Overfinch has long been respected as an outfit capable of taking already excellent Range Rovers and turning the dial up to eleven.
Viewers of old-old Top Gear may recall a P38 Overfinch dusting a Ford Focus in a drag race while the Rangie itself was towing another Ford Focus; in 2003, the L322-generation Overfinch came to the show to drag-race a Mercedes SLK, and won by some margin – despite the Merc being on track and the Range Rover being on wet grass. These truly are formidable machines.
The example we have here has an interesting history.
A supercharged 4.2-litre model, it was delivered in standard production guise to its first owner in July 2005, being acquired by Overfinch themselves in 2006.
Once converted, they used it as a demonstrator vehicle for some time, before it was bought by the current owner in 2007. He immediately had a couple of extra seats fitted in the boot, and put the Overfinch into service as the family runabout – and with five kids in tow, it made for very practical transportation!
However, as these children are getting bigger and bigger, the family fleet has evolved to suit and the Overfinch is getting used less these days, hence the decision to move it on.
Pleasingly the owner tells us that it’s always been a reliable and pleasurable thing to drive – and, tantalisingly, there are unconfirmed rumours that this particular demonstrator once appeared on Top Gear (or perhaps one of Clarkson’s DVD specials) as well…
• 7-seater with fold away seats/seat belts in boot
• Black leather trim
• Harman/Kardon audio
• Electric sunroof
The L322 is often praised for the layout of its interior, and you can see why – everything is logically arranged, and crafted from materials that are hard-wearing as well as tactile.
The black leather seats are in good order throughout, with just a little gentle patination to the driver’s seat that’s in line with the age and mileage, along with a crack to the lower plastic shroud on the side of the seat.
The electric adjustment controls all work correctly on the front seats, and the pair of professionally installed additional seats in the boot offer safe transportation (with seatbelts) for a couple of little ones, and fold away neatly to free up plenty of boot space when unoccupied.
The in-built screen features radio and nav along with TV and DVD, and there are additional monitors in the back of the headrests for rear passengers. The car is fitted with a factory electric sunroof, which is working correctly.
The carpets and headlining are tidy, and it’s all neat inside the boot too, with a spare alloy wheel and jack beneath the floor.
The centre console in the rear has signs of usage wear, but on the whole this is a decent cabin which benefits from Harman/Kardon audio and some tasteful wood trim.
The Zambezi Silver paint is an excellent choice for the L322 – they can look a bit heavy-handed in darker shades, but this crisp and fresh silver suits it to a tee.
The bodywork is in remarkably good condition too, particularly given that this has spent much of its life as a London car; you’d reasonably expect to find bumper scrapes or door dings but there’s none of that here.
Sure, there’s the odd very minor mark here and there, but for a Range Rover that’s been used as a family car in the metropolis, it's weathered the years superbly.
You’ll note that there’s a small piece of trim missing at the lower edge in the centre of the rear bumper; the owner has actually sourced a replacement part, although it arrived in the wrong shade of silver – but this would be a very simple thing for the new owner to sort.
There’s a very small area of surface corrosion on the offside rear wheel arch, and one the front fog lights is cracked, but aside from that it’s all very presentable indeed.
The 22” wheels have also recently been refurbished.
You can tell a lot about what sort of life a Range Rover has had by looking underneath too. As you can see, it’s all straight and undamaged – this is evidently a vehicle that’s spent much of its life on the road, rather than bouncing off craggy rocks on off-road trails.
These things are tough. Of course they are, that’s what they’re built for – rugged, hard-wearing mechanicals that should theoretically go on indefinitely as long as they’re properly looked after.
And you can be sure that this one has been – a beloved member of the family for the last fifteen years, it’s always been correctly serviced and maintained, and that’s evident in the way it drives today.
The venerable supercharged V8 fires up on the first spin, thanks to that new starter motor; it settles into an even idle, and accelerates with real vigour.
The suspension offers a cosseting ride, even with those low-profile tyres, and the compressor has been recently replaced. The brakes are very strong, with the rears having been overhauled in 2018.
Everything appears to be doing exactly what it’s meant to – which is just what we should expect of such a ruggedly engineered machine.
The L322-generation Range Rover has got to an age now where it’s considered to be a modern classic in its own right, and the official Overfinch conversions are increasingly sought after.
And, quite frankly, you’re unlikely to find a more honest example of such a thing than this one: it was originally built by the company to use as a demonstrator, so you just know they will have put a little bit of extra effort in, and the current owner bought it directly from them and kept it in regular service for the next fifteen years.
The history is robust, the condition is very good throughout, and it really does look like a great buy.
Well equipped, entertaining and capable, extremely practical – it’s the complete package.
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2005 Overfinch Range Rover V8
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