[imagesource: Driver Source]

Every brand has explored a version of their product with more fluff and pomp to excite customers with varying interests, but at the end of the day, classic always takes the cake.

The same can be said for Land Rover and the Range Rover models, with this 1991 Range Rover Classic a real thing of beauty.

It’s also Robb Report‘s Car of the Week thanks to its timeless aesthetic and reliable functionality.

This Classic is somewhere in between Range Rover’s more hardy and primitive original and today’s luxury Range Rovers with all the frills to boot.

Produced from 1969 to 1996, the first-generation Range Rover Classic was a design mostly frozen in time until some subtle changes were made.

But ultimately, the “boxy appliance” is still a “no-frills, vinyl-clad vehicular pack mule with all the utility and charm of a laundry-room sink”:

Image: Driver Source

Image: Driver Source

It is a classic car that has been restored and modified with modern parts and technology from a 1991 model (making it a resto-mod), and it cost more than $100 000 to be commissioned in 2018.

Further changes and upgrades were then performed by Driver Source, which has the SUV completed and available for $165 000 (around R2,4 million).

Some of the more interesting changes include saddle-and-black leatherette upholstery (a nod to practicality) and a Jaguar-Land Rover Classic infotainment system with upgraded speakers and Bluetooth connectivity (a nod to modernity):

Image: Driver Source

Of course, designers couldn’t leave the engine lagging without an upgrade:

The original Classic was powered by a Buick-designed, 3,5-litre V-8 engine, a modest performer that made do with only about 135 hp. Replacing the original aluminum mill is GM’s LS3 crate engine—a 6,2-litre, 430 hp V-8 that transforms the mule into a quarter horse.

Check it out:

Image: Driver Source

Other upgrades include Automatic Torque Biasing (ATB), limited-slip differentials and heavy-duty axles, as well as Old Man Emu heavy-duty springs and shocks to boost the suspension.

Most intriguing is perhaps the addition of a custom campaign box, which comes complete with scotch, glasses, cigars, and accessories, and is made out of reclaimed white pine from an 1887 Michigan farmhouse.

Perhaps the pine, along with protective rubber floor mats, come as a luxurious reminder that the vehicle maintains its touch with nature, ready to bumper bash through the bush anytime.

All while the paintwork “gleams like a brilliant tropical jewel beetle”.

[source:robbreport]