Range Rover Turbo D

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The immediate success of the Range Rover concept came as a surprise to Land Rover’s management team.

Designed as a more usable version of the original 'Series' models, its extraordinary on-road ability set it apart from everything else, opening up a whole new market sector which had hitherto gone unnoticed by any manufacturer at the time. Its clever suspension combined a 3 ½ tonne towing ability, a huge range of articulation off-road and limousine-like comfort on A and B roads.

No wonder everyone loved them – the police, farmers, even Royalty. Still looking fresh today with their simple elegant lines, a Classic Range Rover looks as good as it ever did - be it in deepest rural Herefordshire or posing on the Kings Road.

By the early ‘80s, the V8’s prodigious thirst was starting to affect sales. Across the globe, the Japanese diesel-powered competition were selling extremely well, while Land Rover’s market share was tumbling around its ears. A project to ‘dieselise’ the V8 petrol ended in disaster (they had done it before with the old 2 ¼-litre petrol used in the Series Land Rover) and the firm started to cast about looking for an off-the-shelf alternative.

In the end, the obvious choice was the 2.4-litre Italian-built VM engine which was already being fitted to the Rover SD1. The Range Rover Turbo D was unveiled to the press in 1986 (you may remember the piece by Chris Goffey from Top Gear), who were extremely harsh about its performance, which let’s face it was never going to be up to the level of the 3.9-litre V8 petrol. It wasn’t as bad as they made out, with a Range Rover Turbo D taking a number of diesel world records at MIRA, including 24-hours at an average of over 100mph which certainly proved a point.

Diesel sales peaked at 40% of Range Rover output, which can be seen as a success by any measure, most of them being sold to high mileage drivers on account of its 30mpg+ potential.

Classic Range Rovers with under 15,000 miles from new are rare indeed, but to find a Turbo D must be unique (surely?). This prime Alaskan Blue example was purchased new through Knowles of Epperstone for £23,058.31. Its first owner kept it for 20 years, using the vehicle less and less frequently until he gave up driving altogether at the age of 89.

It then passed to a gentleman in Ipswich before the vendor was able to acquire it for his collection in 2009. During this period, very few miles had been added, the odometer now showing just 14,991 miles. Featured in Land Rover Monthly in May 2009, they described it as being ‘like new’. Sitting on its original tyres, the interior still looks like it has never been sat in, the whole car looking very much as it did on the day it was delivered.

The vendor has just treated it to a comprehensive fluids service and a fresh MOT which expires in January 2016. This genuinely original example, which critically has never been restored, offers a unique opportunity to join the latest Classic Range Rover craze with something that nobody else will have. 

Please note that the personalised number shown in the photographs is not included in the sale.