1972 Range Rover (Suffix A)

The original Spencer King designed Range Rover was one of the British Motor Industry's proudest success stories. When it went out of production at the end of 1996, it still looked as fresh and forward-thinking as it did back in 1970 when one was exhibited in the Louvre as an example of modern sculpture.TJT 385L is a late Suffix 'A' Range Rover, first registered on 3rd October 1972 and purchased by Mr Walter Welch from his local Land Rover dealer Tilley's of Weymouth, Dorset, on 4th October 1972. In approximately 1975, the car passed to its second owner, Mr Stanley Wyn Jones of Rhyl, North Wales. It was subsequently purchased by Mrs Phyllis Clayton of Hereford in February 1994 who kept the car for nearly 20 years until October 2013.Specified from the factory in Sahara Dust with a number of factory fitted options including the Fairey overdrive, rear wash-wipe system and an oil pressure gauge. Only a clock was standard on Suffix 'A' cars, the other three round dash apertures having blanks fitted unless additional gauges such as oil pressure, oil temperature, ammeter were ordered. The only variations from factory specification are a glass pop-up style sunroof and a Kenlowe electric fan.When our vendor purchased TJT 385L from us in 2014, he had been looking for a very sound base car to restore and this car fitted the bill perfectly. He commissioned Richard Hodson of RH Classics of Melton Mowbray to perform a body-off restoration, and return the RR to its best with particular attention to the brakes, suspension and engine ancillaries. Upon reassembly, the windows were resealed with new rubbers, time-consuming and expensive but a good indication of the quality of the restoration. The cost of the car's renovation was in the region of £20,000 and it really does present well today.Offered to auction with an MOT until January 2018, its original 3.5-litre V8 engine, no. 35508171B. and a history file that includes the original “Passport to Service”, bills from the 1970s, and receipted invoices. The odometer shows some 92,000 miles, which is largely irrelevant in a car so well restored. To conclude this Suffix 'A' would be at home in any serious car collection with the benefit of being an excellent daily driver.