Painting trucks and coming up with a new scheme, design, and color array for every custom vehicle is not something most of us have the talent to do. Add in the ability to know what colors to mix and create a spectrum of hues that nobody could possibly identify, and you have one crazy mess of colors. Standard solids are barley scratching the surface of what painters are squirting on vehicles nowadays. Troy Lee Designs (TLD) turns out many killer helmets over the course of a year, but it's the multi-colored rides TLD paints each year we look forward to seeing. One such awesome creation is this Range Rover Sport. It is covered in a range of candies that most would have no idea how to spray down.
Range Rover USA has been lounging in the spotlight of increasing sales, due to the company finally expanding its vehicle base to appeal to a wider array of customers. One of the more entertaining SUVs in its lineup is this '06 Range Rover Sport Supercharged. When we test-drove the vehicle against the Jeep SRT, we discovered a V-8 beating down 390 factory horsepower underneath the hood that made our hearts race. To celebrate its successful launch of the blown road rocket, Range Rover commissioned Troy Lee Designs to custom paint one of its forced-induction SUVs for the company's display at the ever-impressive SEMA Show that is held annually in Las Vegas. The underpinnings of the Range Rover Sport feature a four-corner, independent height-adjustable air suspension and Land Rover's Terrain Response system. Maintaining the capable off-road prowess Rover is known for and adding dynamic on-road capability, everything was left untouched save for the black powder-coated factory 20-inch rims that were trimmed with candy-red strips. Continental 275/40R20 4x4 SportContact tires supply the grip and the power is provided by a 4.2L V-8 that pushes the aforementioned 390 horsepower through a six-speed automatic transmission.
As for the interior, the plush Rover rolled off the assembly line with the Perforated Sports Ebony Cherrywood interior option. Feeling more like a sports car than an SUV, the cockpit environment was set up with a sea of supreme black leather and black plastic overtones with cherrywood and aluminum accented trim, all of which ran over the center console and door inserts. Troy Lee sought to add more color than the assembly plant would ever consider, and in doing so, he removed the factory cherry and aluminum pieces along with some of the black plastic parts that were attached to it. Before the components were set back in the vehicle for the final placement, TLD had smoothed and coated them in a wet-appearing deep coat of candy-apple red. No added appointments were made otherwise. Range Rover had already put in place the optional Harmon Kardon Logic7 audio system and it had been deemed perfect. The non-standard stereo claims 550 watts of power wailing through 14 speakers with 3-D imaging effectively harnessed by a 12-channel amplifier. A 7-inch wide LCD screen controls the sound, along with navigation and other system adjustments.
After gawking at the amazing paint, you would never care that not a single body modification exists on this vehicle, save for the removal of the plastic, three-dimensional "Range Rover" emblems from the hood and lift gate. In their place, TLD laid the same logo in eye-catching silver-leaf lettering outlined by a bright red border. That deep dark abyss is thanks to three coats of House of Kolor Black. Altogether, more than 250 hours were mandated in the paint process that included masking, back masking, painting, striping, clearing, and a final finish. Innovative design details are featured throughout with colors ranging from Tru Blu Metallic to Candy Tangerine and Cherry Pearl to many more in between. Rover wanted a unique vehicle, so Troy Lee Designs filled it with a show-winning color scheme that would have made any car standout.
The odds are, almost all of the buyers purchasing a Range Rover would never agree to have their personal vehicle painted in such a way as this showpiece. But, it's impossible to argue with the final result. Should these color swaths be lifted from this top-dollar SUV and spread across a truck more regularly featured in our pages, it would be a trophy-garnering machine. After being a SEMA Show centerpiece, the Rover was moved to the lobby of the Rover USA headquarters, in Irvine, California, where we snapped these images in the company's front fountain. If we ever have the disposable sure to have Troy Lee Designs drop us a killer color image session like this.