1970 Range Rover Press Launch Vehicle
Chassis number: 35500040A
Registration number: NXC 245H
Engine type: 3.5 V8 Petrol
Gearbox type: 4 Speed
Vehicle spec:
This is one of the twenty vehicles built in May 1970 specifically for the Press Launch of the Range Rover in late May and early June that year. The Press Launch cars were built before the production line was fully operational and, in common with the Engineering Prototypes and the Pre-production Range Rovers, all the Press Launch cars were registered as ‘Velars’ rather than ‘Range Rovers’.
This car was eventually sold by Rover in 1971 and was purchased by its first owner for £1,975 with 26,000 miles on the clock. The first owner kept the car for 17 years and used it almost exclusively for holidays including several tours into Cold War Eastern Europe and to Austria, Germany, Spain and Portugal.
It was sold by the first owner in 1987 and over the next ten years had many changes of ownership before being acquired by an enthusiast who set about preserving it. After further changes of ownership, the restoration was finally completed in 2010 in time for chassis number 40 to participate in the events that marked the 40th anniversary of the Range Rover.
Since then, the car has taken part in several long-distance rallies including the Hamburg-Berlin in 2010 and the Bodensee in 2013. It was also chosen to appear in Quentin Willson’s TV series ‘The Classic Car Show’. In 2010 it was part of the convoy that escorted the One Millionth Range Rover from Solihull to Earl’s Court in London, where it was auctioned to raise funds for the Help for Heroes charity. During the Range Rover’s 50th anniversary year in 2020 it also starred in the photoshoot and video that launched JLR’s Range Rover Fifty limited edition.
