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Hi 78
You're of much the same mind and position as me - except I did find and buy my dream 76 two door about a year ago.
Initially I bought a nice looking red two door (1980 I think), but without properly investigating what needed to be done to restore it to good condition and without finding out the cost of doing that. A lot on both counts. Unlike you, I sold it soon after (for a fair loss, but it didn't cost that much to start with so I chalked it up to experience).
I kept looking. There's not much out there. It is in the nature of Rangies that they've probably had a hard life in rough conditions. So most of what comes up for sale is worn out and rusty, possiby heavily modified and probably falling apart inside. Some for sale look ok in the photos, but if you look carefully and read between the lines of the commentary, you can guess that it likely needs a big money restoration to make it good.
And then there's the question of how much! Top class ones (especially the pre-production "Velars") seem to bring huge money in the UK - as you mentioned. The most expensive one I've seen in Australia was in Queensland - for $27,000 - about three years ago. The bloke selling it reckoned it was completely (nut & bolt) restored and that he was only asking for what he'd put into it (not including his labour). It certainly looked nice - but really a bit too pristine for my taste and I didn't have that much to spend anyway. However, it didn't last that long on Carsales (a few weeks I think) and then it was gone. I assume he sold it because I've never seen it again.
A bit before that one, there was another nice looking one somewhere in SE Qld (I forget where). The seller was asking for $8k. But I've been warned off Qld cars (rust) and I let it pass.
A little while ago there was a thread here about what early RR's are worth. Some said anything over a few thousand is too much given there's plently of good later ones for less than $10k. The problem is that good two doors are few and far between and the cost of restoring a bad one is huge (and time consuming). If you want a two door and not something else (as I did) you've either got to be really patient or pay what someone is asking before someone else does (and possibly both).
It's funny that you would nominate $15k as the price of a good one, because that's what I paid for mine. I bought it off a dealer in Sydney. He'd bought it off the widow of the guy who'd owned it from new. Suprisingly it had no service record or receipts at all from his long ownership. But I managed to contact the owner's widow. He was an auto electrician and had done all the work on it himself or with mates. She was happy to reminisce about the car - it was her husband's "baby". It had been repainted once at great expense (discounted as a return favour). They'd never taken it on the sand and she believed it had only gone round the clock once (making it about 150,000km all up). It was really clean underneath and felt good. All the electrics work. The dealer had reupholstered the front seats, put in a carpet set and replaced the headlining. It's not concourse (I didn't want that). It bears the marks of a used (but not abused) and well maintained car. It looked beautiful and I bought it.
Whether I paid too much (or too little??!!!) is a matter of opinion. I'd looked for early two door RR's for years. I saw probably no more than half a dozen cars that seemed as good as the one I bought. I keep an eye out even now (habit) and haven't seen anything as good as the one I got since I bought it - except one from the same dealer which was about the same price (it didn't last on sale for long).
No doubt there are other really good two doors out there, so you will find one if you really want it. If you've got up to about $15k to spend then I believe you've got the right idea about how much you need to pay for the right car. You could pay less (even a lot less if you're really lucky or have a kindly old relative who wants to "gift" you the RR he's been caring for for 35 or so years), but even with what I understand is your budget you may be waiting quite some time (even years) to find the car that's worth spending that kind of money on. Then again, you might find it tomorrow - good luck!
PS - I love my Rangie and it's not for sale.
Originally Posted by ghillie
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