Range Rover Vogue TDI Estate Manual

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In 1970, Land Rover took a leap into new territory with a new kind of hybrid; part all-terrain 4x4, part luxury saloon. The Range Rover.

No longer would that green oval badge just be about carrying sheep and milk churns, here was a vehicle that could just as easily carry you to dinner as it could to the Dales. Land Rover’s marketing team dubbed it ‘a car for all reasons’.

Like its more rugged counterparts, the Range Rover (designed more by the engineering team than the styling department) had a lightweight aluminium body built on a separate steel chassis. Into this was dropped Rover’s trusty 3.5-litre V8 driving all of the wheels all of the time (a popular turbodiesel option was offered from 1988).

Underneath, the Landy’s leaf springs were replaced with coil springs (still live axle) and disc brakes were standard all round. Because the heavy body was prone to roll, in 1981, the ride height was lowered and anti-roll bars added front and rear. In 1981, a more practical four-door joined the range.

Acknowledging the new customers the vehicle was attracting, 1984 saw a major push to drive the Ranger further up market, and the top-of-the range Vogue models now had Jaguar-style equipment levels.

This August 1984 Range Rover Vogue 2.5-litre TDi has been with the same family for virtually all of its life – save the first six weeks. Although we are assured that it has always been maintained ‘regardless of cost’, alas the paperwork to back this up could not be readily located as the catalogue went to press. A rare manual model, it has covered 110,200 miles from new.

In top-of-the-range Vogue spec, it has a high level of equipment, including ice cold air conditioning (which works as it should), electric windows and mirrors, radio cassette and a very smart velour interior which has been protected by seat covers from new. The vendor advises that the central locking has mysteriously stopped working since the battery went flat, although it was working fine from the key fob beforehand. A reconditioned ABS pump has also recently been fitted.

Currently on SORN but MOTd until September 2015 (with no advisories recorded), the car is said to drive very well and retains its owner’s handbook and two sets of keys.

These first generation Range Rovers are now bona fide members of the classic car community and good examples are rising in value.