1986 Range Rover 'Quadramotive Schuler' Station Wagon

Description

The legendary Range Rover was launched in 1970 by British Leyland and only available only in a two-door body until 1981 when a five-door became available.  Suitably up-market compared to preceding Land Rover models, the early Range Rovers had basic, utilitarian interiors with vinyl seats and plastic dashboards that were designed to be washed out with a hose - luxury features such as power steering, carpeted floors, air conditioning, cloth/leather seats, and wooden interior trim only came in later models.  The Range Rover was a body-on-frame design with a box section ladder type chassis, like the contemporary Series Land Rovers but differed in having coil sprung suspension, permanent four-wheel drive and four-wheel disc brakes.  Arguably the first luxury four-wheel drive, the first-generation Range Rover remained in production until 1996 and has since become an automotive icon, with values rising sharply in recent years.   Founded by Melbourne Range Rover enthusiast John Hoerner in 1981, Quadramotive Pty Ltd offered high quality conversions in conjunction with Schuler in the UK using either Peter Brock’s Holden Dealer Team 5.0 V8 engines or Chevrolet motors in England and the renowned Ferguson Formula 4WD system.  Badged the FFRR 5000, the Schuler offered significant performance gains over the standard Range Rover, both in terms of acceleration and off road capability.  The 5.0 V8 was built by HDT to Group 3 specification and rated at 241 horsepower at 5000rpm and 356 Nm of torque at 3000rpm, mated to a Torqueflite 727 three-speed transmission with a Ferguson Formula viscous limited-slip distributing 37% of the power to the front wheels and 63% to the rear.  The suspension was uprated with Koni adjustable dampers and a Quaife self-locking diff, Wolfrace 15 x 7 Turbo wheels and the bodywork enhanced with flared wheelarches, angled grille and special badging.  Each Schuler had a bespoke interior, with optional walnut dash, Connolly leather, Recaro front seats, Stoddard velvet pile carpet and a unique single-piece tailgate all available.  Hardly surprising given the huge asking price, very few Schulers were sold in Australia – either seven or nine are the numbers usually quoted by available sources – and they rarely come on the open market.