Auctions for Salon Privé by auction company Silverstone Auctions will start on the 4th of September. In the middle of a list of four-wheel rarities is the 1970's Range Rover with chassis #001.
Silverstone Auctions warrants that this is the first pre-production Range Rover (chassis #001) and there are 28 pre-production chassis with registration YVB ***H. Of these 28 pre-production Range Rovers, 6 were ordered on September 26, 1969, having been identified as “VELAR” during road testing, in an attempt to hide when necessary the fact that it is a Land Rover product. This one, guarantees the auctioneer, is definitely chassis #001 of the first 6.
TO REMEMBER: This is the first production Range Rover
This example with chassis #001 was built between November 24th and December 17th, 1969 and registered on January 2nd, 1970, more than 5 months before its worldwide revelation, on June 17th, 1970.
With registration number YVB 151H, chassis number 35500001A and corresponding engine, box and axle with number 35500001, the auctioneer proves the originality of this Range Rover. This model with chassis #001 had a series of features that were not present in the production models: olive green color, vinyl seat finish and a dashboard with a different finish.
Out of curiosity, the first examples to leave the production line with official production specifications were chassis nº3 (YVB 153H) and nº8 (YVB 160H). The first blue and the second red, the colors the brand wanted to use in promotional photographs.
Reportedly, Michael Forlong was the first private owner of this pre-production Range Rover with chassis #001. Michael produced two promotional films for the Range Rover: “A car for all reasons” and “Sahara South”. You can see the first movie at the end of this article.
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On April 8, 1971 Michael Forlong would register Range Rover #001, but not before modifying the car to production specifications. They changed the color to “Bahama Gold” and the dashboard was updated to the production version.
A series of license plate-changing episodes followed, with this specimen having been lost track until the mid-1980s, when interest in pre-production Range Rover models increased.
This specimen was found and restored for 6 years, in order to put it in its original configuration. Given the historic value of the vehicle, they were also able to re-register it with the registration number YVB 151H. The iconic aluminum hood, chassis, engine, axles and bodywork are original.
Silverstone Auctions expects to obtain between 125 thousand and 175,000 euros with the auction of this copy. Stay with the promotional video and the full gallery.
Sources: Silverstone Auctions and Land Rover Center
