2008 Land Rover LR2 SE

The 2008 Land Rover LR2 is roomier, plusher, more powerful, and more versatile than the ill-loved Freelander (the old three-door version is gone, too; the LR2 is a five-door only). No longer does the littlest Land Rover look like it snuck onto the showroom floor from the hiking-shoe store across the street.

After I'd powered an LR2 over the handsome coastal dunes, my hosts invited me to climb directly into the waiting rival. Or, rather, onto the rival. The competitor was a camel.

Europeans loved the model the LR2 replaces, the outgoing Freelander, for its scrappy personality and trim dimensions. Americans hated it for the very same reasons.