Nicole Bahls buys R$ 1.2 million SUV because of door handles that disappear

Presenter Nicole Bahls, 40, bought a Range Rover Sport Autobiography — top-of-the-line version of Land Rover’s SUV — and attributed the choice to an item that rarely appears in luxury car ads: the door handle. The 2026 model starts at R$ 1,282,850 on the brand’s official website in Brazil, R$ 242,100 above the entry-level configuration, the Dynamic.

“My new car has arrived! My toy! I always wanted to have this car because of the door handle, it’s black. Oh, that’s all!”, said the presenter on Instagram stories , where she has about 32 million followers.

The handle that hides in the door

The item that decided to buy is the retractable handle. At rest, the piece is aligned with the side of the body, without any relief. When the driver approaches with the key or unlocks the vehicle, it protrudes outwards by electric activation and retracts again after the car starts moving.

The design reduces wind resistance and cleans the side, but depends on energy, which forces the brand to provide an emergency mechanism to open the doors if the system fails.

Land Rover popularized the solution in the Velar, presented in 2017, and extended it to the Range Rover line. Today the feature also appears in electric cars from other manufacturers.

550 hp, 22 seat adjustments and sound with dozens of speakers

The Range Rover Sport Autobiography uses the P550e plug-in hybrid set: a 3.0-liter six-cylinder in-line gasoline engine coupled to an electric engine, with 550 hp and 81,6 kgfm combined. Acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h takes 4,9 seconds, with an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. The range in electric mode alone reaches 71 km, according to the manufacturer.

The list of luxuries justifies the price difference for the entry-level version. The front seats have 22 electric adjustments, heating, ventilation and massage, covered in perforated semi-aniline leather. The suspension is adaptive pneumatic, with configurable rigidity and height, and the SUV has rear wheel steering, a feature that shortens the turning radius in maneuvers.

Completing the package are Matrix LED headlights with digital image projection, 13.1″ curved screen of the Pivi Pro system, head-up display, four-zone air conditioning with air purification, panoramic roof, configurable ambient lighting, laminated glass, Brembo brakes, 22″ wheels and Meridian 3D sound, which in the Signature configuration exceeds two dozen speakers.

Nicole said she postponed the purchase to complete works on the property she maintains in Itaboraí, in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro, a plot of about 20 thousand square meters with bungalows, swimming pool, private chapel and animals named after celebrities.

“After pets, at home, there is one thing I love very much, which is the car,” she said. She did not say how much she paid for the vehicle.