Sparingly Driven 1995 Chevy Suburban Heads to Auction

Finding a Chevrolet Suburban from the mid-1990s with about 20,000 miles on the clock is a tall order these days, over a quarter of a century after that generation debuted. With some luck, you can find one that had been in some government fleet on some airbase and rarely ventured off-base, or a fire chief's car that had just not seen all that many miles. Finding one of these in Europe is an even taller order.

In a few days a 1995 Suburban LT2500 will roll across the auction block in the UK, a left-hand-drive example that had belonged to a member of Qatar's royal family, and currently shows just over 20,000 miles on the clock. This now-classic SUV will be offered at the Ascot Racecourse auction this month.

To be precise, the Suburban in question shows about 32,500 kilometers on its odometer, as this is a European-market version, but this is not an SUV that was ordered in right-hand drive, even though GM certainly produced just such a thing as the Holden Suburban for Australia. This particular Suburban belonged to the late His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar and appears to have been kept at his UK estate for its entire life, seeing only occasional use.

This Suburban was optioned in two tone black/gold over a beige leather interior and is powered by a 5.7-liter V8 paired with an automatic transmission, which was a popular enough combination in the US, but a rarity for the UK. It must have drawn quite a few looks back when it was new.

The auction house reports that the Suburban is believed to have been used by the staff of the late Emir, possibly by his bodyguards, and this actually makes quite a lot of sense as a number of the late Emir's luxury sedans are also up for sale in the same auction with similarly low mileage. In Europe, bodyguards usually travel in an SUV trailing a sedan with the VIP, and an armored Mercedes-Benz S600 from the late Emir's fleet is also up for auction. This explains why he would have such an SUV in the UK to begin with.

Curiously enough, the Emir didn't buy a Range Rover for the job of ferrying his security guards, which would have been a more "local" purchase, but the Suburban certainly offered more seats and more room than the Rangie of the day. Coupled with the armored Mercedes S600, this two-car motorcade must have been quite a sight in England.

Photos of the Suburban show an interior that appears consistent with its indicated mileage and clean carpets, and we can only wonder how much it cost to fill up with gas in the UK in the 1990s. The purchase price with all the taxes must have been breathtaking by itself.

The auction house estimates this Suburban to bring between £14,000 and £18,000 on auction day, which translates to between $19,500 and $25,000.

We're not so sure that this Suburban will end up staying in the UK, given the demand for minty SUVs on this side of the pond. It's certainly a rare machine in Europe, but we have a feeling that it will be headed to a US buyer, so the estimate here is perhaps even conservative given the demand for low-mileage SUVs here. Collectors in the UK are also unlikely to be nostalgic for a Chevy Suburban from the mid 1990s, no matter how clean it is inside.

Then again, the Suburban could draw relatively few bids in the UK due to just how much gas it needs to move itself around, so it could see relatively few bidders compete for it. So it may yet turn out to be a bargain. We have to wonder how much this Suburban would command at a stateside auction—and we won't be surprised to see it here later this year.

Visit the auction website to view the full list of lots from the upcoming Ascot Racecourse sale, and a detailed auction schedule.