Allen’s Farm Truck is a 1995 North-American Range Rover Classic. It’s a soft dashboard, County (100”) four-door model in it’s original Beluga Black. It also has various layers of dust, dirty, oil, and bird**** contributing to a filthy patina I can’t help but adore. Allen lives locally and has been a friend of the shop since our early days. Back in 2019 when we filmed a pilot for a reality show with Leftfield Media here in Marshall, Allen brought his R5 Turbo by the shop and we filmed a segment pretending to ‘reveal’ his freshly imported fire engine red French hot-hatch. Since then he’s welcomed us to his property in Delaplane to photograph a 1995 Defender 110 and a highly modified 1993 Defender 130.

Each time I visited his Range Rover was somewhere around the property. It was never far-off; among the various cars in his fleet it alone seemed to be treated like a farm dog. It slept outside. It was expected to work for its meals. But for all the years he had owned it he (a) kept it maintained and (b) didn’t modify anything he didn’t have to. The alloy wheels were ruined long ago and replaced with black wolf wheels before the kids thought that was a cool move. A sump guard / skid pan was installed to protect it from where it was willing to drag itself. And in all that time the interior held up. The dash is intact; the wiring is unmodified; the thing is lovely and uniquely outfitted with so many layers of fresh-off-the-farm-patina I can’t help but love it.

But the life of a working dog isn’t easy.

The truck has quite literally been ridden hard and put away wet. Allen owns a good bit of land and the Rover was capable of getting through horse fields and backroads alike. It went where other pieces of equipment on the farm couldn’t. Weirdly though, Allen is a car guy. He has taste, space, and knows how to tinker, and when to seek help. I’ve seen W460 Mercedes and imported ‘80’s 911’s in his collection. I’ve also seen custom ‘30’s Cadillac coupes, early Packards, and that wild bright red R5 Turbo. There must be more, I’m sure. The Range Rover might have been put through it’s paces but it was respected as it did it. I’ve seen trucks used like this with dashboards falling apart, stereos falling out, hacked up engine compartments, and a whole lot of questionable nonsense. This is all there…

So why get rid of your farm truck?

It’s rusty and the starter went ka-put. This time he didn’t want to fix it. I personally think it’s too rusty to justify restoring. You might disagree. I also think it’s good complete to part-out. When I first started looking at classic cars I had eyes bigger than my stomach, and not nearly enough means to get what I wanted. But there were other options that needed TLC I could potentially make work. And for a farm truck… a 4×4… a toy… a commuter… a project… this might be that exact thing for someone.

Listen, I’ve done nothing to this since we got it about a month ago. I drove it once when it arrived, and it was clear the starter was failing. So it’s driven that one time. But since then it still powers up after sitting, so no parasitic drains. The switches and dash are satisfyingly intact and in place. The seat covers are functional. The farm-grime on the exterior is so good I’m (almost) grateful we’ve been in a drought for 32 days (and running) so it doesn’t lose all its charm sitting in my parking lot.

But that’s really all that’ll happen here. It’ll sit in the parking lot until one future day when a tech needs something and he’ll say, “Hey that black Rover has the plubus we need; I’m going to grab it.” At that point it’s pure broken windows theory and so begins a race to the bottom with its fate as a parts truck secured. I think it deserves a bit more, and so here late on a Friday as the sun dipped below the trees I snapped some photos of Allen’s Farm Truck in the hopes that it’ll find an environment somewhere to keep on Rovering.

Drivetrain. In 1995 the Range Rover was equipped with the 3.9L fuel-injected V8 and bolted to the ZFHP22 four-speed automatic transmission. The Rover has 223,949 miles on the odometer, which appears accurate. The truck appears to need a new starter motor but drove around the lot on its own power on arrival. Truck holds a charge for weeks without running and the engine starts easily. Was driven semi-regularly. Equipped with factory emissions equipment for North America. Vehicle has not been subject to safety or emissions inspections for a few years as it ran farm tags on the property. Black wolf wheels with chipped black powder coating. Stock suspension with front and rear sway bars. Front HD sump guard added; lower air dam removed and no longer present.

Exterior. Beluga Black County (100”) four-door. Chrome exterior handles. A staggering amount of farm dirt that I will avoid washing out of respect as long as I possibly can. Passenger rear quarter panel kissed a fence post on the farm and dented / left white paint. Chrome on front and rear bumpers has some rust in the chrome. Rear lower tailgate has scratches on the paint where the tailgate has rubbed over the years. Similarly, the paint on the A- and B-pillars has faded over time with the aluminum now showing through in the centers. The chassis and body both have rusty, with the body having rot on door jambs and some sections of floors, though not on the doors or upper tailgate.

Interior. Seating for five. Vehicle equipped with beige leather interior and soft plastic dashboard, equipped with airbags (driver and passenger). Original radio, original clock, all switches present, and interior intact. Center wood trim cracked and window switches either need replacement or the wiring inspected. Front driver and passenger seats have heavy canvas seat covers. Map pockets and speaker covers missing. Courtesy lights functional. AC, power locks, and power seats not checked. Dome lights work. And man it’s comfortable. I sincerely hope this truck gets to keep living the dream somewhere. Thanks for reading.

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