COAL #17: 1984 Range Rover Three Door – A British Icon

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– Posted on June 18, 2023

Maybe it is too early to publish this now as there will be more action later in the year!

My first experience with a Range Rover was in the early eighties, when I was working Saturdays at the local Volvo specialist. Tom, the owner, had bought a Range Rover (couple of years old) which he primarily used as a tow car. Some clients need their Volvo picked up, or Tom bought a Volvo for the trade which needed transporting to his garage. As often as I could I accompanied him whenever he went away with the Range Rover.

I even got to drive the beast itself sometimes. It was something I had not experienced before: high on the road, excellent view all round, comfortable seats and suspension. It was fast with that V8 engine, it leaned quite a bit in the corners (like my 2CV but not to that extent!), you almost felt like you owned the road. I promised myself I would have a Range Rover one day.

 

That day came about 13 years ago when I was thinking about getting a good winter vehicle. I always had used my classics all year round but it did no good to the Jaguar 420. It would also be nice to have a strong towing vehicle for a car and a trailer with garden waste. As a winter vehicle it would be nice if it would have four wheel drive. No diesel please as I had no experience with that. Economically a diesel was only interesting if you do high mileages per year which I was not planning to do. So it had to be petrol or, in case of a large expensive-on-fuel engine, possible to convert to LPG.

At that time in the Netherlands, cars over 25 years of age were exempt from road tax. This made it attractive to buy an old car and fit LPG. LPG was priced much lower than petrol.

I started looking for an old Range Rover. These had diesel engines (out of the question for me) or the faithful old 3.5 litre V8 Rover (Buick designed) engines. The V8 engines would run perfectly on LPG, I knew of a few examples. As always when on the outlook for a car, I had my list of preferences which were: had to be the iconic three door model, no rust on chassis or floors, good mechanically. Ideally with good paint and an interior not needing much work. And not expensive of course, I never bought expensive cars. Left hand drive, which ruled out the biggest source (the UK). I was not afraid to buy from another country and do the import stuff, I had done that before. Minor work needed on a car would not be a problem.

Not looking for any of this!

 

I searched for many months. There were quite a lot of cars available but the three door variety was the rarest. As for any older British car, this was because rust was very good at attacking these seemingly robust cars. The cars that I did see either had a bodytoo rusty or needed too much work. There were some restored cars but these were too far outside my price range.

So I started looking elsewhere. In France, the three door variety had been popular for a longer period of time – I believe this had to do with lower tax. On a French online marketplace I found quite a few available. Most of the adverts online also mentioned an email address. This was ideal, before the internet dealing with such advertisements were out of the question for me because I might be just able to read and understand French, but speaking is out of the question. Email meant I just could reply in English to the emails and see what happened.

The original advertisement of my future car.

 

One owner, Gérard, did reply in English. He had a movie company, he had built up his Range Rover to tow a trailer. The car looked very good on the 3 or 4 pictures that were shown in the ad so I asked for more pictures and more information. A few days later I received many more pictures and information about the car.

It was a 1984 car, originally from the Netherlands (!). It had been taken apart a few years earlier, the little rust that was there properly repaired and the car painted a nice dark green color. The engine was from a later model, meaning it had Electronic Fuel Injection instead of the usual double Stromberg carburetors. It had received a rebuild some years prior, new bearings, pistons and a new camshaft were installed. The gearbox had been changed to a more modern ZF four speed with lock up (4HP22), as used in later Range Rovers and also in various BMW, Jaguar.

 

The seats and rear bench had been recovered in tan leather. A wooden steering wheel was fitted. Electric tinted windows and air conditioning were added from a scrapped, last year three-door. Gérard probably liked bling so stainless steel bumpers, stainless steel covers for the C posts, alu sidebars, alu door grips, big chrome door mirrors and a chromed grille were added. The rear window was also framed in stainless steel. The wheels were of the posh Vogue type.

In front of the beautiful farm.

 

This all looked to good to be true! I made an appoint to have a look. He assured me the car would be in a sound condition to drive to home, which would be a distance of around 540 miles. So with my brother, always in for a car adventure, we took a flight to near his home in Normandy. He picked us up from the airport in a modern car and we drove to his beautiful 200 year old farm house. The RR was everything as promised, maybe even better. We agreed on a price which was higher than I originally had set aside for buying a RR, but then again I had not expected to find a car in such good condition. After admiring his 200 year old farm house and a coffee we drove off.

Not happy…

 

Only to return a few hours later, on the back of a towing truck. The car had conked out on the motorway. I checked all usual stuff but could not find anything. Via our insurance we arranged a tow truck to bring back the car to the farm house. Gérard immediately got to it, checking ignition and fuel systems. It could be that the rotor was faulty, he had a spare. The engine ran good again but it was late in the evening now. We were offered dinner and a spare bedroom.

In the morning we said goodbye again, hoping not to return. The drive home was fairly uneventful, save for the fact that the car would splutter and not go faster than 60 mph. We checked again everything but could not see anything wrong. The engine still went well, just not fast. We took the slower roads and arrived at my home very late in the evening. Pfff……

 

At my garage I started investigating and switching components. I had a friend who was experienced working with EFI looking at the fuel side of things. After two days we got the engine running well up to the point that everything was as it should be!

With the help of a LPG installer I fitted a LPG system, with the tank fitted underneath the rear floor replacing the fuel tank. A small replacement fuel tank was fitted next to it. The car now ran flawlessly. It was a dream to drive. The air con did not work, there was a leak somewhere. I never got to the point to get this working. I fitted a remote central locking system, the car being too wide to comfortably lean over to unlock or lock the passenger door. I replaced the chrome C style covers and the chrome grille for standard black parts. Replaced the ugly aftermarket wooden steering wheel for a standard wheel.

In my garage.

 

We used the car for about 18 months. My wife would drive the car but not enjoying it. It felt too big for her. My son, just had its drivers license, loved the car and took it whenever he had the chance.

The new road tax rule

Then suddenly the road tax rules changed in the Netherlands. The tax-exemption age had gone up from 25 years to 40 years. For my Range Rover it meant I now had to pay €200 per month compared to €nil. For a hobby car (it was not needed for commuting) this was too much.

The new tax rule did have a big effect on old cars and how these were used. Many classic car specialists, importers and traders went bust. Heavy 25-40 year old cars like my RR instantly were almost worthless so selling would mean losing quite a bit of money.

The market for old Range Rovers changed. Because the RR is a body-on-frame car, it is relatively easy to change the body. There were companies importing Range Rovers from the seventies from everywhere, did not matter if they had rusted bodies, as long as the chassis was good (which they usually were). The body was then exchanged for one from a much newer RR (as said these could be found very cheap now). The result was say, a 1993 luxury Range Rover on an old chassis. Because the chassis contains the chassis number, it was regarded as an old car by the authorities and as such free of road tax. There still are many, many of these converted Range Rovers here in the Netherlands. They are easily spotted because nearly all are the four door version and have the latest type of (soft) dashboard and interior.

Outside for a month when the roof of the barn was renewed (Sept. 22).

 

I could have done the same of course. Replace the chassis of my Range Rover for an old chassis. However, I did not like that idea. I had a perfectly good car and did not want to destroy that. In ten years time the RR would reach 40 years of age and be exempt from road tax. Everyone said I was crazy to put away the car for so long, but that is what I did. It has been under cover in a shed for 9,5 years now.

 

It will come out this autumn when I will prepare it for its freedom again next year February. It will need new tires, maybe the brakes need overhauling. Fluids needs to be refreshed, coolant hoses probably, brake hoses. Plus whatever else is needed. I am sure there will be more work, the air conditioning will be repaired now before the car gets to the road. I am very much looking forward to drive this car again!

More reading about the first series of Range Rover:

Curbside Classic: 1977 Range Rover – Success At Face Value