Surveying the current luxury SUV segment— easily the most bloated and overcrowded corner of the automotive market, and only becoming more so with electrification— you’d have a hard job convincing a child that it was spawned by a handful of utilitarian cars descended from military vehicles. Certainly, the early Range Rovers were spartan affairs, with vinyl seats and rubber floors you could hose down after a day's shooting or farming. It wasn't until 1981 that Land Rover finally conceded to market demand and launched a four-door version, having watched aftermarket converters make a tidy profit offering the modification themselves.
This 1982 example represents the second year of official four-door production, making it a historically significant model in its own right. But clearly, this is no museum piece— it's a thoroughly reimagined modern classic that's received nearly £100,000 worth of upgrades while maintaining the character that makes these early Range Rovers so appealing in the first place. One among many, you might say, in a world now obsessed with restomodding— but, save perhaps for the dramatic size of its new wheels and tyres, there is nothing garish or wild-looking here. So nothing to spoil the daydream of running it as a daily.
Its transformation is said to have begun in 2016, when a collector enlisted Twenty Ten Engineering— specialists in subtle but significant Range Rover enhancements— to turn the standard V8 manual classic into something special but usable. No less than £47,000 later, the car emerged with a brand-new 3.9-litre V8 (replacing the original low-compression 3.5) and presumably the rebuilt chassis to befit the uptick in performance. Two years later, incredibly, the current owner invested an additional £44,000 in the tuner’s efforts; the results do rather speak for themselves.
If anything, it’s the interior, which displays a similar level of restraint as the exterior, that had us at hello. Sure, there is a level of plushness that its original designers could only have dreamed of, but there is also only leather where it should be and - save for the USB sockets plumbed in and what looks like a DAB stereo - precious few concessions to modern convenience. We love the polished metal gear levers and the Smiths' worry gauges and the instrument cluster that still minors on actual instruments.
Mostly though, we love the idea of what KGO 48IY sounds like and how it probably drives. Which is to say, gnarly in both instances. Needless to say, the vendor suggests “it drives way better than the original ever did,” which is hardly a surprise given the money lavished on it, but we’d settle for something that lives up to the old-school V8 promise, blended with just enough go-anywhere usability to make turning the key every morning an anxiety-free experience.
At 69,000 miles, the car is barely out of short trousers by Range Rover Classic standards— and presumably it doesn’t reflect the actual number of miles that have passed beneath the running gear anyway, given how extensive the refit appears to have been. At any rate, we’re smitten - but also (as we frequently find ourselves) likely well short of whatever the price is lurking beneath the POA. “A great example of the classic Range Rover enhanced tastefully and available for sensible money,” reckons the seller. One of those statements seems absolutely true; for the other, you’ll need to pick up the phone.
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