Taken the plunge - RR Classic

[rejn]

Well I've been hovering over buying a Range Rover for a little while - lost out to one of Ebay a few weeks ago due to amateur bidding on my part, but yesterday I picked up my new pride and joy.

The guy selling it seemed a cut above the average ebay seller - since I'd won the car, he'd given it a once over and changed the front pads and the steering column UJ - seemed very nice of him, and quite a way better than what I was expecting.

We picked the car up on Saturday from Colchester, and drove through serious weather all day - it felt great to be in a comfy 4x4 and the perfect car for navigating some of the flooded roads!



Nothing fell off or broke, although a couple of bits of electrics slightly mis-behaved: I'm not convinced the electronics controlling the air suspension is 100% - it didn't always respond to the buttons pressed, and the cruise control seemed a little reluctant to help out - but if that's the worst of it, I'll be happy!

[Shaw Tarse]

Great looking car.

[ClaphamGT3]

Excellent choice Sir - that one looks lovely!

I was tempted to have a go at that one myself but Mrs C cast me a steely glance and enquired what I'd be getting rid of to make room

[BLUETHUNDER]

In my time I have had three. 3.5 SC. 3.9 Vogue and a 3.9 LSE. The best RRNA,s I ever had.

[mister.t]

Saw this one for sale, looked incredibly nice! Possibly an ex-Land Rover vehicle too

[GBB]

mister.t said:

Saw this one for sale, looked incredibly nice! Possibly an ex-Land Rover vehicle too

Same, absolute bargain at price you paid for it.

[rejn]

Thanks everyone - I'm really pleased with the car. Ebay seems to be full of junk, though, so it was mostly a matter of being patient and then bidding strongly when a good one came along. My wife is pleased that I've stopped spending all of my time following auctions on ebay... I'm not sure she was quite so pleased when I started looking at maintenance and tuning parts last night!

When I was buying it, I thought K618BAC might be an old Rover management car - as my mum had a metro years ago with a BAC number plate which was ex-BL - anybody have any idea how I could find out? I've done a few searches on the internet but not uncovered much - from the paperwork that came with the car, it looks like it's been in Essex for most of it's life - I think it's got all the MoT and tax discs from new, so I'll have a look through those and see if there's anything that gives any more information.

Having driven land-rovers for years, and we had a brief spell of owning a Freelander a few years ago, it's nice to finally own a proper land rover!

Richard.

[rejn]

Actually I just did a bit of digging on number plates - I don't know if this will answer if it's an ex-Land Rover car, but looking at similar number plates (and therefore, I assume, cars registered at the same time), there's a bit of similarity:

K601BAC - no longer on the road
K602BAC - Range Rover
K603BAC - no longer on the road
K604BAC - no longer on the road
K605BAC - no longer on the road
K606BAC - Range Rover
K607BAC - Range Rover
K608BAC - Range Rover
K609BAC - no longer on the road
K610BAC - no longer on the road
K611BAC - no longer on the road
K612BAC - no longer on the road
K613BAC - Range Rover
K614BAC - no longer on the road
K615BAC - no longer on the road
K616BAC - no longer on the road
K617BAC - no longer on the road
K618BAC - Range Rover =========== this is my one
K619BAC - no longer on the road
K620BAC - no longer on the road
K621BAC - Discovery
K622BAC - Discovery
K623BAC - no longer on the road
K624BAC - Discovery
K625BAC - no longer on the road
K626BAC - Discovery
K627BAC - Discovery
K628BAC - Discovery
K629BAC - Discovery

I've already convinced myself it's an ex-LR car - what do you think?

[ClaphamGT3]

rejn said:

Actually I just did a bit of digging on number plates - I don't know if this will answer if it's an ex-Land Rover car, but looking at similar number plates (and therefore, I assume, cars registered at the same time), there's a bit of similarity:

K601BAC - no longer on the road
K602BAC - Range Rover
K603BAC - no longer on the road
K604BAC - no longer on the road
K605BAC - no longer on the road
K606BAC - Range Rover
K607BAC - Range Rover
K608BAC - Range Rover
K609BAC - no longer on the road
K610BAC - no longer on the road
K611BAC - no longer on the road
K612BAC - no longer on the road
K613BAC - Range Rover
K614BAC - no longer on the road
K615BAC - no longer on the road
K616BAC - no longer on the road
K617BAC - no longer on the road
K618BAC - Range Rover =========== this is my one
K619BAC - no longer on the road
K620BAC - no longer on the road
K621BAC - Discovery
K622BAC - Discovery
K623BAC - no longer on the road
K624BAC - Discovery
K625BAC - no longer on the road
K626BAC - Discovery
K627BAC - Discovery
K628BAC - Discovery
K629BAC - Discovery

I've already convinced myself it's an ex-LR car - what do you think?

When was it registered? If 01.08.92 (or even 01.01.93) it could simply be a block allocation to a big dealer. If you give the VIN to the RRR they may be able to help.

[mister.t]

Does seem like a LR Car, though the purpose it could have served may be completely innocent.

All 3 door Discovery's when launched had G***WAC registrations, and many other Range Rover's & Defenders were registered with the same suffix at that time. The Freelander's were launched on R***BAC (I think?), and I know that genuine Camel Trophy cars are often registered with BAC suffixes.

P 38's were launched in M***CVC, so the last two digits again very similar.

[rejn]

ClaphamGT3 said:

When was it registered? If 01.08.92 (or even 01.01.93) it could simply be a block allocation to a big dealer. If you give the VIN to the RRR they may be able to help.

Looking at the log book, looks like it was registered on 25 November, 1992, so no. I'll talk to the RRR and see what info they have.

thanks,
Richard.

[RicksAlfas]

Looks great!

Is that quite an early one to have air suspension, or was it offered for a while as an option?

[anonymous-user]

RicksAlfas said:

Looks great!

Is that quite an early one to have air suspension, or was it offered for a while as an option?

Classic was used a test bed for the air suspension planned on the P38.

[RicksAlfas]

St John Smythe said:

Classic was used a test bed for the air suspension planned on the P38.

Yes thanks, I knew that.
But the OP's is a 1992 with air and mine was registered January 1994 (hard dash) without, hence my wondering if it was an option rather than standard.

Do the RRR have access to build dates and what have you? I wonder if mine sat around for a long time before being registered.
Do you have to be a member of the RRR for them to help?

[rejn]

RicksAlfas said:

Yes thanks, I knew that.
But the OP's is a 1992 with air and mine was registered January 1994 (hard dash) without, hence my wondering if it was an option rather than standard.

Do the RRR have access to build dates and what have you? I wonder if mine sat around for a long time before being registered.
Do you have to be a member of the RRR for them to help?

I think I read somewhere that air suspension was an option - no idea when it was introduced, though.

And I still haven't found out about the RRR - I'm planning to e-mail them before too long to find out what they can do, etc.

I'm more excited about the long weekend I've got coming up, though, and throwing my wife and daughter into the Range Rover and heading over to Gloucestershire for a long weekend: I'm not sure how much off-roading I want to do, but it'd be rude not to try at all, wouldn't it?!

[kooky guy]

Air suspension was standard on SE models I think, but I can't remember when from.

[rejn]

kooky guy said:

Air suspension was standard on SE models I think, but I can't remember when from.

Ahaa - that would make sense - I think mine's an SE (well I think it has a sticker on the boot saying so, anyway!!!)

[LHD]

rejn said:

Actually I just did a bit of digging on number plates - I don't know if this will answer if it's an ex-Land Rover car, but looking at similar number plates (and therefore, I assume, cars registered at the same time), there's a bit of similarity:

K601BAC - no longer on the road
K602BAC - Range Rover
K603BAC - no longer on the road
K604BAC - no longer on the road
K605BAC - no longer on the road
K606BAC - Range Rover
K607BAC - Range Rover
K608BAC - Range Rover
K609BAC - no longer on the road
K610BAC - no longer on the road
K611BAC - no longer on the road
K612BAC - no longer on the road
K613BAC - Range Rover
K614BAC - no longer on the road
K615BAC - no longer on the road
K616BAC - no longer on the road
K617BAC - no longer on the road
K618BAC - Range Rover =========== this is my one
K619BAC - no longer on the road
K620BAC - no longer on the road
K621BAC - Discovery
K622BAC - Discovery
K623BAC - no longer on the road
K624BAC - Discovery
K625BAC - no longer on the road
K626BAC - Discovery
K627BAC - Discovery
K628BAC - Discovery
K629BAC - Discovery

I've already convinced myself it's an ex-LR car - what do you think?

It's ex-LR works.

[Vixpy1]

Mine is a 92 with air suspension

[rejn]

LHD said:

It's ex-LR works.

Thanks LHD. Any idea how or where I can find out more?

Are RRR the best people to contact?