Range Rover Overfinch 680 CS | Spotted
Name a more desirable Range Rover - we'll wait
This was meant to be a tribute to the Rover V8-engined Rangies - honest. Writing for our recent Six of the Best on long-serving engines, it was hard not to wistfully reminisce of the Suffix A Hero from last year; perched up high, commanding view out front and iconic V8 rumbling along as the world passed merrily on by. There really is nothing quite like motoring by classic Range Rover.
So that's what this Spotted was going to celebrate, given the Rover V8 evolved through so many iterations as a Land Rover powerplant. It could have even been a P38, come to think of it, given the 1990s are trendy again and a 4.6-litre V8 is as interesting now as it probably ever has been.
But 4.6-litres is not 6.8, is it? And a P38 is not a classic, and a regular Range Rover really isn't an Overfinch Range Rover. More should be, if they could all be like this. Because that was the Overfinch thing, once upon a time: pumping up and hunkering down Range Rovers to make them almost as formidable on road as they were off it. Nowadays, with near 600hp models rolling from the factory with the handling as sorted as it's ever going to be, the brand has had to change tack somewhat. Which is a polite way of saying not everyone likes the bodykits nowadays. But, you never know, perhaps stuffing in an engine far too large and tuning a Range Rover for road use was viewed as unbecoming and inappropriate 30 years ago - tastes do change.
To the car in question, the Overfinch 680 CS. In case there was any doubt, this is a very interesting vehicle. 'CS' here doesn't stand for anything so ghastly as 'Club Sport', think 'Celebration Special' instead; the car was produced to mark 20 years of the Range Rover, and as such show off "the pinnacle of Overfinch engineering" (according to this advert) - it's one of just three. However, its owner wasn't content with that sort of exclusivity, and so spent even more money with Overfinch in 1996 to create the car seen here. They didn't hold back: a 6.8-litre V8 went in, along with a Borg Warner manual. It was harnessed by uprated brakes, steering, suspension and tyres, as well as reinforced diffs and a few more Overfinch goodies. The prospect looks and sounds incredible now; heaven knows how it must have seemed almost 25 years ago.
The story gets interesting again with recent developments. Over the past 18 months, the CS680 has been subjected to a painstaking restoration. It's gone back to the bare chassis, with vulnerable body panels replaced and everything resprayed; the interior has been re-trimmed, the headlining done, the engine overhauled (which included a regrinding of the crank!) as well as a rework underneath. So, there are new mounts, bushes, lines, springs, springs, pads, discs... everything. When the work has gone so far as to coat the yellow dampers gloss black to fit with the rest of the car, you get some idea of the attention to detail.
The result is a work of art; cool and classy like any old Range Rover, but with luxurious and sporting intent never usually associated with them. The respray looks fantastic, the re-trim even better, and the prospect of driving a 6.8-litre Overfinch Range Rover is one of the more exciting ones imaginable.
Given £60k is now Evoque money, and given this is a unique Range Rover (because the other Celebration Specials were automatics), it's challenging to think of much to take issue with. Left-hand drive isn't ideal, and for some it might just be too nice to use. On the other hand, it has covered a healthy six-figure mileage in its time; presumably because there can't be many finer ways to travel. What a treat it would be to find out for certain.
SPECIFCATION | OVERFINCH RANGE ROVER CS680
Engine: 3,950cc, V8
Transmission: 5-speed manual, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 185@4,750rpm
Torque (lb ft): 230@3100rpm
MPG: Ha
CO2: Pass
First registered: 1990
Recorded mileage: 145,000
Price new: Enormous
Yours for: £59,950
(spec for standard car)
here is the original add .... with more photos.
https://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/land+rover/ra...
Perhaps it will sell to a continental buyer, but as others have said it’s been on sale for a good while now, and I don’t see COVID-19 and the economy shrinking by 20% in April helping the prospects of it selling.
Nice as it is my eyes were drawn to the image of the osr door card with what looks like a long bubble in the leather; for £60k I think I’d want it sorting and would expect a better standard of finish...
If I felt like chucking a pile of cash at a tarted up rangie I'd commission a restomod of my own, although I don't care for the originality/exclusivity of the overfinch to pay a cent over the odds. I guess like so many optimistically priced cars, they're waiting on the dream buyer.
But I really don't like the attention to detail that's being touted when the door trim looks like this:
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