Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography | Spotted

Five litres, eight cylinders, one supercharger - and four of the silliest exhaust pipes you ever did see...

By Matt Bird / Tuesday, 27 January 2026 / Loading comments

With the legendary 5.0-litre V8 - officially the AJ-V8 Gen III 5.0 - now reserved solely for the very silliest of Defenders, be they new hot hatch wannabes or old-school reworks, it’s easy to find yourself craving a fix from the JLR back catalogue. With good reason: the engine was hugely lovable, in naturally aspirated and supercharged forms, and it was offered in all manner of luxury cars.

All manner of luxury cars that tended to depreciate, too - meaning there are very nice Jaguar XKs and XFs with 5.0-litre engines from a lot less than £10,000. There are XJRs, XKRs and XFRs, too, plus the big boy Range Rover, the irrepressibly rowdy Sport SVR, the F-Pace equivalent (now from £20,000), and a glut of F-Types. Nobody could say that maximum value wasn’t extracted from the AJ-V8 while it was still possible, all the way to the 600hp Project 8.

This car, however, is none of those things. Well done to all who could correctly identify it as a Range Rover Velar SVAutobiography, in many ways the forgotten scoundrel of the supercharged pack. Forgotten because not very many sold, as it answered a question that nobody has really asked. The F-Pace SVR and Range Rover Sport SVR already existed, with the same engine. The Velar was intended to be a more refined proposition than the other pair of hellraisers, but the demand didn’t necessarily exist. As a smaller SUV than the other two and without the cachet of the SVR badge (while still costing almost £90,000), the SVA simply didn’t find many homes. It appears to have only been on sale for a couple of years.

Still, appealing to a niche of buyers doesn’t make a car bad, and there remains plenty to like about the ultimate Velar. Despite the popularity of the base model, a well-specced V8 like this Dynamic Edition (with £19k of options, no less, including bigger wheels, fancier seats and upgraded sound) can still look properly smart in a way that the slightly OTT Sport can not. Everything bar those exhausts is in keeping with the SVA’s more subdued attitude, which now seems quite a smart approach. The interior, too, benefits from some proper switchgear that the latest Velars go without, albeit with older infotainment.

While this was a less flamboyant drive than those cars with an SVR badge, the Velar was always a tidy-handling car. And the main appeal will be under the bonnet, of course: 550hp and 502lb ft meant 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds, and 170mph potential. With a supercharged V8 soundtrack as the cherry on top.

Even with the healthy options spend, this one is less than half the standard new price after 44,000 miles. Services have taken place exclusively at main dealers, and it breezed through its MOT earlier in January. Running a supercharged V8 Range Rover won’t come cheap, of course, though the same could be said for any car of this ilk. Those SVR-badged SUVs are always going to be hard to ignore as well. But as something a little different with a very familiar USP, the SVAutobiography seems a very intriguing alternative. And those exhausts means its special status will never, ever go unnoticed.

SPECIFICATION | RANGE ROVER VELAR SVAUTOBIOGRAPHY

Engine: 4,999cc, V8, supercharged
Transmission: 8-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 550@6,000-6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 502@2,500-5,500rpm
MPG: 23.9 (NEDC)
CO2: 270g/km (NEDC)
Year registered: 2019
Recorded mileage: 44,084
Price new: £86,120 (before options)
Yours for: £39,990