{"id":1,"date":"2026-05-05T20:23:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T20:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/?p=1"},"modified":"2026-05-07T04:47:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T04:47:00","slug":"love-letter-to-an-l322","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/?p=1","title":{"rendered":"A Love Letter to My L322"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Talking about my L322\u2026 Because everyone <\/em>seems to be talking about the L322 these days\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t think everyone is talking about the L322 because it\u2019s the \u2018best car ever made\u2019. Because it isn\u2019t. Not by any measure. The next model on is probably a better drive, more economical, more powerful, more capable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone is talking about the L322 because it was the \u2018best car ever made\u2019 twenty four years ago (as of 2026). And everyone is talking about it because of the elapsed time and richly deserved reputation for complexity, it\u2019s become cheap enough for public school influencers in tweed caps and jackets to purchase a little slice of upper class Britain, and the kind of grubby farmer-esque image that looks well on the lawns of Goodwood estate. Endorsed by Clarkson, Harry Metcalfe and the like – it\u2019s likely the most accessible ticket up the social class ladder you can buy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve also become accessible to grubby oiks like me, whose life seems to be held together with baler twine and cable ties, lurching from one disaster to the next. Highly stressed work, a non-existent life-balance, family, children, home-brew race cars, illnesses and health complications in my nearest and dearest testing every fibre I have to breaking point on a daily basis. Why wouldn\u2019t I throw a flawed, temperamental and frankly old<\/em> daily driver into the mix? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The Best Car\u2026 In The World?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wind the clock back two years (have I really had it that long?) and I was still in the VW Scirocco Mk2 that I was running daily. An indulgence really – the toy I\u2019d bought to keep me out of trouble after selling my Superstox (more on that later\u2026). A great car, one of my favourites – we had a lot of fun together. Not quite hardy enough to cope with daily use in truth, not quite big enough to fit the family in, no capacity for towing (towing Superstox\u2026) I sold it, released my stake money and asked a question – what is the best car I could buy for under \u00a35k?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d shortlisted a few. Did I want a van? Maybe. BMW E60? Definitely. Disco TD5? Yes\u2026 Mercedes E Class? A bit soul-less. The L322 had always felt out of reach to me. In my mind, they were still a new car, and I was still a ten year old straining to peer over the scraper seals of one a local property developer had, in absolute awe of the acres of leather and wood\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dad had a P38. My grandfather had a P38. In the end, I\u2019d had about three of them – I had a love-hate relationship with all of them. Great when they worked – which was never – and painful when they didn\u2019t. The L322 felt like five generations hence from the P38, and out of reach from someone like me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I searched on eBay, expecting to find only wrecks within reach\u2026 But no. From a dealer (Heel and Toe Cars – Coggeshall based, great guys to deal with) MY TD6 was for sale, within reach and a deal was struck. The very best example I could find was mine for comfortably under \u00a35k. 84k miles, and the tow bar was still wrapped in factory cellophane\u2026 I couldn\u2019t believe it. I still can\u2019t, really. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are ropey ones around for almost no money at all now, but this car was and is exceptional. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It hasn\u2019t always rewarded me as much as you\u2019d hope – but probably has as much as you\u2019d expect. We had a difficult honeymoon period, with air suspension issues (Chinese reproduction compressor caused most problems here) that dogged me for some considerable time whilst I learned the suspension system enough to fix it. It actually blew up one air suspension spring, but had the decency to do so on my driveway at least. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fuel pump stopped pumping some time later, and scariest of all the lower front ball joint nut came undone – presumably as someone historically didn\u2019t tighten it up enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stereo system really dates the interior, and I\u2019ve got used to the missing pixels now. It\u2019s a sod to change for a modern replacement, I haven\u2019t had the time to suss out how yet – which is a shame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s slow. The TD6 is fine when you\u2019re rolling but honestly getting there? Another 50bhp would do it the world of good. Except that it wouldn\u2019t, because the gearbox would appear to be made of the same kind of cheese McDonalds use in their burgers, so putting more power through it would dump me at the side of the road one day, categorically, with an expensive and complex job to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Old Meets New(er)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the risk of sounding like my yuppie would-be car journalist nemeses (nemesi?) there is something about a Range Rover that no other car gives you. The JLR marketing squit called the driving position the \u2018command position\u2019, and I may vomit at that, but it bluddy well feels like it. All of them do – from the classics to the current models. And it\u2019s so smooth, so easy to drive\u2026 I\u2019ve had less relaxing deep tissue massages than the drive of this thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I genuinely relish the opportunity to do a long distance road trip in it. You should see my little face light up when I\u2019ve got the opportunity to point north or south, set the cruise control, let the suspension drop to motorway height and just\u2026 Go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theres no other car I can think of that\u2019s quite so versatile either. I\u2019ve taken the whole family out for trips. I\u2019ve delivered three engines all at the same time and collected about 18 tyres from Lincolnshire without breaking a sweat. I\u2019ve towed, recovered, waded in rivers, rescued lesser cars from floods, and done it all in a car that would still look at home with some celebrity in the back pulling up to a red carpet even now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think it\u2019s handsome too, and I also think my pre-facelift front end is the best of the lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love it. I look back at it every time I park up. It\u2019s the first car I\u2019ve had for about fifteen years I make a conscious effort to keep clean and serviced. I\u2019m glad I can take care of the expensive mechanical stuff myself – I wouldn\u2019t want garage rate bills – but it\u2019s worth taking care of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a35k to feel like landed gentry every time you drive anywhere? The preppy twits are right – it\u2019s a steal. Oh yah, ya know\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are newer cars. Faster cars, for sure. Wiser investments, definitely. But no car that understands a flooded back road in Suffolk quite like this one\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,4,6,7],"tags":[14,11,8,12,10,9,13],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automotive-writing","category-motoring","category-range-rover","category-range-rover-l322","tag-automotive-writing","tag-classic-cars","tag-l322","tag-modern-classic","tag-motoring","tag-range-rover-l322","tag-suffolk"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/15836bb7-9d20-4a25-8b0c-f2143242cd93.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42,"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/42"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sloitlyonthehuh.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}