You Can Buy a Brand-New, Totally Baller Classic Range Rover

Get thee to a Land Rover dealer immediately.

Dan Carney

Feb 6, 2017

Sometimes it seems like every parent living in the suburbs has become an identical rugged individualist, insisting on driving Sahara-ready off-roaders for dance rehearsals and soccer practice carpools rather than the station wagons and minivans that were designed for such service.

The result of this has been a shift by car makers to building four-door SUVs rather than the original two-door configurations, with their more nimble dimensions. When the blond real estate agent across the street replaced her minivan with a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited four-door, it was with the explanation that she “is really a Jeep girl,” who as a parent with young children could no longer live a minivan lie.

So it is one thing to reclaim your true identity with a new four-door SUV that has been adapted to family-hauling duties. But Land Rover is seeking authentic 4×4 enthusiasts with its new program that offers classic first-generation two-door Range Rovers like this 1978 Range, finished in the ’70s-tastic shade of Bahama Gold. It looks just a bit nicer than Bob Marley’s old ’76 Range Rover.

Land Rover will built ten of these “reborn” Range Rovers to start with, the first being this ’78 example, with its 132-horsepower 3.5-liter V8 engine and four-speed manual transmission. Considering the state of British industry when these Range Rovers were new, a reborn version is certain to be assembled with much more care and precision than it was originally.

Pricing starts at $168,000 for one of these factory-rebuilt stunners, and the Land Rover team is offering its guidance on selection of a suitable rebuild candidate to ensure that it is a desirable model with popular equipment to ensure maximum future collectible value.

“Range Rover Reborn is another showcase of our dedicated in-house engineering expertise,” remarked Tim Hannig, director of Land Rover Classic. “It underscores our commitment to nurturing the rich heritage of Land Rover, and is a rare opportunity for customers to own a valuable and genuinely collectible automotive icon.”