Bob Marley’s ‘Crusty, Old’ Range Rover Up For Auction

A 1980 Range Rover Classic, reported to be formerly owned by Reggae legend Bob Marley, and later Geejam’s Jon Baker, is now up for auction via the UK-based Classic Car Auctions.

According to the entity, the vehicle, which BBC Top Gear has since described as a “crusty old Rangie is in desperate need of some TLC,” will go under the hammer “without reserve at the end of March”.   

Photos of the Range Rover on the Classic Car Auctions website, show it to be in pretty bad shape, with the rear windshield and many other parts missing.  

The vehicle is described by Classic Car Auctions as “1980 Range Rover Classic Project and “a collage of Range Rover parts believed to have been the pride and joy of that legendary Jamaican pioneer of reggae, ska and rocksteady, Robert Nesta Marley”.

Colour-wise, it is described as “mostly green”, right-hand drive and havinan odometer reading of 62,920 miles.   The CCA vendor condition report also lists the vehicle as having a score of 23/115 and a poor rating in all areas, which, according to the company means it has numerous faults such as extensive damage and many missing parts.

Additional information shared about the vehicle was that it is “purported to be one of two Land Rovers owned by the late Bob Marley; believed to have been obtained via an agent who dealt directly with the Marley family” and “shipped from Solihull initially to Germany then on to Jamaica and was regularly shipped between the UK and Jamaica.”

“Apparently the original registration document, when found, bore the name ‘Robert Nesta Marley’,” the company noted.

“Originally finished in Masai Red, now ending up in a mixture of Black, Green and Blue supposedly painted by some of Bob’s eleven children.   His 1976 Series 3 truck was found in 2015 and duly restored, now is the chance to get this desirable 3-door back on the road.   Supplied with the engine in the back (it needs to go in the front !) this old Rangey is ripe for restoration,” it added.

The description, which has Simon Langadale as its consignor,  also noted that potential buyers are also asked to bid online during the live auction (which began this morning) or at The Saleroom, whether in the “room, by phone, live online or via commission”.

BBC Top Gear, in elaborating on the status of the Range Rover, noted that “the engine isn’t even in the engine bay, instead nestled in bits in the back of the three-door thing and as such as “perfect restoration fodder”.

“Thought to be purchased around the time ‘Redemption Song’ was released, the folk and reggae star was touring his final studio album, Uprising, with his band in the same year as the Range Rover was launched,” the publication noted.

Bob Marley’s motor vehicles, guitars and other assets owned by him, have always attracted attention over the years.

This vehicle, which is being auctioned by Classic Car based on appearance, seems to be the same “Bob Marley’s two-door Range Rover,” which Bloomberg had reported back in 2017 that GeeJam’s Jon Baker had owned.

Baker said the Range Rover was among “13 of Jamaica’s prized classic cars”, which had “fallen into terrible disrepair” and which he was repairing. 

The music mogul and hotelier had said that he would offer the vehicles to guests who want to take day trips” to nearby picnic spots or to Blue Mountains National Park, in a bid to “preserve a piece of the island’s history while adding an amenity for his hard-to-impress guests.”

“We’re not restoring them to concourse quality,” he said. “We’re believers in a nice-condition old car. We can’t take off every nut and bolt and re-chrome it. But we can make these cars drivable again,” Baker had said at the time.

According to Bloomberg, Baker collaborated with British mechanic Steve James, a specialist in vintage cars, and Geejam’s Chief Finance Officer, Cliff Ryan, a former race driver, to overhaul the vehicles so that they could be driven “without worrying that they’ll break down again”.

The Voice newspaper had also carried an image of the vehicle of which Baker spoke, in October 2016.

Also, in February 2015, the Bob Marley Museum website reported that “just in time for his 70th birthday, the Small Axe singer’s iconic 1977 Series III Land Rover which had fallen into a state of disrepair following his death, had been “completely restored from clutch to chassis” by Sandals Resorts International and its Jamaican affiliate car company ATL Automotive, the regional distributors for Land Rover and the Marley family.

“On February 12, the Land Rover returned to it’s home at 56 Hope Road for all fans to come see,” it noted.