Range Rover - Happy 50th Birthday

The first thing I thought of when I saw the post was the Royal Family.



Particularly this one...





Photo after restore and pre-sale in 2018 when it sold for £101k



... or more recently this one...

A remarkable vehicle and on my bucket list. As well as looking sufficiently regal in a royal motorcade they're extremely capable off-roaders.


In the early '80s my Scout leader sent a handful of us along to listen to a talk by Lieutenant Colonel John Blashford-Snell, an explorer of increasing fame. He's an interesting old colonial type with lots of adventures under his belt, he's credited with (accidentally) inventing white-water-rafting in 1968 during his exploration of the Blue Nile in Africa. One of his most high profile feats had been to organise and lead the trans-Americas expedition in 1971 & '72. This epic journey started off in Alaska and travelled 17,000 miles down to Patagonia including a rarely-attempted vehicular crossing of the Darien Gap. He chose the relatively new Range Rover for this exceptionally tough trial in the jungles and swamps of central America. Where there's no road, you make your own, even when this has to be done for hundreds of miles!

Colonel Blashford-Snell CBE is still a major champion of the Range Rover marque. He's still leading expeditions at 83 and counts a Jowett Jupiter in his car history.

A series 1 is on my 'always wanted one but will never own one' list.

My Range Rover Classic investment scheme;

Having to have the "joy" of repairing them regularly as we're one of the only garages that will go near the engines locally I'm of the opinion that they should all be burned and the designers of all models hung, drawn and quartered.

Here is mine, it's a late 86.




What amazes me is how well it drives better than many cars of thd 80's, mine is essentialy the same as the original, no anti roll bars air suspension etc. I must have been a a massive step up for anyone trading in a series 2a in 1979.

I have a 1975. I really like the design of these and it was a groundbreaking car, Mine has been upgraded to Nissan power for reasons of economy , reliability and performance. THe original drivetrain was quite clonky and whiny, and inefficient. The modular bodywork is what I like about these 2 door models.

The original Range Rover was such a timeless design - To me it hardly aged, and has the best steel wheel design of all time. Love the huge flush door handles and the rear hatch/tailgate, and the serious amount of room in there.

First one was released in 1970 - If only BL didn't mess up royally. Rover really could design some world beating cars.