First launched in June 1970, the original Range Rover with its V8 engine, permanent four-wheel drive and coil springs was regarded as revolutionary.

Public demand outstripped all expectations.

It was gradually developed from the original two-door model with the four-door model being introduced in 1972, significant improvements made in the mid-1980s and, later in that decade, the progressive introduction of electronics. Designed by Spencer King, the original 1970 Range Rover was a masterstroke of understated elegance; it became the first vehicle to successfully transit the notorious ‘Darien Gap’ and is said to be the only vehicle to have been exhibited in the Louvre as a work of art.

The ‘Classic’, as it was to become known, remained in production for 26 years (with sales overlapping with the later ‘P38’ model introduced in 1994). By the early 1980s, the Range Rover’s appeal drew a new demographic of buyer who wanted the space, driving position and occasional off-road capability but ...