Detail questions - three door Range Rovers

[Jimmy Recard]

At the moment I'm trying to get a three door Range Rover for my father. Nominal budget of £30k but that can change.


I know cars reasonably well but he'd definitely prefer to get a car that's all original so I'm trying to do all my checks.

Can anyone tell me if the car in the ad has factory-correct seats for a 1980 car?
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C749630

I'm not sure I'm that interested in this particular one but I'm trying to learn as much as I can before bothering owners and buying the wrong thing. I think that £30k should be easily enough to get what I'm looking for if I take some time and care

[paintman]

http://www.range-rover-classic.com/Home/land-rover...
Click on the menu on the left for later ones.

[Jimmy Recard]

Thanks paintman. That looks like a really useful resource. Just what I need right now

[ClaphamGT3]

The front seats look correct but are incorrectly trimmed. The rear seats are incorrect.

[squirdan]

what about this red one first supplied to Goodwood , that is for sale in cornwall and is in your budget

same price as a project car that sold at beaulieu over the weekend:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C782367

[Jimmy Recard]

squirdan said:

what about this red one first supplied to Goodwood , that is for sale in cornwall and is in your budget

same price as a project car that sold at beaulieu over the weekend:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C782367

Thanks - that one is on the shortlist and I really like it. The only thing that makes me hesitant is that normally he's not keen on red. His favourite colour is green so ideally I'd find something green.

I liked this until I saw the interior:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C685435

It appears to have the wrong steering wheel and that plastic trim on the transmission tunnel is wrong I think?
I hazily remember in these that the transmission tunnel was covered in carpet and had the gear lever, low range lever and an ash tray with a flip up lid.

[squirdan]

i've been on a 4 month learning curve myself and it seems to me there is a lot of bandit stuff out there

you are quite correct about those interior points. A 72 should just have the gear leaving sprouting out and shouldnt have a central cubby box. the mirrors are wrong (albeit the bonnet mounted ones give a poor view) and there should not be a passenger grab handle on the dash. also bound to be a big hole under the LR badge stuck to the middle of the dash

and when I see later bits like that it makes me wonder whether the car i.d. was simply xfrd to a later one...was quite common 10 years ago+. especially as for years the chassis itself was not stamped.

however, you can tell an early chassis as various body mounting points are different than the later ones

also probably the photos but that green looks a tiny bit light to me

have you been on the RRC thread within the classic car section? I posted what looked q a nice original lincoln green car on there a few weeks ago...worth a call i'd have thought...also £25k and London from memory

[Jimmy Recard]

squirdan said:

i've been on a 4 month learning curve myself and it seems to me there is a lot of bandit stuff out there

you are quite correct about those interior points. A 72 should just have the gear leaving sprouting out and shouldnt have a central cubby box. the mirrors are wrong (albeit the bonnet mounted ones give a poor view) and there should not be a passenger grab handle on the dash. also bound to be a big hole under the LR badge stuck to the middle of the dash

and when I see later bits like that it makes me wonder whether the car i.d. was simply xfrd to a later one...was quite common 10 years ago+. especially as for years the chassis itself was not stamped.

however, you can tell an early chassis as various body mounting points are different than the later ones

also probably the photos but that green looks a tiny bit light to me

have you been on the RRC thread within the classic car section? I posted what looked q a nice original lincoln green car on there a few weeks ago...worth a call i'd have thought...also £25k and London from memory

That's the problem - so much of this stuff was interchangeable for years so it's easy to find cars with the wrong parts and it casts doubt. That green one in Somerset I give the benefit of the doubt - I think it's a 1972 car and at some point has gained the later console and steering wheel and mirrors.

This has all come about because he completely fell in love with the Range Rover when he first saw one in 1971. He's had loads since (he has an L405 now), but never an early three door like he loves.

I was put off by that red one in Cornwall because it has been reupholstered and I'd like to find one with the early ridged vinyl - now I've seen that Rimmer Bros can supply the vinyl seat coverings, I'm not bothered at all. I'd just have those put on it.

It would be nice to find him something by Christmas so I'm in the same boat as you - getting myself up to speed. I'd be gutted to get one that seemed right and then turned out to be a dodgy reshell or something.


And no, I haven't seen that thread. I've just had a look and haven't found it - maybe I'm being stupid. Do you have a link? It sounds really helpful

[squirdan]

its here: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

"Nationwide Trim" are the experts apparently on RRC interiors and can rebuild the seats you are talking about generally known as "kitkat" seats. highly unlikely to find any original seats in good condition as they cracked up after about 3 years and hence why LR changed the design...

if you look at some of the £40k plus restored cars they often dont have the correct seats and details

here is an interior of a £53k car, a 1971 Suffix A apparently

and yet - that vintage did not have the small warning lights below the main binnacle. Not a big deal but does make you wonder.

hence I've bought a project and would rather spend the money having it done up so I know whats been done and how!

hope this helps

Edited by squirdan on Monday 5th September 17:33

[Jimmy Recard]

This is all the sort of thing I'm looking to find out!

I've got a long way to go. The odd small difference like the lights will be ok, as long as they're retrofitted rather than a symptom of a dodgy identity.

I'm not expecting original vinyl, but as long as it looks like the proper stuff, it'll be fine. He has his heart set on that. I've never seen original vinyl in these that wasn't split!

Have you got a thread for your project? No one in my family has any skill with this sort of thing at all so any work that it needs will be given to a specialist. Luckily there are a lot of good, reasonably priced specialists around here

[DonkeyApple]

Jimmy Recard said:

Thanks - that one is on the shortlist and I really like it. The only thing that makes me hesitant is that normally he's not keen on red. His favourite colour is green so ideally I'd find something green.

I liked this until I saw the interior:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C685435

It appears to have the wrong steering wheel and that plastic trim on the transmission tunnel is wrong I think?
I hazily remember in these that the transmission tunnel was covered in carpet and had the gear lever, low range lever and an ash tray with a flip up lid.

That car has the correct seat design for 72 but wrong fabric. It's been redone using Trevor's palamino stash when it should be plastic.

The wheel and trans tunnel trim is from an 1980-84/5 model.

And the rear floor is from a 4 door or a 90s export 2 door.

It looks like an absolute bitza with no viable history so it's not one for investment.

The ad also states in a wishy washy way that it might have been converted from a Carawagon. Well, a famous one has gone into hiding and no one wants to risk buying it

[DonkeyApple]

Anything from Rimmers will be coming from Trevor.

Very hard to find genuinely original cars as mentioned above. My colleague keeps several original cars from the main eras purely for technical reference when restoring a customer car.

We had a hell of a job researching the In Vogue and had several key pieces re-manufactured.

Interestingly JLR Heritage have been buying cars and talking to specialist suppliers as a lot of stuff like fabrics and rubbers are going back into production as part of their program.

Amusingly, they paid a huge sum for an 'original' 2 door that transpired to not be all that original.

[Jimmy Recard]

When I say that I'm looking for an original car, it's not for concourse shows. He'd be happy with vinyl that had the appearance of the original seats. I'd have thought it's basically impossible to get a 1971 Range Rover with uncracked original vinyl! It was pretty much impossible by 1980 I would have thought.

And I'm glad you say that about the green car - it looked great at first glance but the mirrors and then the interior were instantly all wrong to me - that's just from being a passenger in them as a child. I've found quite a few better cars in the meantime and I'm visiting one on Friday afternoon

I've put together a checklist and some reference photos. I have to make a decision on direction - a decent South African car and have it dismantled and rustproofed, or a good UK car with a lot of work already done. The South African route appeals as there is another car I want to import from there so I could organise them at the same time, but there are a couple for sale now that look worth the asking price.

This one in particular looks good:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C767439

[DonkeyApple]

It does doesn't it. Definitely ticks most boxes but you'd want to clearly establish just how much metal remained under all that under seal.

I always like Lincoln Green Rangies as you can fill a field with them and they are all different shades.

[Jimmy Recard]

I went down to Simba 4x4 today. No one was around but just because I love 'em, I had a quick look at two South African classics that are there

It goes on. Next time I will ring ahead. I had nothing to do for a couple of hours and I was leaving work for the day so no harm done

[squirdan]

Jimmy Recard said:

I went down to Simba 4x4 today. No one was around but just because I love 'em, I had a quick look at two South African classics that are there

It goes on. Next time I will ring ahead. I had nothing to do for a couple of hours and I was leaving work for the day so no harm done

did one of them have lovely looking leather seats?? they retrimmed them out there for me before I changed my mind, whoops

[Jimmy Recard]

squirdan said:

did one of them have lovely looking leather seats?? they retrimmed them out there for me before I changed my mind, whoops

Is it a white three door with two massive fans visible behind the grille?
Looking basically complete with a bit of tidying up needed?

ETA: Being serious no, your description doesn't match the two cars I saw

[squirdan]

Jimmy Recard said:

Is it a white three door with two massive fans visible behind the grille?
Looking basically complete with a bit of tidying up needed?

ETA: Being serious no, your description doesn't match the two cars I saw

was certainly a white 3 door, 1980 vintage

think they all are out there...

got your email, cheers, mentioned to Phil today he might here from you. well worth a look at what they are up to

[Jimmy Recard]

squirdan said:

was certainly a white 3 door, 1980 vintage

think they all are out there...

got your email, cheers, mentioned to Phil today he might here from you. well worth a look at what they are up to

Thanks for that mate. It depends on the car we go for in the end.

There was a white three door circa 1980 there. The interior appeared to be some reupholstered cloth affair I think but I only had the briefest of looks.