BAG yourself A Bargain

There's a great choice of Land Rovers to suit all tastes for under £5000

THIS MONTH'S cover feature shows how easy it is to find a great Land Rover for £1000 or less, provided you are prepared to give your bargain a bit of TLC. But we realise that not everyone has the skills and inclination to embark on that sort of project. That's the bad news. The good news is that there are some brilliant bargains to be had for between £2000 and £5000 that won't require long hours spent in the workshop to get it up to scratch.

For example, £2000 should find you a decent Td4 Freelander 1, with the added benefits of bodywork that doesn't rust and a reliable, economical engine.

Spend another grand or so and you should be able to find an excellent, lowmileage example.

The second-generation Range Rover P38 has a reputation for going wrong, but if you are a competent auto electrician you can get an awful lot of car for your money. £2000 will be buy you a gleaming example of a car that probably cost 20 times as much when brand new!

The same goes for the Discovery 2. Some examples do suffer from premature chassis rot, but you should be able to find a sound one for an outlay of £4000 or so.

Bodywork rust is the main issue with the older Discovery 1, but if you're prepared to pay £4000 you can expect something a bit special. And with a reliable Tdi engine, you can expect some happy and reliable motoring ahead.

Half-reasonable Range Rover Classics, Series IIIS, SIIAS and early Ninetys and One Tens can all be picked up for less than four grand, so you really are spoiled for choice.

Why not bag yourself a bargain this weekend? Check out the Classifieds (starting on page 190) and search online, too. And don't forget to bring along the

Price Check to make sure you're not paying over the odds. Happy hunting!

LRM

LRM

Some tasty classic Land Rovers are expected to be among the cars being auctioned off by celebrities at this year's Carfest South.

Classic Car Auctions is staging the special sale at the event on Saturday August 29, raising money for BBC Children in Need.

Celebrity auctioneers will whip the crowd into a frenzy as they lead proceedings and hammer away to excited bidders. There will also be a range of special charity lots on offer, with 100 per cent of the hammer price plus fees donated to charity.

One of the UK’S most popular automotive events, Carfest has attracted more than 265,000 classic car fans in the past three years and is the brainchild of classic car aficionado and new Top Gear presenter, Chris Evans.

This year's event takes place at 1979 F1 World Champion Jody Scheckter’s Laverstock Park Farm in Hampshire and will see the festival-like atmosphere boosted by performances from the likes of Billy Ocean and the Boomtown Rats. As well as a food festival, motoring entertainment will include a hill climb and car clubs displays.

Guy Lees-milne, general manager of Classic Car Auctions, said: "This is a great opportunity for classic car owners to sell their cars, with exposure to thousands of potential buyers.”

Those who are interested in selling their car in the auction can call CCA on 01926 640888, emailenquiries@ classiccarauctions.co.uk or enter online.