If you reuse this image, please credit and link back to historicracer.com.This car reminds me of my youth. Watching Steed with his bowler hat and brolly, a green Range Rover with full length sun roof catching the baddies with style and panache. Back then, the Range Rover was a ground breaking car. I can recall as a kid reading the first review in Motor Magazine. Pitched against such unlikely competitors as a standard Land Rover and even a Mercedes G Wagen, the Range Rover set a new standard for the concept of ‘one car that does it all’.
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It didn’t take long before specialist companies picked up on what was then a uniquely capable vehicle, with people like Overfinch creating big block American engined versions and many other upgrades. Then the convertible conversion appeared.
I’ve only ever seen a handful of them and that was many years ago, so this press announcement by Silverstone Auctions of this beautiful looking conversion being consigned for sale really struck a chord. Torsional rigidity is a phrase that springs to mind. I imagine that scuttle shake and a little flexing might be taking place when you drive it, but these old convertible Range Rovers are a striking sight. The last time I recall seeing one in the flesh was on a beach in the 1990’s. Not with an English Gent’s bowler in the seat, but in classic surfer pose, boards propped up in the rear. The salty environment will have played havoc with that one, wherever it may be today…
The story goes that this car is a 1972 model 3 door, actually converted in the late 1980’s to this specification. Allegedly, the car changed hands in a card game in true Avengers tradition, before being stored by it’s new victorious owner for many years. Unearthed by it’s vendor after an Indiana Jones style search after hearing the tale, the car was found in storage in remarkable fine shape, largely thanks to the liberal under sealing that had been applied to the ladder chassis.
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He then spent £20,000 on a full restoration to it’s present condition, including recommissioning that Rover SD1 engine with SU carbs. The total milage showing is just 62,500 miles. Silverstone are pitching the guide price at £35,000 to £40,000, but in my view that’s conservative. There are plenty of three door Range Rovers to choose from on the market, but I cannot recall seeing one of these in many a year. I can’t help but think that this car could achieve significantly more that that with the right bidders in the room. Full details are on the Silverstone Auctions website here. It will be interesting to see the result.
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