NEW BUYING GUIDE SECTION
11 PAGES OF EXPERT ADVICE 0N BUYING AND OWNING
8-page P38 Buying Guide
NOT only misunderstood, but currently vastly underrated. P38 was launched in September 1994 with a tall order: to replace Range Rover Classic, the world’s best combined road and off-road vehicle, and to improve every aspect of it while taking the brand further upmarket to compete with the world’s top-end luxury cars. It totally succeeded. Its classless styling looked aesthetically perfect on wild moorland or the boulevards of Monaco, and its mechanical integrity took mountain tracks and autobahns in its stride.
Not everyone liked it though. Land Rover’s then owners, BMW, expressed concerns over quality of build and materials, an opinion that would lead to the car’s relatively short production run and replacement by the heavily Bmw-influenced L322 Range Rover. There was trouble at home, too, where some critics sulked over the conservative styling that lacked the visual flair of its predecessor. But they were up the wrong track, as evidenced by real buyers who clamoured to purchase the latest and best versions of P38. Bespoke specifications, Autobiography models and limited production Vogues sold almost as works of art.
Land Rover takes credit for that styling. Five prospective designs were created, involving well-known styling houses such as Pininfarina, Bertone and the British design team Heffernan-greenly. Land Rover’s own take on the theme and Bertone’s design were put to prospective buyers in customer clinics with the result that Land Rover’s own design went ahead as the most representative development of the original Range Rover theme: prestigiously modern, yet demonstrating the robustness of a Land Rover product. The design continued the iconic castellated clamshell bonnet, floating roofline and low waistline which helped make it immediately identifiable as a Range Rover. It was a handsome vehicle, if not visually exciting.
Under the skin, the car was mechanically similar to the Classic, though with an 18 per cent stiffer chassis giving improvements in handling and crash impact resistance together with side impact bars in the door shells. The body shell sat on improved mountings aimed at reducing noise, vibration and harshness (NVH), which it did admirably. Problems with panel fit on the earlier model were eliminated by using a stiffer monocoque steel body structure carrying unstressed aluminium front wings, door skins and lower tailgate.
Traditional beam axles and suspension were cleverly redesigned to impart ride and handling characteristics far ahead of the old Classic, allowing P38 to maximise the performance of new petrol engines: the 4.0-litre Rover V8 (a development of the earlier 3.9) and a 4.6-litre (longer stroke) Rover V8. Diesel power came from BMW whose 2.5-litre straight six turbo mill (electronically tweaked by Land Rover to provide a flat torque curve) provided six-cylinder smoothness for long-haul travel.
Transmission options included the existing R380 five-speed manual and a four-speed ZF auto box, both driving through a Borg Warner chain driven transfer box with electric ratio change and a viscous coupling providing centre diff lock effect.
The most significant technical change was the introduction of a Body electrical (also known as electronic) Control Module (BECM) which interfaced with multiple
electronic and electrical systems throughout the vehicle and facilitated communication between them. Advanced and pioneering, the BECM system would become responsible for much of P38’s reputation for unreliability and expensive repairs, mainly because garages outside of the Land Rover dealerships didn’t fully understand the implications of the diagnostic techniques, and the fact that a fault on one system could affect an apparently unrelated system elsewhere in the vehicle. But the system itself wasn’t without its inherent problems. For instance, the BECM consumed so much power that it was designed to go into sleep mode when the car was switched off, yet it could be awoken unintentionally by rogue radio interference from a range of external sources, causing flattened batteries and owners not being able to unlock their cars. Nowadays, the electronic systems are fully understood by independent specialists and most smaller garages know how far they can go with P38. BECMS can be tested, fixed or rebuilt and, of course, other original build and quality issues are long since eliminated.
P38 was continually upgraded during its production run, mainly aimed at taking the car further upmarket by introducing special editions and bespoke options by way of cosmetics and interior accessories. The V8's original Lucas GEMS engine management was later replaced by the Bosch Motronic system (Thor engines), while improved engine mountings and a structural sump further reduced vibration and noise for the occupants.
P38 today is undoubtedly a classic. Prices are nudging up from the bottom, still unnecessarily weighted down by past reputation for unreliability and expense. But disregarding those ironed-out problems, this is an expensive vehicle that is relatively costly to run – of course it is, it was the world’s top-end luxury cruiser and off-roader, family vehicle, tow truck, load lugger. And it achieved all that with competence and sophistication. A well-kept or restored example does all of this for a tiny fraction of the cost of buying and running a modern equivalent.
P38 is historic as the vehicle that propelled Land Rover to its reputation for building prestigious and competent vehicles, and for being Land Rover’s first brave foray into the now established era of multiple electronic vehicle control.
Today, too many P38s are too cheap because they’ve been neglected, and these cars tarnish the image. To look into the sales brochures from the final years of production shows the superb machine that P38 was in its day, and still can be.