1988 Range Rover 3.5 Vogue

Owned since the mid nineties by a Land Rover employee, this (rare manual) Range Rover was treated to almost the entire catalogue of accessories in addition to a rigorous and regular servicing regime. All important repairs (see invoice below from 2015) to the chassis were carried out professionally as well as new inner wheelarches (common pain points on Range Rover Classics), as well as a fresh coat of underseal.

The current owner and vendor bought the Range Rover in January 2016 and then immediately consigned it to Land Rover experts Frog’s Island who crawled over every inch of it and replaced everything that needed replacing. The final bill came to almost £2,000 but has left the vehicle running very well. (Again please see invoice below.) It also looks much better now as the owner also instructed them to remove the side-steps, bullbar and auxiliary lights that had been fitted; few cars are as timeless as the Range Rover Classic and the simplicity of the original Spen King design needs no additional baubles…

It’s been carefully stored ever since, only being used to attend two shoots and to collect and dispose of one Christmas tree! He’s now only selling – with no reserve – as the daily driver is another Range Rover, unfortunately making this one surplus to requirements and taking up valuable storage space.

The bodywork is good, being very presentable and free of rust in the usual hotspots. The upper-tailgate frame sides have some corrosion on the outer surface and there is a little bubbling around the front indicators  - see photos in the Gallery. The Caspian Blue paintwork is generally in very good condition with just a single blemish on the bonnet and some fading on the lower tailgate. Importantly the flanks are free of ripples and the panel gaps are as good as the day they left the factory.

(That means they’re wide, but consistent, reminding us of the apocryphal tale of the BMW executive who boasted to the engineers at Land Rover that BMW tested the integrity of the seals on their car’s doors by locking a cat inside overnight; if the cat suffocated, they knew that everything was within spec. The Land Rover team admitted that they did something similar. They judged that their work had been successful, they told him, if the cat hadn’t managed to escape overnight…)

Importantly, the inner rear wheelarches inside the door shuts are solid and free of rot and structural corrosion. Enthusiasts will know that this is unusual, as this – along with the boot floor, which is also solid on this example – is one of the first places to go.

The updated chromed bumpers, reminiscent of those fitted to the Spen King-inspired three-door, CSK Range Rovers of the period, were left in place as they look so good. The Range Rover’s alloy wheels were taken from a later Vogue SE model and are in fabulous condition. They are shod with almost new General Grabber all-terrain tyres.

A height-adjustable towbar and twin-electric sockets have been fitted, making it the ideal towing vehicle. Rear light guards give an element of protection should the new owner feel the need to venture off-road.

The cloth seats are in fabulous condition, being free of rips, tears and major scuffs bar a small area in the centre of the driver’s seat base. They have been protected with a set of quality seat covers, which will be supplied with the car.

The rest of the interior is very good too. The carpets are in similarly good condition having been protected with genuine Land Rover rubber overmats front and rear. The headlining is sagging.

The parcel shelf and spare wheel fibreboard are both present and in good condition. A reasonably modern Sony head unit has been fitted, along with four modern speakers; two in the rear of the headlining and two in the front doors.

The dashboard is free of the sort of extraneous screw holes and additional gauges that plague a lot of examples. A new dash pod was fitted as the old one had frozen at 100,000 miles. This is a common problem and so the odometer reading of just under 5,000 miles has been incurred since that work was done is 100,000 miles shy of the actual distance the vehicle has covered. However, the outer trim on the pod is loose and needs clipping into place.

Frog’s Island also undertook some other interior work like replacing window and foglight switches. Even the electric mirrors, windows, puddle lamps and rear door marker lights work!

The only other interior work that needs doing is to replace the gearlever gaiter; the existing one is an aftermarket item that doesn’t fit terribly well so it will need replacing or modifying to fit.

The recommissioning work included a full service, plus a deep clean of the fuel injection and induction systems. The ignition system was stripped down and rebuilt to the correct specification with new parts where required, including new HT leads, distributor cap and rotor arm, spark plugs, and a coil. Subsequent tests showed that the emissions were well within the Land Rover-defined parameters. The underbonnet area itself is clean and neatly presented.

The suspension comprises uprated Terrafirma dampers (including the steering damper) and new, standard-height springs. These, in addition to new bushes and mounts, means that the vehicle handles way better than standard and is in a different league to the usual tired examples that are flooding the market in an attempt to benefit from a rising tide.

It also goes rather well too thanks to the recent recommissioning work and the fact that is has the (very rare) manual gearbox option, which gives the driver much better control over which gear to use. The manual ‘box also saps less power than the automatic gearbox and should help the Range Rover return better-than-average fuel economy.

The four-wheel-drive system works perfectly, including the low-range gearbox and the centre differential lock. Potential bidders are invited to come and experience just how well the car drives for themselves; we think you’ll be impressed.

Although it has travelled a very small mileage in the last few years, the vendor states that it is always ultra reliable and starts first time. The car starts, runs and drives well (please see the video for details).

In preparation for a new MOT, a local mechanic has gone through the vehicle ensuring all is in order, even running a compression test where all cylinders measured at a consistent 160.

The online MOT history shows absolutely nothing of concern. The Range Rover has just passed its latest MOT adding to a decent MOT history. That’s a testament to the care its received and the money that’s been lavished on it while in the care of the previous two owners. 

The car also comes with its original handbook and owner’s wallet in addition to a decent number of old invoices and most of the past MOTs giving a good confidence of the mileage. 

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained to a very high standard.

The Range Rover Classic’s renaissance has stuttered somewhat in the past couple of years; after a period in which the model was achieving what were frankly silly prices, their values have stabilized. For the time being, anyway.

This means that potential owners can now find some very good examples for a lot less than would have been the case a few years ago. Like this one, which has had over £5k spent on it in the past 3 years but which we think will fetch between £6,000 - £9,000. However, it’s being sold without reserve, so a canny bidder might just be able to pick up a bargain…

Viewing is always encouraged, and this car can be seen here at Patina HQ in Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.