Pitch-perfect Kingsley KSR for sale
The V8-powered KSR was intended to be a Range Rover Classic like no other - fancy it?
On PH’s last visit to Gaydon, when the world’s automotive press were briefed about the new Range Rover Electric, Land Rover took the unusual step of rolling out its seldom-seen heritage fleet. Not to drive, sadly, but to remind us of the unbroken lineage when it comes to the model’s timeless proportions. The initial response to seeing all five generations parked up next to each other went one of two ways: a) how good the L322 looks after 25 years, and b) how unexpectedly dinky the ‘Classic’ appears when compared to its more modern siblings.
You don’t think of any Range Rover as small, but the original Range Rover was developed in the late ‘60s, a time when virtually every stripe of car seemed configured more for hobbits than darts players. Of course, six decades on, it is precisely this kind of no-inch-wasted parsimony that appeals. The Classic’s industrial look is famously attributed to Spen King and his engineering team’s desire to crack on with testing the steel underbody, which is to say they gave precious little thought to slipperiness or design niceties. But the result was deemed too obviously good to ditch.
While there is a lesson in there somewhere for anyone wielding a magic marker in 2026, it would obviously be impossible to build such a car today - hence the appetite for some high-end restomod magic. We pointed you at a lovely looking (and now sold) Kingsley back in the spring, but that was a £125k restoration. The KSR, launched back in 2024, was something different: nothing less, in fact, than ‘the best and most thoughtfully re-engineered Classic in the world’ according to its MD.
In other words, rather than going about a conversion piecemeal, the KSR was the firm’s first go at a wholesale revamp, including an in-house designed interior. Perhaps not every element of its modernised centre console will appeal to traditionalists, but obviously the point is to wrest a more usable, easier-to-live-with Classic from the purely functional donor car. One that befits all that tan leather and tartan detailing. And the £220k +VAT starting point for commissioning.
As you might expect - or hope - a good deal of that outlay went into making the KSR drive better. To that end, Kingsley went the whole hog with Tractive active suspension and selectable drive modes, which were presumably essential to the package if you opted for a 6.2-litre LS3 or LT1 to supply the forward momentum. Or you could stick with a Classic-appropriate (albeit thoroughly overhauled) 4.6-litre V8, which, via a four-speed auto, is said to possess sufficient gumption to see the car to 60mph in less than ten seconds.
This ought to feel plenty spritely enough on the basis that the KSR is not really about speed (or not too much of it anyway). It is about evoking the spirit of the era without suffering its shortfalls. Land Rover would likely suggest that it has spent the intervening years doing exactly the same thing, albeit at manifestly greater depth. But it cannot sell you a car that looks or drives like the Classic - Kingsley can, assuming you’re prepared to foot the bill. This one, which has apparently accumulated 7,000 miles since it was completed in 2025, is available for £300k. Or you could have its doppelgänger for £20,995. Decisions, decisions.
Try an original before spending £300,000.
I love the Classic but nowadays when I see pictures taken side on, I can’t hop but think that it would have look better resolved if the rear axle could have been moved back 12” (and yes I know the RR Classic was built on the 100” wheelbase chassis)
The suspension would really need to be on top of its game for me to dare to mash the accelerator if it were equipped with one of the American V8s, the RR I drove in the police don’t inspire confidence if one has to brake hard or do a little, ahem, body-swerve
The five door Classic Range Rover launched in 1981 at £12,000. Today, 45 years later, you can have this version for £300,000 (25 times more). Using that maths it might suggest that in another 45 years a similar restomod version then will cost £7.5m?
The trouble is they are designed to rust underneath when used through a winter unless you really keep on top of cleaning all the crap out and touching up any surface rust you see.
I guess £300k is ‘aspirational’ as opposed to the price someone might pay. Esp with a 4.6.
I do like that wood trim a lot tho.
Erm, no.
Ergo, at heart it’s still an alarmingly flimsy 1960s every-expense-spared BL deathtrap. No ta, then.
Looking forward to the day when Kingsley or similar apply their skills to L322s, hopefully making ‘em more robust and reliable in the process.
Although for the money I d want a better slush box than whatever boggo 4-speed auto is in there. I d want a ZF8 swap as that s a fabulous transmission that would really bring huge drivability improvements.
And with that said, will anyone ever put in a different motor than the default LS? What about a Hemi, or something more exotic? Something from AMG, or with 12-cylinders?
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