New old shite- Range Rover 3.9 classic

[stripped fred]

I like them too. I just can't get past the thought that I could run my 3 cars for the same amount of wedge, or maybe less?

[EssDeeWon]

Love these. I saw one today driving round a multi storey in Chelmsford, also on a J plate in blue.

 

THE ONE to have lives near me, a blue 1989 F reg Vogue SE owned from new and its mint, on local 'HJ' plates from the local SMACS dealership in 1989.

[scruff]

There is something about them. They were always ropey as hell (I remember an interview with Mike Rutherford from Genesis and he complained that something was always going wrong, even when they were new!), but they do manage to just look perfect, and they're astonishing off-road. If I had an unlimited budget, and/or more patience, I'd definitely have another.

 

When CAR had them on long term when new they were always shoddy and the dealers were usually worse!! For years there really was nothing like them though and as you say there is just "something".

 

Mine is bolloxed really but it's still a lovely place to be and a great useful motor. Wish it was a 3.9 but at least I've been there, done that.

[CHRIS1980]

I had a D reg vogue SE a few years ago. Drank fuel,but was a joy to drive. It needed constant attention but I didn't care,I just threw money at it. I paid £525 for it,spent circa £2600 on parts and sold it 3 years later for £525. Worth every penny. D45FYP where are you?

[ERNO]

My experience of Range Rovers isn't a good one. I paid 700 quid for one on eBay in 2004 or 2005. A 1986 in white on gas.

 

It had recently had an Old Man Emu 2" lift kit fitted at a cost of about 8 or 900 quid. It drove like an absolute pig. At anything above 50mph it was arse clenchingly terrifying. I drove it back from Wednesbury, near Wolves to Hamilton. I lost the headlights an hour or so in. Driving up unlit sections of the M6 with only the sidelights, with this bastard trying to steer me into the ditch at every opportunity wasn't much fun. Ended up stopping at some services or other, an emotional and physical wreck, and phoning the AA. Their contractor ended up wiring a feed for the headlights direct to the battery terminals, with a crocodile clip as my on / off switch. 

 

It wouldn't run on LPG, even though it had a fucking massive tank taking up half the boot. I have a confession to make: I've never told anyone this before. I took it to my local LPG specialist in Hamilton and he duly did some fiddling and decided it needed some parts. He let me take the car away until the parts arrived and he would get it back in. I didn't go back. The poor guy spent a day faffing with it and I didn't pay him. I believe he also had a small fuel fire in the engine bay and got a bit burnt in the process too.

 

I only kept it 3 or 4 weeks. Sold it to a guy from Lanark who came to collect it in an American pick up for the same price as I bought it for. I just couldn't get on with the way it drove (castor angle because of the lift?) and it cost me 20 quid a day to get to work and back the couple times I attempted it.

 

It did feel nice at low speed, way up high. Mine felt grossly underpowered and slow off the mark. Quite a lot of slack in the drivetrain. The propshaft linkages clunking when you put it into gear was strangely satisfyingly in an agricultural way though. It did look good. Full bullbar, front valance missing, lift kit and General Grabbers or whatever chunky tyres.  Wish I had a picture.

 

All this said, I'd definitely still drive one. This one looks a cracker. Low MPG would suit me a lot better now I'm not commuting in a car. A half decent roadworthy one is out of my price range these days though.

[twosmoke300]

As a garage owner I can't say that makes good reading. The lpg guy gave you trust and you shat on him. So he lost a days labour and stuck with random parts he may never sell . Bad form !

[Captain Mainwaring]

Mucho love for these 'classic' Rangies here, especially with those colour coordinated alloys. They've aged superbly.

 

Sister's ex-boyfriend's dad said he lobbed a massive Chrysler V8 from a Jensen into an early one of these, he reckoned he got about 7mpg out of it. By all accounts they're not terribly economical even with the Rover V8, but of course that's not why you buy one of these!

[ERNO]

As a garage owner I can't say that makes good reading. The lpg guy gave you trust and you shat on him. So he lost a days labour and stuck with random parts he may never sell . Bad form !

 

Yes it was rough. I feel bad about it every time I think about this car.

[scruff]

Bolt on tat and lift kits ruin them. True story! 

[Alan_Green]

There is something about them. They were always ropey as hell (I remember an interview with Mike Rutherford from Genesis and he complained that something was always going wrong, even when they were new!), but they do manage to just look perfect, and they're astonishing off-road. If I had an unlimited budget, and/or more patience, I'd definitely have another.

That's an interesting snippet (to me anyway). Wonder what year that interviw was. I owned Mike Rutherford's old P-Reg Shogun V6 up until the early part of this year. Maybe it's the one he bought when he got fed up. V6 petrol Shoguns are my 4x4 of choice. That or 80 Series Landcruisers. And I've spent a lot of time in Rangies/Discos/Freelanders.

[richardthestag]

COME ON YOU CLASSIC RR LOVAS

 

Had mine for 9 1/2 years and done 110,000ish glorious miles in it. Lets me down a lot and you absolutely have to be fit with the spanners but and it is a huge BUT fix them yourself and although you need stupidly large 1/2" drive sockets (it is the hammers that you reach for more) they are like mecanno. 

 

Unlike P38 electrics are not really a problem. Air suspension and ABS are a piece of piss to fix and 3.9 EFI is the easiest.

 

but beware, the rotten fucked RR Classics that were hovering about a decade ago are now OMGBARNFIND 

 

Avoid anything with any lift whatsoever, or comedy wheels etc etc, infact avoid any OLLI twatted car. You need to spend serious and I mean serious fucking reddies to get these cars to out perform a standard RRC on MT tyres off road.

 

Going gets slippy, let the slipping wheels tyres down a little and get out.

 

To rip air suspension off a late RRC and replace with springs is a crime, they are so pissing easy to get working. But then again I perservere with a Triumph V8 in my Staaaaaaaaag

[dollywobbler]

That's an interesting snippet (to me anyway). Wonder what year that interviw was. I owned Mike Rutherford's old P-Reg Shogun V6 up until the early part of this year. Maybe it's the one he bought when he got fed up. V6 petrol Shoguns are my 4x4 of choice. That or 80 Series Landcruisers. And I've spent a lot of time in Rangies/Discos/Freelanders.

I read it in Auto Express, so we're talking 1988-1992 I should think. He drove one of them into a house after falling asleep.

 

Don't we remember some stupid shit over the years? I was struggling the other day to remember cars I've owned myself.

[Kevseabass]

Does this look familiar to anyone???

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DodgeRover]

Does this look familiar to anyone???

Am I missing a picture here?

[Kevseabass]

Am I missing a picture here?

 

Yes, And I don't know why

[HillmanImp]

This happened to a new poster the other day too with his Celica IIRC. No photos for some reason.

[Kevseabass]

If I mail someone a photo (important to this post) can you put it on here for me? Maybe the forum Stasi won't let me do my own photos

[Kevseabass]

Found this in a field the other day whilst training for an Ultra marathon, In ready to rot condition!!

[John F]

It'll already have rotted.

 

RR Classics hide it very well.

[Kevseabass]

I meant to say, ready to rot some more condition!! 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

HMC, what's your Range Rover doing there?!

[Kevseabass]

Anyway I thought I should save it! £2200 worth of welding later and it looks very sorry for itself , RRC's hate being undressed!! The Bilt hamber treatment it had in a previous life did very little unfortunately. 

[Hertz]

Good on you for saving it. How did you acquire it then? Did you pop a note under the wiper?

[Kevseabass]

New floor. You can't buy an exact RRC floor replacement so this is a disco floor which you can still buy with an extension piece to graft on

[Kevseabass]

Good on you for saving it. How did you acquire it then? Did you pop a note under the wiper?

 

I went to the farm who's land it was on and kept going back until they said yes. It was apparently going to 'get done' one day,but I knew another vogue SE would slip from existence being stood up like that

[Kevseabass]

Areas replaced for new are:

Inner arches replaced

footwells

complete cills both sides and pillars

top lip of windscreen

rear arches

 

It's been extensive and expensive! I expect there is more rust to be found!

[bezzabsa]

owned 3 RRClassics... 2 3 door V8's......gorgeous woffle..and very roomy with windy windows and electric Nothing... and a Soft dash 300Tdi auto, gorgeous thing with played with turbo and pump, auto box tweaked and bigger intercooler fitted, loved it , and would love another, but don't have the £9k+ for a similar example now....

 

also my 2nd RRC was a K plater, early 2 door... wish I'd kept it now really, but it decided it wanted a 2 piece chassis!!!

[HMC]

Great to see it getting some much needed attention. Even when I first had it in 2007 it was turning to ferrous oxide around the rear body mounts, sills had already been replaced once etc. These things know how to rust beneath the aluminium clad external panels!