1981 Range Rover In Vogue Two-Door
1 of just 1,000 In Vogues produced

Registration No: VWY 271X
Chassis No: SALLHABV1AA113822
MOT: Exempt

• One of just 1,000 In Vogue examples manufactured
• Pleasingly retains all of its original In Vogue features, including the Vogue Blue paintwork, polished wood door cappings, stainless steel tailgate capping, and picnic hamper
• Comprehensively restored by the serial restorer vendor between 2020 and 2023
• Less than 10 miles covered since the restoration's completion
• Offered with a history file including the original interior roof build sticker

PLEASE NOTE: This lot's radio has been converted to modern Bluetooth connectivity.

The first-generation Range Rover was produced between 1970 and 1996. The original car was not designed as a luxury 4x4; while certainly up-market compared to preceding Land Rover models, the early Range Rovers had fairly basic, utilitarian interiors with vinyl seats and plastic dashboards designed to be washed down with a hose. Features such as power-assisted steering, carpeted floors, cloth/leather seats, and wooden interior trim were fitted later. The Range Rover was a body-on-frame design with a box-section ladder chassis similar to contemporary Land Rovers. The Range Rover utilised coil springs as opposed to leaf springs, permanent four-wheel drive and four-wheel disc brakes and was originally powered by the Rover V8 engine. The In Vogue went on sale in February, 1981; a limited run of 1000 was produced, all of which were almost replicas of the Vogue photoshoot car, minus the special alloy wheels, but with the same coachwork, colour and uprated interior.

The full list of extra In Vogue features was the Vogue Blue metallic paintwork with broad twin coachlines in two-tone grey, high-compression (9.35:1) engine, transfer box with taller (0.996:1) high ratio, air-conditioning, polished wooden door cappings, stowage box between front seats, map pockets on back of front seats, fully carpeted load area, carpet material for spare wheel cover and tool kit curtain, picnic hamper in rear loadspace, stainless steel tailgate capping, and Black centre caps for the wheels.

A true collector’s item in every sense, our In Vogue was built on 1st June, 1981, and originally retailed through Appleyard Farm Services Ltd. of Harrogate. It has had seven recorded keepers, including one long-term owner from 1993 to 2017, but it was taken off the road in 1996. When the present owner, a committed Range Rover enthusiast and habitual restorer, acquired it in 2018, it was very much in need of restoration, and he made a start in 2020.

The work was comprehensive. The car was stripped back to the bare chassis, which itself was sandblasted and repainted. The bodywork was repaired as necessary and repainted in the correct In Vogue Blue, and the engine was thoroughly overhauled with new piston rings, a reground crankshaft, and so on. The gearbox, too, was overhauled, and the electrics benefitted from a complete new wiring loom. The interior was retrimmed to the original specification by Range Rover specialists Nationwide Trim. Ex-Rolls-Royce woodwork specialists Chapman & Cliff renewed the interior wood trim. The suspension and brakes were likewise renewed, with the brakes receiving new discs, pads, callipers and more.

In spite of such extensive renovations, the Range Rover pleasingly retains much of its original equipment, some of which is In Vogue-specific. This includes everything from the Appleyard number plates to the tool roll, starting handle, jack and tyre pump – not forgetting the jewel in the crown, the original picnic hamper. With the desirability of early Range Rovers reaching ever greater heights, this one just may be more in vogue than ever before. It is offered with the current V5C, an owner’s manual, a BMIHT certificate, historic tax discs, many restoration invoices, an original build sticker, spare side decals, and a copy of the Vogue magazine which originally inspired this special edition.

For more information, please contact:
Paul Cheetham
paul.cheetham@handh.co.uk
07538 667452