First Reborn Range Rover revealed
Sometimes, less is more. That’s certainly the case with this ‘Reborn’ factory recreation of the first two-door Range Rover, the first vehicle to spring into life from Land Rover’s Classic programme.
The ‘less’ aspect will be abundantly clear to anyone who compares the wonderfully sparse and pure Charles Spencer ‘Spen’ King design with the £100,000 rolling tech-fest that is the modern V8 Range Rover.
The ‘more’ bit refers to the price: £135,000 to you, sir. Sounds like, and is, a lot – until you see what you’re getting. This is essentially a handbuilt one-off using real Land Rover Classic parts and period-correct production techniques to create an exact original-spec Range Rover.
Look at it that way and you can see the wisdom of it. Try to recreate your own first generation Range Rover to this standard and see how much it costs. Your one won’t be a factory-built original either.
This car is the first of ten that Land Rover’s specialist division will be building. It’s based on a Bahama Gold example from 1978, a mere eight years into the remarkably long 26-year production run of that first-gen Range Rover.
Its 3.5-litre V8 petrol engine has Zenith Stromberg carburettors and puts out a gentle but very useable 132bhp. The four-wheel drive system operates via a four-speed manual transmission and a lockable centre differential, exactly as it did the best part 40 years ago. The only exception that you’d like to hope has been made to the ‘original spec all the way’ approach would be in the area of rust protection.
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First Reborn Range Rover revealed
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1/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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2/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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3/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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4/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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5/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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6/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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7/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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8/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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9/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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10/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
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11/11 Replica 1978 Range Rover from Land Rover Classics
Land Rover Classic programme kicks off with a 1978 two-door Range Rover V8.