Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's old Range Rover — or more specifically, her Range Rover SDV8 Autobiography model — has come up for sale.
Do you want to drive around in a Range Rover once owned by the Queen?
Of course you do.
Do you want to drive around in a Range Rove that also once had President Barack Obama as one of its passengers? Yes, absolutely.
The good news is that Bramley Motor Cars has just such a vehicle: a Range Rover SDV8 Autobiography model, specially prepared for the Royal Household by Land Rover, which can be yours for the princely (or perhaps queenly) sum of £224,850.
On top of that, it’s a very special opportunity indeed to have a car which you can prove was once Her Majesty’s. Usually, Land Rovers and Range Rovers that have seen service with the Royal Family have their registrations changed once out of service, so that — like retired spies — nobody will ever know of their previous lives. However, OU16 XVH retains its original plates, meaning there can be no doubt about the car’s authenticity.
And if your neighbours try and say otherwise, you can show them this video:
So what’s in a Royal Range Rover, I hear you scream? Surely bullet-proof glass, armour, ejection seats, machine guns, oil slicks, and so on?
Sadly not. It was, however, kitted out with covert lighting and police emergency lighting during its time in service, as well as specially adapted side steps and grab handles to help Her Late Majesty’s entry and exit from the vehicle.
Plenty of leg-room in the back, thanks to the model being a long-wheelbase. Credit: Bramley Motor cars via Autotrader
Sadly, you’re not allowed to pretend to be a police car, so the sirens have been removed, but the grab handles remain, and the rear entertainment system has been returned (no catching up on Coronation Street for the Queen, it would seem).
A marine passes by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh as they collect the President and First Lady in OU16 XVH. Credit: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
The car made a very high-profile appearance during President Obama’s visit to the UK in 2016. On April 22 of that year, the Duke of Edinburgh drove the car, accompanied by the Queen, to greet President Obama on the grounds of Windsor Castle after he disembarked from his helicopter Marine One.
From there, he drove the President and First Lady back to the castle. It is likely to be one of the few times that President Obama would have travelled in a vehicle that wasn’t one of his heavily armoured presidential limousines (nicknamed ‘The Beast’).
The car was prepared at the Land Rover Workshop in Gaydon, and was delivered to the Royal Household in 2016. It has had two services since then, and has only 18,206 miles on the clock. It is, of course, a top-of-the-line long-wheelbase model, with a 4.4 litre V8 engine.
You can take a look at more of the pictures and details at the Autotrader website and Bramley’s website.
The sticker warning those nearby of the dangers of the now removed police siren. Credit: Bramley Motor Cars via Autotrader
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