Hailed as a hallmark of everything British and all-conquering the Range Rover never had any trouble vying for the public’s attention. The amalgamation of defiant off-roading potential, assuredly stocky design and high displacement power plant made it easy for the world to fall in love with the Range Rover. The first prototypes dubbed the ‘Velar(s)’rolled off the production line from 1969 and in total 26 were made before the first edition Range Rover ‘Classic’ was put into production in 1970 and ran until 1996.

The fate of the Range Rover in the years that followed is no secret as the car has gone on to revolutionise the worlds of both luxury and off roading cars and receiving international acclaim in the process. The Range Rover has seen four main guises to date; the Classic, P38, L322 and most recent L405. In recent years there have been many who scoffed at the idea of the Range Rover as a premium asset however in an increasingly competitive luxury SUV market the marque has held its own. Most importantly the appeal of both car and brand has begun to trickle down to it’s genesis.

The Range Rover Classic was long heralded as an unreliable and troublesome vehicle to own, and investment in one crossed no one’s mind at all. Until now.

The introduction of Jaguar Land Rover’s special vehicle operations and heritage devision has provided both the support and inclination for buyers to take on such a project successfully without being left in the dark along the way. Similarly the growing access to information previously stored in owners manual away from enthusiastic and interested eyes has meant successfully restoring a Range Rover is now an opportunity for all, not just social networks in the know.

So what do the numbers tell us? The graph of recent UK auction data for Range Rovers shows a growing enthusiasm for the first edition off roader that belays any reliability concerns. In the last five years we can see the price steadily rise after a calm period, showing that these are becoming ever more desirable.

There is no denying this positive trend in values, but will they continue to rise? Or will they inevitably hit a muddy, Range Rover shaped, ceiling?

Classic Range Rovers are very model specific and the community knows it. So, as a buyer, what do you do?

The most valued ones are the Velar prototypes, if you are lucky enough get your hands on one, or an early ‘Suffix A’ produced before 1973 as these are seen as the purest and most original expression of the Range Rover. Similarly the collectors regard any model with two doors to be worth time, effort and attention.

These versions are becoming highly valued amongst the Range Rover faithful but due to the relative simplicity of the car, poorly done or incorrect restorations are easily noticed and values take an instant hit. Currently the good ones aren’t cheap and many have been snapped up by enthusiasts. At a recent Coys of Kensington Auction the first production Range Rover sold for £80,000, an indication that the classic Range Rover market values prestige, history and matching numbers above most everything else.

The first production Range Rover for auction at Coys of Kensington

What is clear is that there is enthusiasm for the originals at the moment. However, the fact that the car isn’t a weekend toy, garage queen or glamorous retro cruiser really limits its potential value as a usable asset moving forward.

With classics many of the mechanical and electrical foibles can be forgiven as character however when lumbering through corners and trying to anticipate when the next (hopefully) grey cloud will be emitted by the car the experience could soon become tiresome and we’d lose those rose tinted spectacles we like so much.

The car has neither the nimble off roading capability of a defender of the period, nor the ease of repair; so you wouldn’t really want to take it deep off road in case it breaks. Similarly on the road the car possesses very little of the class and elegance of a Rolls of the same time on modern roads. What does it have, then? Enthusiasts.

So the early models are an expensive and enthusiast driven way into the Range Rover market, what are your other options?

Range Rover fans love special editions almost as much as they love matching numbers originals. The runout CSK and Vogue editions created in the 90’s also carry a premium over regular classics and are some of the best bets for making money on a Range Rover.

A search for Range Rover CSK in the classifieds will show you what we mean. At the time of writing the first two CSK’s are listed for £45,000 and £39,995 respectively, a massive premium of £30,000 over a similarly specced non CSK version. These runout specials offer the most headroom for a profit whilst offering 90’s tech and usability when compared their 70’s predecessors.

Similarly, these 90’s cars are coming to the end of their first or second ownership and so are only just becoming considered ‘classic’. Most importantly they are also useful to someone who wants a 90’s SUV and have value over off-roading rivals like a Land Cruiser or Jeep Cherokee of the time. Whereas a 70’s classic stands on ceremony as simply being ‘the first Range Rover’.

If you are in the market for ‘the first Range Rover’ there is room in the enthusiast driven market to make some money on a faithful restoration however it is not an opportunity that will last for long. Our top tip is to go for a special edition of a later model as there is more room to make a profit. The later cars benefit from 20 years of technological and mechanical advancement compared to the ‘originals’, and while they don’t carry the prestige they make a little more sense when sat on your drive and a more well rounded entry point to the brand.

Late and early Range Rover Classics – Credit aronline.co.uk