On September 4 a very special car is being auctioned at the Salon Privé Sale in London - organized by Silverstone Auctions - the very first Range Rover with chassis number 001. Sign number in 1970. Built in 1969.
Sixties?
Fans and connoisseurs will now wonder whether it is true that a Range Rover was built in the tail end of the 1970s, as it was often assumed that the first Range Rover officially left the factory gates in 24. However, this copy was built by its makers between November 17 and December 1969, 2. The debutant was registered for the first time six months before its market launch. More precisely, it happened on January 1970, 8. Michael Furlong, the producer who made the first promotional films for the original version of the current style icon, was the lucky first private owner. That happened on April 1971, XNUMX.
Various owners and a search
Over the years, the Range Rover went through the hands of various owners. This did not make the car disappear from the streets. Yet for a long time, it turned out that he was no longer the first ever produced Range Rover to be traced, despite the search by purists. That had to do with the different license plates that the various owners linked to the first Range Rover and the fact that the British no longer had its original color.
Unmasked as a Range Rover debutant
In the early 90s, # 001 was unmasked again. Eventually the “sixties Range Rover” came back into view. The car was completely restored to its original condition by its current owner in a period of six years. And got its olive green color back. Remarkable: even after the restoration, a number of matching numbers of parts appeared to be still intact. And because of the historical significance of this first Range Rover, the thoroughly restored luxury Englishman also got back the license plate, which was screwed to the front and back on January 2, 1970: YVB 151 H.
Unique property goes to auction after 25 years
After almost a quarter of a century the owner finds it time to sell this unique property. He used Silverstone Auctions for this. This renowned auction house expects the British luxury off-road vehicle with its 3.528 cc measuring eight-cylinder to raise such an 100.000 to 140.000 British pounds. Converted into Euros, that is the sweet sum that lies between € 125.000 and € 175.000.