Land Rover's Stormin' coupe

The Range Stormer Concept evolved into the popular Range Rover Sport

Stuart Milne takes a look back at the show-stopping concept which inspired this two-door off-road gem.

It's a given car makers will churn out a series of crazy concept cars throughout the year to grab the headlines on the world's motor show circuit.

The majority of them fall into one of two camps – wild or weird.

And that's good, because it keep car designer's hands warm for when they're called upon to pen a cracking production car.

But its easy to become blasé – there's only so many translucent bodied, V12 engined two seaters you can look at before they blend into one.

And that's why I almost dropped my bacon sandwich when one cold morning in 2004 pictures surfaced of the stonking Range Stormer Concept from Land Rover.

It was a Range Rover, but not as we knew it.

The Range Stormer had a sporty look, the likes of which had never been built by Land Rover – before or since.

Massive 22-inch alloys filled a set of pumped-up arches between which sat a single door on each side. Apart from the short wheelbase Defender, this was the only two-door Landy ever.

But the doors were not all as they seemed on first impressions – they opened vertically, Lamborghini Countach-style. And a step popped down to aid access.

Not that it was easy to get into, what with its ultra-low roofline.

The interior was pure concept car – minimalist controls which wouldn't look out of place in a 22^nd century car.

Under the bonnet sat Land Rover's rorty 4.2-litre V8, which could sing a supercharged symphony through its straight-through exhaust.

The looks were just one of the reasons I loved the Stormer. The other?

It was because it looked almost production ready. It wasn't the wildest car at the show, but it didn't take much imagination to see it could be hitting a street near me in the none-to-distant future.

Something which was cemented by a comment from Land Rover's then managing director's comment: "The supercharged V8 Range Stormer gives a taste of our forthcoming new entrant in the booming high performance SUV segment."

So little doubt something like it would be built.

But even more encouraging was words from the Stormer's designer, Richard Woolley: "There are no plans to build the car, but I know that over 200 people have said they'd be ready to buy one irrespective of cost."

Of course, the Stormer sprouted two extra doors and a higher roof line. It lost the extra aggressive sparkle and became the Range Rover Sport.

The Sport has been an instant hit, stealing sales from the BMW X5. And spec the 4.2-litre supercharged engine, and it’s a bit of a hot rod.

Fancy a Sport? Well the good news is there are plenty of them about starting at around the £30,000 mark.

The bad news is there was only one Stormer built, and it ain't for sale. But if you fancy the looks and have Premiership player's pockets, London-based LSE Design will sell you one very similar for £120,000.

That's expensive, but you do get a diamond encrusted speedo.

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It’s the Range Stormer in colour…