1991 Range Rover Vogue for restoration

[0llie]

This is my 1991 Range Rover Vogue which I purchased on a bit of a whim on eBay over the weekend. I’ve always wanted one, and this one seemed like a good base for a restoration

It’s finished in Ardennes Green, with the optional automatic gearbox. Being a Vogue model, it does have a few niceties, but it goes without quite a lot of the equipment that the Vogue SE offered (heated, electric leather seats, heated windscreen, air conditioning, cruise control, air suspension etc.), which for me at the moment is perfect. The only thing I wish it had was Air Conditioning, but the optional (and fully functioning) sunroof is doing an adequate job for now.

The bodywork is in a pretty poor state, the bonnet is littered with rot, and most of the panels are in poor shape. However, the underside doesn’t have a hint of rot, and the engine and trans are absolutely spot on. Having just ticked over 67k miles from new, it’s hardly run in! The interior is also in great condition, it just needs a good clean.

I’m using it as a daily at the moment, I’ve never driven a car that is so calming and relaxing to drive. I’m not too sure on fuel consumption yet (I’m trying not to look at the gauge ), but I think it’s used less than a quarter of a tank in 50 miles, all 30mph roads or stop/start traffic into work. I don’t think that’s terrible for a 4wd, V8 Auto that weighs over 2 tons. Insurance wasn’t super cheap because of my age, but I was struggling to get any classic cover (I’m 23).

It’s also a joy to drive, having owned a 300 Series V8 Discovery with identical running gear and almost identical chassis, I thought I knew what to expect, but it’s far nicer than that ever was.

I will try and keep the thread updated with my progress, as I hope to restore her back to her former glory (or the very best I can )


(Excuse the rubbish pictures, I will try and get some decent pictures soon )











(Looks huge next to the Countryman)

[KillerHERTZ]

Nice!

Cant say it does look huge next to the 'mini' to be fair, just shows how large modern cars have become!

[anonymous-user]

It's at least 27 times better looking than that Mini though!! ;-)

[TVR Sagaris]

On standard wheels/tyres they really just glide along the road. Watching with interest - I sense these are on the verge of getting expensive.

[Simes110]

Lovely old thing and even better for being a non soft-dash model.

Looking forward to watching your restoration progress.

[anonymous-user]

Love it, good luck with the rot. I find it scary how HUGE the mini looks next to it though, even accounting for it being slightly closer to the camera. Should find an original mini to park it next to for an experiment.

[Hooli]

Looks great, I've always fancied one too.

Is that odd wheel a steelie of a Disco?

[alpha channel]

It looks rather svelte and frankly on the dinky side sat next to the Mini and I still, or rather did, consider these to be rather large vehicles.

[Shaw Tarse]

alpha channel said:

It looks rather svelte and frankly on the dinky side sat next to the Mini and I still, or rather did, consider these to be rather large vehicles.

Surprising how much bigger cars are these days, a while ago someone posted a comparison between the Classic & FL2.

[alpha channel]

God knows what my 200 Coupe would look like next to the Mini monster (that was considered a big car when I bought it, though next to a metro, 205 or mk I clio it was).

Anyway looking forward to seeing how this restoration goes.

[ecotec]

great car - looking forward to seeing the restro - best of luck with it

Any pictures of the engine?

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

Gaaahhh - a nice write-up, with pictures, mentions buying from Ebay....and then neglects to mention only THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT - how much did you pay??!!

[0llie]

Thanks for all the positive comments, nice to see I'm not the only one who likes these

Max_Torque said:

It's at least 27 times better looking than that Mini though!! ;-)

To be fair, that isn't particularly difficult!

Hooli said:

Looks great, I've always fancied one too.

Is that odd wheel a steelie of a Disco?

It is indeed, infact the NS/F wheel is a similar, but not identical design to the other 2 on the RHS. I've the correct alloy as a spare, but requires a puncture to be sorted first.

ecotec said:

great car - looking forward to seeing the restro - best of luck with it

Any pictures of the engine?

I've got a poor one from the ad here;



I'll try and get a better one later, I decided against using it today.

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

Gaaahhh - a nice write-up, with pictures, mentions buying from Ebay....and then neglects to mention only THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT - how much did you pay??!!

In my mind anything more than about £300 is too much for one of these I grew up using these as off roaders, this very car about 6 years ago wouldn't have reached £400. I paid £1k which also included tons of service history, plus a recent service inc. plugs, leads, dizzy etc. and quite a few spare bits (new tailgate, new front valance, and a few other bits which escape me now).

It seems a lot, but this one has done almost double the miles and is up for nearly £8k, albeit once restored. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291182465729?ssPageName=...

Edited by 0llie on Friday 4th July 10:20

[hman]

Personally I would chop the body up and make it a proper off roader on jacked up suspension- body resto is going to be £000's

[CAPP0]

Lovely! I would absolutely love one of these but as much as my man-math skills and personal justification expertise are good, I simply can't find a way of adding one to the V8 L322 and V8 D90 on the drive currently (as well as a host of other vehicles).

I guess what I really need is someone to plead with me to take one off their hands to prevent it being crushed!

[V8forweekends]

Fabulous car - great write-up too. I always fancied one of these, but will probably never get around to it.

I hate to seem like a bandwagon jumper, the pic highlights just what an unspeakably ugly brute that mini is - people laugh at the Allegro, but who on earth put Stevie Wonder in charge of styling at Mini?

[0llie]

hman said:

Personally I would chop the body up and make it a proper off roader on jacked up suspension- body resto is going to be £000's

Been there, done that. There aren't too many half decent ones left, and I can do much of the work myself using good 2nd hand parts. It shouldn't cost the earth, thankfully the expensive stuff (running gear, chassis etc.) are all as good as I've seen.

CAPP0 said:

Lovely! I would absolutely love one of these but as much as my man-math skills and personal justification expertise are good, I simply can't find a way of adding one to the V8 L322 and V8 D90 on the drive currently (as well as a host of other vehicles).

I guess what I really need is someone to plead with me to take one off their hands to prevent it being crushed!

There's always room for an appreciating classic Does your L322 have the Jaguar V8?

V8forweekends said:

Fabulous car - great write-up too. I always fancied one of these, but will probably never get around to it.

I hate to seem like a bandwagon jumper, the pic highlights just what an unspeakably ugly brute that mini is - people laugh at the Allegro, but who on earth put Stevie Wonder in charge of styling at Mini?

Thank you The chap responsible for the MINI is called Gert Hildebrand. I wouldn't mind, but some of the other stuff he has designed hasn't been completely terrible (He's just completed a car called the Qoros 3, a Chinese saloon which looks rather smart). Despite being a big fan of MINI, I've spent 2 years around it and I'm still not a fan

[JNR77]

I think you have done well to buy a striaght RRC with that mileage for £1k. In my opinion the 1991 MY Non SE is the best of the four door classics; Being a non SE it doesnt have the electrical gadgets with usually dont work, it benifits from the revised suspension with anti roll bars. Everyone raves about the softdash's but the cabin seems smaller due to the ugly dash and its packed with even more electic gadgets and warning lights waiting to go wrong.

I would say that as i have the same car but in Plymouth Blue

[CAPP0]

0llie said:

Does your L322 have the Jaguar V8?

It most certainly does. I had it serviced this week at a local indy and they were saying that they don't see many Jag V8s because the launch of that was only just before the TDV8 and everyone went for those instead.

[0llie]

JNR77 said:

I think you have done well to buy a striaght RRC with that mileage for £1k. In my opinion the 1991 MY Non SE is the best of the four door classics; Being a non SE it doesnt have the electrical gadgets with usually dont work, it benifits from the revised suspension with anti roll bars. Everyone raves about the softdash's but the cabin seems smaller due to the ugly dash and its packed with even more electic gadgets and warning lights waiting to go wrong.

I would say that as i have the same car but in Plymouth Blue

You have great taste Sir, love the Cerbera too

Totally agree on the Softdash part, I've always thought the interior lost it's identity when they went to softdash as it looks identical to the "300 Series" Discovery, and even the Discovery 2 to an extent. I agree, I think it's definitely the correct year, I wanted an early 3.9 above all else, though a 1986MY Vogue (specifically that year with the metal grille and lower valance) would also be very tempting, despite the interior not being quite as nice.

CAPP0 said:

It most certainly does. I had it serviced this week at a local indy and they were saying that they don't see many Jag V8s because the launch of that was only just before the TDV8 and everyone went for those instead.

They're supposed to be a brilliant engine, although I've never tried one, how do you get one with it? With all the turbo failures on the TDV8, it's probably cheaper to run the petrol V8, as well as being a proper V8 (As much as I like the TDV8 motor)