Rejoice, rich people yearning for first-generation Range Rovers! Land Rover’s new “Range Rover Reborn” program means you can buy a completely restored version of their classic SUV for a Ridiculous But Who Cares Because You’re Rich price. Now you can own an essentially brand new example of perhaps the greatest SUV of all time.
At the Salon Rétromobile 2017, a classic car exhibition in Paris starting next week, Land Rover is showing off the first car in its “Range Rover Reborn” series: a Bahama Gold 1978 “three-door” Range Rover Classic that is basically factory-fresh with its 3.5-liter V8 and Zenith-Stromberg 175CD carburetor, a duo that yields a Sad By Today’s Standards 132 horsepower and 186 lb-ft of torque.
It’s also got a lockable center diff, four-speed manual, and—most importantly—those simple, yet rugged looks that could kill:
The Range Rover Reborn program is run by the Land Rover Classic division, the same team that restored a bunch of early Defenders in the Land Rover Series I Reborn last year.
The program all starts with Land Rover’s restoration team (i.e. Range Rover nerds) helping customers find the best platforms to start with— cars that are highly valued with sought-after chassis codes and cool, rare options. Then, the team gives those vehicles full back-to-factory-spec restorations using Land Rover Classic parts.
The idea, Land Rover Classic’s director Tim Hannig says, is “to [nurture] the rich heritage of Land Rover,” which basically translates to “this is a bit of clever marketing.” I’m totally fine with that, though, because these gorgeous Range Rovers deserve to be preserved into infinity; they should remain on this earth until it all goes down in flames.
Of course, these restored Range Rovers—like basically anything with a Range Rover badge on it—aren’t cheap, starting at £135,000 GBP, or about $169,500.
The other downside: for now Land Rover says it will restore just 10 such vehicles at launch, but who knows how many more first-gen Range Rovers it will offer later. There were quite a few built between 1970 and 1996, so I’m hoping lots of them. Ideally, all of them.
No word yet on whether they will be made available in other markets.
More photos to enlarge that pool of drool on your keyboard: