LAND Rover is marking the 50th anniversary of the Range Rover with a limited run of special vehicles.

The Range Rover 50 will be restricted to 1,970 models - to mark the year of its birth - and comes with a number of bespoke features including 22-inch wheels and a special Fifty script inside and out.

The Range Rover Fifty will be available in both standard and long wheelbase body designs and a choice of four exterior colours. It is based on the high specification Autobiography model.

Land Rover says that its Special Vehicle Operations division is also creating the Range Rover Fifty in one of three Heritage exterior solid paints reproduced from the original Range Rover paint choice.

A range of powertrain options will be available including petrol, diesel and the plug-in hybrid P400e model.

Gerry McGovern, Land Rover's chief creative officer, said: "In the world of luxury vehicles, the Range Rover has always stood apart as peerless and enduring.

"Its unique and pioneering sensibilities together with an unrivalledengineering approach have been the intrinsic values which our customers have admired since the first of the breed was revealed in 1970."

The Range Rover is now in its fourth generation and has notched up more than a million sales since its launch.

In its 50 year lifespan, the Range Rover has achieved many world firsts and completed numerous impressive feats.

It was the first SUV to feature a permanent 4WD system when it was launched, and in 1989 was the world's first 4x4 to be fitted with ABS anti-lock brakes.

Later in 1992 it became the world's first 4x4 to be fitted with electronic traction control (ETC) and automatic electronic air suspension.

In 2012, the latest generation Range Rover became the world's first SUV to feature an all-aluminium lightweight construction, making it lighter, stronger and more efficient.

It has also crossed the notoriously impassable ‘Darien Gap' in Central America, was the first vehicle to be displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris and has won the Paris-Dakar rally - twice.

Prices for the special edition are still to be confirmed but when the model was launched it was priced from £1,998. Today the line up starts from close on £85,000 and tops out from £180,000 for a long wheelbase supercharged V8 model in Autobiography trim.