Every Wednesday, we’re highlighting an auction bargain that we reckon was well bought. Thanks to our friends at Classic Car Weekly, and its roving auction reporter, Richy Barnett, we’ll bring you some amazing cars at much lower-than-expected prices. This week, it’s a prime slice of Range Rover (P38), the Rangie that they’ll try and ignore during the marque’s 50th anniversary celebrations this year.

• Car 1996 Range Rover (P38) 2.5 DSE

• Sold for £6160

• Original estimate £9000-£12,000

• Historics, 7 March 2020

It’s not the one people want – and that held values back. More switched-on buyers are recognising the P38’s gradual march into classic-dom, and we are seeing more of them at auctions, but the ones most buyers want are the V8s, particularly the range-topping 4.6 HSE versions.

This DSE model had the BMW-sourced 2.5-litre turbodiesel – which meant fewer visits to the pumps, but a reputation in period for fairly gentle performance – which helped restrict the number of would-be new owners for this 1996 example. Good examples are getting rare. They are, and as with so many other cars, once it’s difficult to find a good one, the market wakes up. While there are plenty of these in daily use, many are downright scruffy, being bodged-up to get through their MoT test.

And, unfortunately, all too many have been bought by people who don’t have the money to keep them maintained properly. This one was guided accordingly in terms of price, so when it sold for well below its £9k lower estimate, it was definitely a savvy buy. The condition should have helped it sell for more. Definitely one of the best to be offered in a classic sale, it had covered 32,000 miles from new, and its condition reflected the odometer reading.

Range Rover (P38) price guide

• Concours £10,000+

• Good £4500-£9000

• Usable £1500-£3750

• Project £750-£1500

• THIS CAR £6160

Well bought Range Rover (P38): The verdict

While everyone else holds out for good Classic-generation Rangies – or petrol-powered P38s at the very least – this car’s new owner snapped up a remarkably low-mileage workhorse that was in very good order all round, and in a good colour scheme too. Here was a nice example of properly splashing not much cash.

The bodywork was extremely tidy, the straight sides devoid of dents and knocks. Panel-fit was spot-on and the metallic paint very deep, while the trim was equally good. The interior was almost showroom fresh, with the cream seat facings showing little (if any) wear. The dashboard and door cards maintained the first-rate thread. Lifting the cricket pitch-sized bonnet revealed a detailed engine bay, too. It had everything going for it.

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