Buying Guide
FOUR DOOR (1981-95)
Four-door Range Rover
More practical and more affordable than their twodoor equivalents, first-generation Range Rovers still offer plenty of go-anywhere potential for your money
Abrilliant concept that had the market almost to itself for decades, the Range Rover was designed to have the off-road ability of a Land-Rover combined with the on-road ability of a road car, such as the contemporary Rover
P5B, using the same all-aluminium V8. Economy wasn’t important, but weight was kept down by cladding the car in alloy panels bolted to a steel inner body, which itself was bolted to a sturdy steel chassis.
Wipe-clean PVC seats featured in a hose-downable interior at first, but it soon became clear that most owners spent a lot more time onroad than off it so velour replaced PVC and a host of creature comforts were added.
Which brings us to the introduction of the four-door Range Rovers, which we’re focusing on here. Although early Range Rovers in the right condition can now push six figures, four-doors remain affordable, being a fraction of the price that they were when new, all without losing any of what makes the earliest examples such desirable machines. However, buyers need to remember that in becoming more luxurious and potent, the Range Rover inevitably became more complex and expensive to restore. What’s more, corrosion resistance is worse on later cars than early ones – superficially sound Range Rovers can hide all sorts of horrors beneath that handsome alloy skin.
Here, then, is what to look for – and, perhaps more importantly, what to avoid – when looking to buy one of these iconic mud-pluggers.
‘It soon became clear that most owners spent more time on the road than off it’