1989 Range Rover 3.5 Vogue SE

First registered on 03 April 1989 and out-shopped in the wonderful colour combination of Caspian Blue over a pleated grey leather interior, this desirable 3.5-litre EFi-engined Range Rover Classic has enjoyed the company of eight owners in total, which means eight individual ‘honeymoon’ periods of ownership, though it would seem this example has been cherished throughout its lifetime.

Purchased by the owner earlier in 2021, the vehicle has been used for weekend jaunts and lazy dry-weather drives, giving plenty of time to enjoy the unique characteristics of this classic luxurious workhorse.

Garaged throughout the vendor’s ownership, in the months since purchasing the vehicle the vendor has had a new radiator fitted, new head gasket, new exhaust system and new sump gasket, with the work carried out by a Land Rover specialist garage.

Having enjoyed their short stint with the car, our vendor has chosen to put it up for sale simply due to lack of use, meaning one lucky bidder has the opportunity to obtain a fantastically well-sorted Range Rover Classic.

The Caspian Blue paintwork suits the regal nature of the Range Rover Vogue well, and the condition of this particular example is very good indeed.

Evidently cherished throughout its lifetime, the paint and bodywork is fantastic and presents very well for its age and mileage. There is a few minor marks to the front end, door edges and bumpers as you’d expect, but nothing particularly untoward or eye-catching.

There is a small patch of bubbling noted around the offside indicator/headlight housing on the front bumper, though this is very minor and has been documented in the gallery below. Speaking of the headlights, there is no cracks or damage that we could see to either the headlights or lower fog lights, with the rear lights being in a similarly excellent condition.

Up above, the roof and gutters look to be in good order, as do the lower edges of the doors and arches on this particular example. There is some very minor surface bubbling noted inside the rear nearside arch, along with some signs of very early corrosion along the inner edges of the boot, as seen in the photographs below.

All four wheels are in excellent condition with only a minor graze noted on the nearside, whilst the lower bumper splitter, side steps and grilles are all in good order and free from damage, though there is some fading noted on the latter.

Being a Vogue model, this ‘Classic’ represented the height of luxury back when it was new in the late 1980’s. As such, this interior is wonderfully comfortable and has numerous ‘toys’ from the factory, including the sunroof which is in fully operable condition.

The leather seats are heavily worn, however, and are the only particularly notable signs of the car having covered over 66,000 miles, as there are numerous heavy creases, small cracks and light rips in the seat covers, with the driver’s seat naturally being the most heavily worn.

Other than the seats, however, we’re pleasantly impressed by the interior of this ‘Classic’ overall. The carpets are in good condition having been preserved by the addition of a second over-mat in all bar the driver’s footwell, the centre console is in great shape, and even the graphics on the switchgear haven’t worn away too heavily.

The door cards are also in fine order with only some light usage marks here-and-there, whilst the headliner is taut throughout with the only slight sagging being noted on the sunroof panel itself.

As far as we could see, all of the systems in the car were working as they should, and there were no warning lights illuminated on the dashboard.

Range Rover enthusiasts will know that one word springs to mind when talking about ‘Classic’ chassis - underseal. Thankfully, we can confirm that this example has been fully Waxoyl’ed in April 2011, with the certificate for this included in the history folder. As such, the chassis has been kept in excellent condition throughout, and we saw no signs of any issues that would set alarm bells ringing.

On our short test drive, the car behaved fantastically and gave us plenty of confidence. Starting with ease even when hot, the gearbox happily shifted up-and-down without any untoward noises or sensations, the steering did not exhibit any sign of alignment issues, and the brakes did not pull to the side.

In the engine bay, the 3.5-litre EFi engine looks to be in good order, and the numerous warning stickers around the engine bay have survived well and are a lovely touch of originality. The block and ancillaries are visually in need of some elbow grease and an afternoon of love, but everything seems to be working perfectly well, which is the most important thing, of course.

We hope you have a few hours on your hands if you sit down with the history folder for this ‘Rangie, as it’s certainly sizeable.

A gargantuan folder of invoices, the original book pack, manuals and service record are all present, along with jar of Caspian Blue touch-up paint for those more unsightly stone chips that will naturally occur with regular use.

Of particular note are the aforementioned Waxoyl treatment certificate, an invoice for a new headlining in October 2014 (£480) an extensive major service including plugs, HT leads and a new steering damper in April 2016 (£1189) and an invoice for a recent oil and filter service in November 2020.

There is also evidence this example has spent some time in the bodyshop, with an invoice totalling a slightly jaw-dropping £7,672 from Southern Classic in September 2012, along with a genuine mountain of invoices, largely from specialist Cornwall Autos for various parts and miscellaneous maintenance, with several of these invoices being comfortably in four-figure price territory.

We love a good ‘Classic’ here at The Market, and this particular one even had one of our concierges recalling the halcyon days of their youth, being ferried around in their family Range Rover as a child - the power of four-wheeled nostalgia is not to be underestimated!

This 1989 Range Rover Vogue is finished in a wonderfully classy colour scheme, and has benefitted from significant investment and expenditure during its history. As such, the engine is in rude health and the car is in overall fantastic condition, meaning we estimate a value of £14,000 to £18,000.

Viewing is always encouraged and as stated this car is located at THE MARKET headquarters near Abingdon; we are open Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm and to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing to make an appointment. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.