Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Range Rover has the long wheelbase body and an even longer list of updated and replacement parts. Let’s see if its price makes it something you might long to own.
When you consider the number of transverse-engine, front-wheel-drive cars that automakers have pooped out over the years, it’s a bit surprising that drivetrain formula hasn’t found its way into more mid-engine sports cars. You can pretty much count the number of times that’s happened without having to take off your shoes or do long division.
Yesterday’s 1974 Fiat X1/9 was one of those rare examples of a FWD drivetrain — that of the Fiat 128 — finding its way rearward and driving the back wheels from behind the seats. It was an amazing bit of packaging back in the day, but while the design was impressive, Fiat’s build quality was not. That means many X1/9s have long since gone to the crusher due to rust and other issues. Our car was a survivor, and was claimed by the seller to be restored and, as a result, a lot of F-U-N fun. It apparently wasn’t $12,500 worth of fun, however, as both the comments and the 73 percent No Dice vote decided.
It’s a fact that one of the ways to keep demand ahead of supply is to artificially limit availability. For years, Ferrari used to keep its production numbers down, keeping potential owners waiting and maintaining the exclusivity of the marque. Another way that demand can outstrip supply is through post-production attrition. Once a product has gone through its lifecycle and gone to the great recycler in the sky, the few remaining examples can become all the more dear to those who still harbor a metaphorical stiffy for them.
That’s something that we’re seeing right now with the Range Rover Classic here in the U.S. Once an icon of upper-crustiness, the big British 4X4’s penchant for unreliability and just plain falling apart soured the ownership experience once the new wore off. Many, many Range Rovers have since been scrapped or, if they are still on the road, look like the before picture in one of those abandoned dog rescue videos.
This 1993 Range Rover County LWB is an exception to either of those scenarios. The white on biscuit wagon sports 149,000 miles and, based on the photos in the ad at least, looks terrific. As a matter of fact, the interior on this one even looks a bit better than the one on this eBay-offered 1995 that asks a jaw-dropping $112K. Yikes!
The seller of our candidate says it runs “fantastic” and offers in the ad a litany of components that have been replaced or updated to make it worthy of that accolade. You can read the whole list in the ad, but we will note the most notable of those updates being the replacement of the Range Rover’s wonky air suspension with Old Man EMU steel springs. That’s a one-and-done upgrade that will make your Range Rover ownership experience a lot less frustrating over the long term.
Aesthetically, the truck offers a lot of appeal. The white paint may not be the most flattering or eye-grabbing, but at least it looks to be in solid shape and holds a shine. There doesn’t seem to be any appreciable road rot or other bodywork problems aside from missing center caps on the powder coated factory wheels.
New leather covers the seats inside, and that’s matched with a replacement headliner and carpet. The dash, console and door caps have all had their wood trim refinished which spruces up the place appreciably. An aftermarket stereo hides down in the jumble of the center console, right ahead of the transfer case shifter and transmission lever. All in all, this looks to be a very nice place to spend your drive time.
The engine should be the 200 horsepower 4.2-liter Rover V8, aka the former Buick small block. That will give you a solid 10 miles to the gallon around town and probably around 15 mpg on the highway, so you might want to keep that gas card handy.
The title is clear and the truck is said to have been maintained by a pair of professional shops in the Southern California area with receipts available as proof. A new home purchase is the reason given for the sale, and to that end, the seller asks $19,500 to become the big Brit’s new flag-waver.
Now, I can remember not all that long ago that a Range Rover of this caliber was a four-figure purchase. Considering that someone on eBay thinks they can get more than $100K for one leads one to believe that those days are long over. What do you think, does this tidy Range Rover look to be worth that $19,500 asking as it’s presented? Or, does that price have you thinking the world has gone crazy?
You decide!
Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Dave D. for the hookup!
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