Thanks Mike....
Lets see....
The 1988 3.5 EFi Vogue SE was my first Range Rover so I will always have a special love for that car, I got it after some donut crashed into my parked Jag 3.6 XJ40 and wrote it off, so I paid just under 2K with the insurance money for her. about 18 months later I did the head gaskets, new Camshaft, new Cam Followers, Water Pump, gaskets all round, swivels, seals, plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotor arm, coil, radiator, rockers and a damn good clean all over the engine bay. Then 6 months later, she failed the MOT on rust - outriggers, door sills, footwells, and rear crossmember. Couldn't afford to do that much work after rebuilding most of the engine, so I sold her to a very nice chap who bob-tailed it and it is now on the amateur trials circuit I believe - so there is still life in old RR's
The 1996 4.6 P38 HSE came about after my family saved up and gave me the money for her for my birthday and christmas for the next couple of years, as I was heartbroken the '88 Classic had gone. She was lovely to drive, bought from a franchised Land Rover dealer, she was sorted...a couple of EAS niggles, but these were fixed under the 6 month warranty that was supplied with the car.
Then my job location changed to the otherside of London towards the middle of Kent - I tried to keep up the running costs of a V8 doing 220 miles a day, but it absolutly crippled me so she had to go to pay off the running cost for the last 8 months, so after just over a year she was part exchanged for a smaller car. Cream Leather and carpet, just don't get in with muddy shoes...!!!
The 1997 P38 4.6 HSE when the job moved back to sensible distance from home, I part exchanged my E38 740iL BMW for this fine lady. She was again from a dealer with a warranty, and she never, not once let me down...not even a hint of a problem in the 2.5 years of ownership. not a burp, hiccup or fart...nothing, nada, nyet, zilch...absolutely perfect in everyway.
But this time the girlfriend had a 1986 C plate Mini Piccadily, that was fine for the local journey to her work and back, but they were sending her on an extended training course near Manchester, and the first time she went up there in the Mini, the poor thing didn't like the long drive, so shat itself....trailered back home, and we didn't have any money to get her another car, so I applied for a company car from work and was granted, so I part exchanged the P38 for a nice 2004 Yellow VW Beetle for her...which she loved....so I was flavour of the year...wink wink for a while.
With no money on the horizon another Range Rover looked doomed to failure, then we decided to move house...we had a small pot of money left over from the move, so she said I could get another with the small amount we had...So I trolled the internet for weeks to find the right one....
The 1993 3.9EFi Vogue SE on LPG popped up in Nottingham, which is a far trek, but hey a Range Rover is worth it sometimes. So off I pop with friend in tow to take a look. On the books for £1050, the leccy seats didn’t work, the cruise control didn’t work, the door windows only went down half way due to some donut fitting huge speakers in the door so it impeded on the window mechanism, the tail gate didn’t lock, it was used daily on a farm and smelled of cows (dead ones at that me thinks) but the leather was brand new looking, the radio worked, the LPG ran sweet, the EAS was spot on, the engine was so smooth it could have been running on silk, we even tried the Jag test of a 50p on the rocker cover....still as a rock.
After 3 weeks she point blank refused to start, I tried everything, new plugs, leads, dizzy, coil, service the injectors, the fuel pump, had the thing on an oscilascope from work to measure the injector timing, the ECU on a test bench, everything...didn’t wanna know...then I thought I would change the Ignition Amplifier and voila...life...I spent 4 weeks searching for a fault (luckily I have a company car) and all it was was a £12 amp....and it was the only thing I had missed from the ignition system previously...I got ribbed a bit for that I’ll tell you.
Then the EAS failed, split bag and knackered compressor. So I converted to coils (Sorry Wammers and Datatek...) and I missed the system to be honest as she never rode the same afterwards, but she was only for playing with any way so not to much bother.
Other than the not starting and the EAS, she was the best workhorse I have had...she would go anywhere and up anything and back down again, she never moaned about the towing she did, never moaned about the crap she would carry in the back...she just got on with it.
Then in January this year so light fingered piece of dog dirt, nicked it from the drive way in the middle of the night....got in bypassed the alarm, out of park into neutral, handbrake off and rolled it down my drive (its on a slight slope) on to the road (which is on a hill) and coasted away.
The local plod found her up to her sills in mud and ****, gutted by fire at a local farm, hitched to a trailer filled with riding leathers, boots and bridles....apparently they had nicked my car, nicked the trailer and were trying to steal a few thousand pounds worth of riding gear but got stuck in the fields and set fire to it.
Got peanuts from the insurance company despite arguments and the like, so we paid a few bills off with it as they were more important than another RR at the time.
The 1999 P38 2.5DSE
Then in September I was really hankering for another Rangie, so after discussion with her in doors, we decided to change my company car for a smaller one for her, I could Part Ex her Beetle for another P38, but it would have to be a Diesel as another V8 (even on gas) would cripple us...that very evening I was on the internet, phoning people to view their P38’s...and I found the DSE I have now. A local indy Land Rover sales place had her on for just under £4K, 12 month extended 4 star warranty, New MOT, New Service, all the faults and niggles I found fixed.
Part ex’ed the Beetle, the remainder of the insurance from the ’93 RR and a bit of cash from my pocket and she was sitting on my drive a couple of weeks later, after the work was completed.
So far, very pleased...slow and still getting used to it, but it is so good to have another RR on the drive again.
Favourite is difficult....I have a soft spot for my first Classic, the ’93 was a real workhorse, the P38’s are lovely....I think the ’93 is my fav so far...as I haven’t had the DSE long, but it is creeping up the list to overtake I reckon.
Lets see....
The 1988 3.5 EFi Vogue SE was my first Range Rover so I will always have a special love for that car, I got it after some donut crashed into my parked Jag 3.6 XJ40 and wrote it off, so I paid just under 2K with the insurance money for her. about 18 months later I did the head gaskets, new Camshaft, new Cam Followers, Water Pump, gaskets all round, swivels, seals, plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotor arm, coil, radiator, rockers and a damn good clean all over the engine bay. Then 6 months later, she failed the MOT on rust - outriggers, door sills, footwells, and rear crossmember. Couldn't afford to do that much work after rebuilding most of the engine, so I sold her to a very nice chap who bob-tailed it and it is now on the amateur trials circuit I believe - so there is still life in old RR's
The 1996 4.6 P38 HSE came about after my family saved up and gave me the money for her for my birthday and christmas for the next couple of years, as I was heartbroken the '88 Classic had gone. She was lovely to drive, bought from a franchised Land Rover dealer, she was sorted...a couple of EAS niggles, but these were fixed under the 6 month warranty that was supplied with the car.
Then my job location changed to the otherside of London towards the middle of Kent - I tried to keep up the running costs of a V8 doing 220 miles a day, but it absolutly crippled me so she had to go to pay off the running cost for the last 8 months, so after just over a year she was part exchanged for a smaller car. Cream Leather and carpet, just don't get in with muddy shoes...!!!
The 1997 P38 4.6 HSE when the job moved back to sensible distance from home, I part exchanged my E38 740iL BMW for this fine lady. She was again from a dealer with a warranty, and she never, not once let me down...not even a hint of a problem in the 2.5 years of ownership. not a burp, hiccup or fart...nothing, nada, nyet, zilch...absolutely perfect in everyway.
But this time the girlfriend had a 1986 C plate Mini Piccadily, that was fine for the local journey to her work and back, but they were sending her on an extended training course near Manchester, and the first time she went up there in the Mini, the poor thing didn't like the long drive, so shat itself....trailered back home, and we didn't have any money to get her another car, so I applied for a company car from work and was granted, so I part exchanged the P38 for a nice 2004 Yellow VW Beetle for her...which she loved....so I was flavour of the year...wink wink for a while.
With no money on the horizon another Range Rover looked doomed to failure, then we decided to move house...we had a small pot of money left over from the move, so she said I could get another with the small amount we had...So I trolled the internet for weeks to find the right one....
The 1993 3.9EFi Vogue SE on LPG popped up in Nottingham, which is a far trek, but hey a Range Rover is worth it sometimes. So off I pop with friend in tow to take a look. On the books for £1050, the leccy seats didn’t work, the cruise control didn’t work, the door windows only went down half way due to some donut fitting huge speakers in the door so it impeded on the window mechanism, the tail gate didn’t lock, it was used daily on a farm and smelled of cows (dead ones at that me thinks) but the leather was brand new looking, the radio worked, the LPG ran sweet, the EAS was spot on, the engine was so smooth it could have been running on silk, we even tried the Jag test of a 50p on the rocker cover....still as a rock.
After 3 weeks she point blank refused to start, I tried everything, new plugs, leads, dizzy, coil, service the injectors, the fuel pump, had the thing on an oscilascope from work to measure the injector timing, the ECU on a test bench, everything...didn’t wanna know...then I thought I would change the Ignition Amplifier and voila...life...I spent 4 weeks searching for a fault (luckily I have a company car) and all it was was a £12 amp....and it was the only thing I had missed from the ignition system previously...I got ribbed a bit for that I’ll tell you.
Then the EAS failed, split bag and knackered compressor. So I converted to coils (Sorry Wammers and Datatek...) and I missed the system to be honest as she never rode the same afterwards, but she was only for playing with any way so not to much bother.
Other than the not starting and the EAS, she was the best workhorse I have had...she would go anywhere and up anything and back down again, she never moaned about the towing she did, never moaned about the crap she would carry in the back...she just got on with it.
Then in January this year so light fingered piece of dog dirt, nicked it from the drive way in the middle of the night....got in bypassed the alarm, out of park into neutral, handbrake off and rolled it down my drive (its on a slight slope) on to the road (which is on a hill) and coasted away.
The local plod found her up to her sills in mud and ****, gutted by fire at a local farm, hitched to a trailer filled with riding leathers, boots and bridles....apparently they had nicked my car, nicked the trailer and were trying to steal a few thousand pounds worth of riding gear but got stuck in the fields and set fire to it.
Got peanuts from the insurance company despite arguments and the like, so we paid a few bills off with it as they were more important than another RR at the time.
The 1999 P38 2.5DSE
Then in September I was really hankering for another Rangie, so after discussion with her in doors, we decided to change my company car for a smaller one for her, I could Part Ex her Beetle for another P38, but it would have to be a Diesel as another V8 (even on gas) would cripple us...that very evening I was on the internet, phoning people to view their P38’s...and I found the DSE I have now. A local indy Land Rover sales place had her on for just under £4K, 12 month extended 4 star warranty, New MOT, New Service, all the faults and niggles I found fixed.
Part ex’ed the Beetle, the remainder of the insurance from the ’93 RR and a bit of cash from my pocket and she was sitting on my drive a couple of weeks later, after the work was completed.
So far, very pleased...slow and still getting used to it, but it is so good to have another RR on the drive again.
Favourite is difficult....I have a soft spot for my first Classic, the ’93 was a real workhorse, the P38’s are lovely....I think the ’93 is my fav so far...as I haven’t had the DSE long, but it is creeping up the list to overtake I reckon.
