Car of the Week

Owner: Sam McBride: Edinburgh

First launched in June 1970, the Range Rover with its American-sourced V8 engine, permanent four-wheel drive and coil springs was regarded as revolutionary. Public demand outstripped all expectations. It was gradually developed from the original two-door model with the four-door model being introduced in 1972, significant improvements made in the mid-1980s and, later in that decade, the progressive introduction of electronics.

In 1972 it became the first vehicle to successfully transit the notorious ‘Darien Gap’ and is said to be the only vehicle to have been exhibited in the Louvre as a work of art. The ‘Classic’, as it was to become known, remained in production for 26 years with sales overlapping with the later ‘P38’ model introduced in 1994.

This 1988 example is a standard four-door Vogue EFi with the all-aluminium 3528 cc V8 engine, ZF 4-speed automatic gearbox, LT230T transfer box providing high and low ranges and a manually activated centre differential lock. It is rated by Land Rover with a top speed of just over 100 mph and a towing capacity of 4 tonnes. The suspension retains the original ‘Boge’ self-levelling unit but includes the later optional ‘anti-roll’ bar kit front and rear. It is also fitted with two rear ‘Airlift’ units to provide extra capability when fully loaded for longer trips, an additional fuel tank and a Range Rover ‘European Style’ roof-rack rated for full off-road capability.

The vehicle, purchased for general use and to facilitate family trips, has been in the present ownership since 1991. It is unrestored but has been under-sealed and well maintained. It remains in regular use, both on and off-road and has now covered over 140,000 miles, providing sterling service and much enjoyment. Trips in the vehicle have provided many happy days of roving throughout the British Isles. Overseas adventures have ranged from idyllic days in Portugal, Spain and the Balearics to Morocco and over the Atlas mountains to the edges of the Sahara before travelling along the Algerian border and following the Draa Valley to the Atlantic coast at Tan-Tan Plage. In Norway, many wonderful days were spent following that magnificent coast north to the Nordkapp and east via the Sami capital at Karasjok until the roundabout road sign said ‘Murmansk’. The most recent journey was a rather poignant trip last year to the battlefields of the Scheldt, Ypres, the Somme and Normandy. More are planned...