With all the excitement around the Discovery’s 25 years, plus the news of the new Concept vehicle (see page 22) pointing the way to the new Discovery ‘range’ in the future, it would be easy to forget the trusty Freelander. Not so it seems, as Jaguar Land Rover has just announced the new Metropolis model, introduced as ‘the most luxurious Freelander yet’. It is based on the HSE LUX model but has (appropriately enough!) Windsor leather, electronically adjustable seats, panoramic sunroof, xenon headlights, reversing camera and 19inch alloy wheels. The Metropolis is top of the Freelander range, but there are also new SE and SE Tech models for the 2015 model range; the SE being the entry level model. The SE Tech has the excellent 380W Meridian audio system, touchscreen-controlled navigation, automatic headlights and 19inch alloys. The new 2015 Freelander model range is available from dealers now, with a starting price of £27,765 for the SE manual, up to £35,995 for the Metropolis SD4 automatic. This magazine will be running a Metropolis in our Long Term fleet, starting next month. This is actually the first time that the magazine has had a present day Land Rover in its fleet, so we are looking forward to reporting just how we get on with it. Of course, if we need to get an understanding as to what it’s like to live with a latest Freelander, we could ask Princess Anne, since we spotted her very smart black version at Windsor. If it’s good enough for her, it should be OK for this magazine, don’t you think!
