklands was sold in the Netherlands. This is partly true, as the Dutch ‘Brooklands’ was actually named ‘Windsor, and had slightly different spec.

Range Rover Windsor

In June 1992 Land Rover Netherlands presented the Range Rover Windsor in a press letter and a four page sales brochure. It was nearly identical to the Range Rover in Brooklands Green, but the Dutch distributor specified silver wheels, like the German Range Rover Ascot. The Windsor had Connolly leather in Sorrell instead of Winchester (grey) cloth upholstery on the UK and Brogue (light brown) cloth Swiss version.
Where the UK Range Rover Brooklands in Green was marketed as a ‘sporty’ vehicle, the Windsor was to have an air of ‘nobility’. It was named after the British royal family, the images for the brochure were taken outside an un-Windsor like minicastle and the marketing pay-off was ‘a royal accomadation’

Price on introduction in June 1992 was 149.450 Dutch guilders (67.000 euro’s). After one and a half year Windsors were still sitting on dealer forecourts, as a Range Rover pricelist from January 1st 1994 shows a pricedrop to 134.900 guilders (61.300 euro’s), where a ‘standard’ 3.9i Vogue automatic was 119.000 guilders.

TWR bodykit as an option
From 1992 upwards the TWR ‘body styling’ pieces could be ordered separately for new cars, or as a retrofit to existing Range Rovers and needed ‘specialist installation by a Land Rover dealer’.

Part numbers and prices (as of April 1993) were:
BTR4573P – Front Spoiler, primer GBP 367,-
BTR4574P – Rear Apron, primer GBP 377,-
BTR4575P – Sill Mouling, LH GBP 178,-
BTR4576P – Sill Mouling, RH GBP 178,-

Nowadays the ‘Brooklands bumpers’, which was never their official name, are very sought after. To find a good set is rare, since time is not very kind to GRP, but brand new reproductions of these once difficult-to-shift bumpers and sills are now being offered at around 750 GPB.

Ronald Janus
De Autoboerderij