1971 Range Rover £49,995
This early example is very original and has a near-perfect Palomino interior. Paul Hardiman delves into the details
This ‘ Suffix A’ Range Rover looks to have been titivated over the years rather than stripped back to the chassis for restoration, but it also looks as if almost nothing has been left disregarded.
The car is most notable for having a near-perfect pair of Palomino vinyl front seats, the bases of which are incredibly rare new- old- stock and just about unobtainable. It also has a nearperfect transmission tunnel mat, for which the vendor has been offered £1000. Sadly the instrument pod is slightly cracked at the top corners as is normal – perfect ones are seldom encountered.
All of the early-type door architecture and fittings are in place, and at the back it retains its original jack, tools and foot pump clipped inside the right rear wing, plus an original spare wheel cover.
Structurally all appears well with no rot in the sills or splash guards. The shock absorber towers look fine and the axle swivels and all the suspension rubbers look in good shape. There’s slight dampness under the differentials and a little oil under the transfer case, which is all normal, but the back of the transmission drum brake is basically dry. There is slight paint flaking and surface rusting in the corners and seams of the front inner wings. The correct earlytype small-hole Rostyle wheels have been refinished and wear a set of rare originaltype tubed Michelin X knobblies. The panels are straight, gaps good, paint decent and it retains all the original early details such as Wingard mirrors, embossed badges, exposed rivet heads in the door shuts and silicone-filled seams around the rear pillars.
The motor is clean and tidy with no obvious leaks and the car has recently had a service, which included changing the transmission and axle oils. There’s Lumenition electronic ignition and the original fan shroud remains, again something you don’t see every time.
The petrol V8 – the only engine option at the time – starts easily with a bit of choke and takes a while to warm through. Driving an early Range Rover always reminds you how much they were developed during their lifetime but this one behaves itself with little lean or slop and feels pretty taut for an early car, making the 56- odd thousand miles recorded entirely believable.
There’s no power steering on these early Range Rovers but it’s all very manageable and unintimidating, with a fantastic view from the high seat. Oil pressure is 30psi warm, which is fine for a Rover V8, and during our drive the temperature gauge didn’t get far off the stop.
There’s little lash in the transmission for one of these in high or low range. The gearshift is typically long throw and vague.
It’s being sold with handbook, Land Rover Classic certificate, spare key and an MOT until November. Early Range Rovers are the must-have accessory right now, and this one costs less than a similar car would in London. If those perfect original seats and accessories aren’t enough and you must have the ultimate collector version – a pre-production Velar prototype – then the seller has got one of those as well.