No accounting for taste

We all have different tastes, which is just as well. For example, I’m eternally grateful for the invention of headphones to save me from the pain of hearing my teenage sons’ music, and Mrs B quite likes bald men, which means I don’t have to fly to Turkey to have armpit hair transplanted to cover my thinning thatch.

There have been a couple of Range Rovers for sale which show that taste is a very subjective thing, too. First up was a 2005 Range Rover Sport which the professional celebrity Katie Price – aka Jordan – had bought in 2005 and sent straight off to Fantom for the addition of a body kit, smoke chrome wheels and a pink paint job. This would presumably make it easier for paparazzi and the police to spot her. She certainly had run-ins with both while behind the wheel.

Poor Katie ran out of reality show appearances which seems to have resulted in her TDV6 HSE skipping some of its essential maintenance. The owner who apparently bought it after Ms Price was declared bankrupt in 2019, had to spend £7333 to get it working properly, with a stack of invoices for various belts, a replacement gearbox, front lower arms, rear handbrake module, glow plugs, front discs, pads and wheel bearings, new battery, anti-roll bar links and lots more.

The dealer selling it now suggests that it would be ‘perfect for promotional activities and prom night transport’. It could be yours for just £9000 – which seems to be about double the going rate for a standard car in a less rosy hue.

A classic indeed, but that dashboard may be Marmite to some

Another car popped up in my searches which was a reminder that eye-catching mods to Range Rovers are nothing new. A Welsh classic car dealer has a 1974 Range Rover for sale which was converted when new by posh pimpers Wood & Pickett.

The most striking part of the car is the front end, which was given a four headlamp conversion hidden behind what looks like a slanted BBQ grille that also manages to hide a Fairey winch. There are a set of 1970s stripes on the side too, which actually look great now but did well to survive the years when they would have been the height of naffness.

The inside is far more tasteful, with extras which were only found on exotic cars at the time, such as air conditioning, electric windows and leather trim on the seats and dashboard. There’s also gun storage, a roof rack and row of additional gauges in front of the passenger.

The car was supplied new to Carawagon and was due to become a camper, but somehow made its way to Wood & Pickett instead, perhaps after a deal was done to skip the long waiting list for Range Rovers at the time.

The car needs restoration and recommissioning but seems to be basically solid. The asking price of £25,000 seems reasonable to me, especially since restored standard cars from the same era are at least £50,000. It would certainly stand out at a show, although perhaps not as much as Ms Price’s old pink Sport.

It’s not just conversion companies like Wood & Pickett or Fantom who tinker with Range Rovers, of course – we’re all at it. And while we love to do the occasional upgrade when the cars are a few years old, it can come back to haunt you later on.

Witness the phenomena of the P38. When the 2000 onwards facelift came along, owners realised they could make their old cars look like the latest model just by investing in a new set of lights and dateless registration number. As a result, the orange lenses – nicknamed ‘gingeicators’ – were almost worthless. At every autojumble there would be piles of them in the ‘Everything £1’ bin.

Now the prices of good, original P38s are starting to rise, buyers are looking for originality and the rare cars which still have the correct look for their year are very sought-after.

Russ Knight from Gloucester Landrover said: “I’ve been in this business long enough to remember a few of these trends go full cycle. P38 owners would want the lights changed and would throw out the velour interiors in exchange for leather seats they’d bought secondhand. Now the orange lamps are going back on and the cloth seats are sought-after. I’m wondering how long it will be before a chopped Range Rover Classic owner comes in and asks how much it would cost to unbobtail his old off-roader.”

So, before you throw out those outdated parts, just see if there is a corner of the garage or loft you can stash them in, just in case the next owner doesn’t share your enthusiasm for upgraded parts.

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