The Range Rover was the vehicle which really started the 4x4 estate boom outside the USA. It was designed in the mid-Sixties to meet the growing demand for a light 4x4 which was capable of rough-terrain work in pursuit of leisure activities, towing a caravan or boat, and doubling as fast road transport. It took one stage further the concept which some American 4x4s had pioneered in the first half of the Sixties and was announced to an ecstatic reaction in 1970. Although Land Rover announced the second-generation Range Rover during 1994, the original vehicle remained in production to see out its quarter-century anniversary in 1995.

The Range Rover was successful because it was a genuine dual-purpose vehicle, rugged and able enough to be used in demanding off-road situations and yet sufficiently stylish, fast and reliable to be used as an ordinary road car. Over the years, it became a status symbol as buyers demanded more and more creature comforts, and the showroom price escalated. Towards the end of the Seventies, it was the Range Rover's success which prompted Japanese makers to develop cheaper imitations such as the Mitsubishi Shogun and lsuzu Trooper.

For the first 11 years of its life, the Range Rover was available only as a two-door vehicle with a horizontally split tailgate. Demand forced its manufacturers to introduce a four-door body in 1981 (there had been a limited number of conversions before then), and thereafter almost all Range Rovers had four doors: two-door models disappeared from the UK market in 1986, although there was a special-edition two-door model in 1990. From 1992, a long-wheelbase model (the Vogue LSE) was added to the range and offered additional legroom in the rear; air suspension came as standard on this and on the contemporary top-model standard-wheelbase Vogue SE. The two-door models are now generally disregarded by all except enthusiast buyers, and this survey covers four-door models only. In practice, few base-model four-doors were sold in the UK after 1984, the the majority of vehicles having the luxurious Vogue specification or higher.

Character summary

The Range Rover has an almost unique ability to convey a sense of well-being to driver and passengers; in that respect, its familiar appellation of the Rolls-Royce of 4x4s is very apt. Wood and (from 1988) leather in top-specification models contribute greatly to this sense of well-being, and the Nineties' models are laden with convenience features which make them directly equivalent to luxury cars.

However, there are many aspects of the Range Rover which are not directly comparable to luxury cars, and variable build quality is among them. Huge panel gaps, ill-fitting dashboard parts and poorly matched dashboard textures and colours are among the more irritating characteristics of Range Rovers of all ages. Steering and handling are also quite different from those of conventional cars. Many people argue that the turbodiesel engines - in particular the 200 Tdi - are too noisy and unrefined to suit the Range Rover's otherwise refined nature. Further, pre-1988 models with gear-driven transfer boxes can suffer badly from transmission whine.

The rather square-rigged design now looks dated from some angles, but it has stood the test of time well and even an early Range Rover still looks distinctive among other, newer 4x4s. This agelessness has always been one of its appeals.

Performance summary

Acceleration and top speeds of the carburettor V8 and turbodiesel models are all broadly similar; among the turbodiesels, high-speed acceleration is strongest with the Tdi engines. However, carburettor V8s with the three-speed automatic transmission are rather sluggish, and turbodiesels with the automatic transmission (available only from 1994) are also rather slow. For all-round performance, the 3.9-litre petrol V8 with automatic transmission is the best bet.

Roadholding is very secure, but Range Rovers without anti-roll bars can lean alarmingly in corners. The air-suspension models also lean more than coil-sprung types with anti-roll bars, and there are few real advantages to the air suspension except in reducing the noise transmitted from the suspension into the passenger compartment.

Off-road, all varieties of Range Rover are extremely able vehicles, capable of far more than most owners ever imagine. Low-down torque is strong with all engines, and driving aids like the viscous-coupled centre differential on post-1988 models and the Electronic Traction Control available on ABS equipped vehicles make even the more demanding off-road work very straightforward indeed.

Reliability, weaknesses, spares

The Range Rover was already a tried-and-tested design by the time the four-door models were introduced in 1981 and few reliability problems arose in subsequent years of production. However, the engine management ECUs on injected petrol models can give trouble, the 2.4-litre and 1989-1992 2.5-litre turbodiesels may suffer from repeated head gasket failures, and bearings sometimes fail in the pre-1994 five-speed gearboxes.

The main weaknesses lie in the suspension (where worn bushes can cause handling problems), in the complex electronics of later models (where malfunctions may be hard to trace) and in the rust which can affect the tailgates, footwells and steel inner body structure of earlier examples. Worth knowing is that damaged bonnets can be hard to repair satisfactorily and that replacements are very expensive.

Cost is always a factor in running a Range Rover, and the complexities of the later models can make professional maintenance and repair work particularly expensive. Spare parts are readily available through Land Rover dealers and through non-franchised and aftermarket outlets in the UK.

Resale values

Depreciation is heavy on new Range Rovers, as with all luxury cars. However, resale prices have held up surprisingly well since the introduction of the second-generation models. After the initial depreciation, Range Rover values remain fairly firm until the vehicles are seven or eight years old; a sharp drop in values then reflects the likely costs of refurbishment. Early four-doors, with fairly basic equipment levels, can be bought quite cheaply.