You would be mistaken to believe that any performance changes targeted at SUVs would have been made before the release of the Series 1 Range Rover. This Range Rover V210, turbocharged and tweaked by Franz Albert, existed before the Aston Martin DBX 707 and the Lamborghini Urus.

This 1972 Suffix A Range Rover looks to be a perfectly fine, standard example of the vehicle at first glance. Its recently restored Sahara Dust paintwork, which is available with Solihulls, appears to have never seen a grain of sand. But as those with keen eyes would have seen, a “turbocharged” sticker reveals what’s really behind that bonnet.

Here we have a very rare, numbers-matching Range Rover V210, fine-tuned to perfection by the legendary Albert Franz, the man behind many of Willy König’s insane Mercedes and Ferraris. Equipped with an Albert-designed Type 660 turbocharger, Weber 40 dual carburetors, and a specially designed bonnet scoop, this Range Rover generates a robust 210 horsepower and 385 Nm of torque.

All that groaning meant that you could reach an incredibly astounding peak speed of 200 km/h with the correct piece of asphalt and a deliberate disregard for your own safety. While that won’t exactly set any records, it did set the stage for the insanely powerful SUVs of today.

The original owner of this vehicle, Herr Schuh, an Austrian mechanic, had a fondness for racing his modified Range Rover on the Autobahn against Mercedes and Porsches, which led to the engine overheating. This problem was fixed by upgrading the engine with a larger oil cooler, adding an overdrive, and slightly lowering boost pressure. The engine hasn’t had any problems since. Contact Solihull’s if you could picture yourself following in their footsteps.