Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Vintage Fly Guy]

As a few of you probably know, I own a 1992 Range Rover Classic, which has been in the family from new. I took custody in 2001 and kept it as a future classic, so it's only travelled 47,000 miles, it has never been modified and remains in original factory specification.

I've been a driver of Land Rover vehicles since the late 1980s, owning a succession of vehicles from a Series 3 lightweight 88 inch LR (ex Army) through various model Range Rovers, to Discoveries, finally owning a Discovery 3 for the last 19 years as my daily driver - a real 'Swiss Army Knife' of a car, so adaptable and capable, and very relaxing and comfortable to drive.

With 180,000 miles on the clock (but still running sweet as a nut), I thought it might be time to semi-retire the old girl and get something a bit newer. I did think of selling the D3 and getting a Range Rover Sport, but in the end, I just couldn't bring myself to sell her... she's been such a good car and I couldn't bear the thought of her ending up as some sort of Frankenstein off-road toy for the 'one life, live it' brigade. Perhaps overly sentimental, but after giving me 19 years faithful service, I felt she deserved a kinder fate than that!

So, what to do? I'd still have the D3 for towing huge loads, transporting double wardrobes if the need arose (she's done it before, and with room to spare!), and picking up building supplies when home maintenance dictates (she's in nice enough condition, but has worked for a living and is not a show pony). Perhaps something from the same stable, but a bit smaller, lighter on fuel, more nimble and easier to park, but just as comfortable, would fit the bill?

So I had a look and found the Range Rover Velar... Something of a dark horse; you don't see (or at least notice) that many, as they tend to lose themselves amongst the myriad of Range Rover Sports and Evoques that seem to proliferate in Waitrose car parks and suchlike up and down the country!

After a brief search, I managed to find a low-mileage Velar with full main-dealer service history; one of the last 'straight petrol' engined versions too, which is what I wanted. None of that diesel DPF clogging and oil dilution nonsense for me; and, to my thinking, a hybrid EV/petrol vehicle is just a car with two power systems that will both need to be serviced and maintained (particularly as they get older), so I'll skip the prospect of 'double trouble' thanks all the same!

Cutting to the chase, I test drove it and bought it, and what a good-looking car it is too. Even if you don't like modern cars, there's not a bad angle on it. Even Jeremy Clarkson likes them!

Yes, it's electronic this, and computerised that, which is bound to be a total pain in the proverbial if/when it starts to go wrong... but that's how cars are these days, so I may as well have a good-looking one emptying my wallet!

So what do two of the best looking cars that Land Rover has ever designed look like side by side, some 30 years apart in time?



How does the interior compare?





Yes, it's culture shock in terms of technology, but each are a very comfortable and cosseting place to be, and I can't speak more highly of either than that.

So there we have it, two Range Rovers some 30 years apart, and two absolute classics in terms of design and functionality, in my opinion.

However, it remains to be seen if the Velar will still be driving as well (if at all) as my RR Classic in 30 years time, particularly with all those electronic components that adorn it. Although, the inconvenient truth is, at my time of life, in 30 years time I may well not be around to see if it is... and that should probably be a far more worrying prospect for me than the thought of all those electronics!

[ukdave2002]

Its an interesting comparison I'd have either of them.

I do wonder what the classic car scene will look like in 30 years time?

34 years ago I bought my MGA, if you had told me then that car I towed it home with (Astra GTE) would be considered a classic 30 years later I would have laughed !

[Ray White]

I was talking to a garage owner I know and he has had Range Rovers from the start. He recently bought his son a new Sport model with all the bells and whistles but it will probably be the last one. Apparently the new Range Rovers are just not as well built.

There have always been quality issues around some of the trim but in terms of mechanical competence, they remain one of the best off road vehicles. However , recently there have been a spate of engine failures with broken crankshafts etc. Real basic stuff.

Such a shame.

My 2000 P38 Vogue special edition has now done 90.000 miles and while it remains usable I will hold onto it...but the car is beginning to show its age. Just yesterday, I noticed the plastic windscreen trim is coming away and rust is creeping in under the rubber covering of the side window surrounds.

[Vintage Fly Guy]

[Ray White]

[alastairq]

[Ray White]

I used to get LPG from Esso in Allestree but when the largest supplier of LPG went down they stopped. I then started going to Asda... but they too have stopped selling it.!

I enquired with the garage at Ripley where my car was converted and they have not only stopped selling the gas, they have also closed down the conversion business... which is a shame, because they did a first class job.!

I now don't know of anyone in the Derby area who is selling LPG.

In a world where green energy is being foisted onto a population wedded to carbon, I would have thought this clean alternative to petrol would have been a sensible compromise...at least until sustainable petrol comes on stream; which it will.

When that happens, I believe the policy of scrapping i.c. engined vehicles will be shown to have been ******* misguided.

[mikeC]

I have been unable to find anyone selling LPG in north Notts for several years, either.
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in the garage: a big empty space!
Recently departed: 1938 Talbot Ten, 1953 Lancia Appia, 1931 Austin Seven, 1967 Singer Chamois, 1914 Saxon, 1930 Morris Cowley, 1936 BSA Scout, 1958 Lancia Appia coupe, 1922 Star 11.9 ... the list goes on!