the landy march 2016

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‘WE’RE ON A GLACIER. THERE’S A CREVASSE OUT THERE’Who needs a 110 with enormous tyres when you can take on Iceland in a bog-standard Freelander 2?

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ISSUE 25 MARCH 2016

LANDYHOMECOMING HERO

How many of us have sold our much-loved Land Rovers… only to end up regretting it?

� at’s what Gary Newton did way back in 1997 when he parted with his original 2.25-litre 90.

So imagine his delight when, 15 years later, he saw his old Landy back up for sale. � ey’re reunited now – and this time, he says, he’ll never part with it again! Full story: 8

Rarities are o� en rare because theyweren’t very good. � e 2.0 diesel in the early Series II is a good example – but as Nick Lewis’ 88 shows, it makes for a cracking classic! Full story: Page 28

Conventional wisdom says don’t buy a modded vehicle. When it’s a sensible work-ready Disco, though, maybe it’s not such a bad ideaFull story: Page 26

If a Range Rover Sport SVR isn’t blingy enough for you, we have the answer: Lumma’s outrageous CLR Full story: Page 22

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Freelander wins at cops’n’robbers

3Issue 25: March 2016

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When you think of the word ‘heritage’ while linking to Land Rov-ers, you may conjure

up the image of a pretty 80” Series I or a beautifully-kept long wheelbase Series III. It may vary slightly depending on your preference, but that’s the ball park we’re dealing with anyway.

Apparently, though, Land Rover now considers the Freelander 1 to fall within the same bracket, after announcing that it will join the ever-increasing Heritage vehicle fleet.

There is no denying that the Free-lander 1 was something of a revolution for the Solihull firm. At the time, it became the fastest-selling Land Rover ever, although it has now had that title stolen by the Range Rover Evoque.

Even more crucially, the first rendi-tion of the Freelander became Europe’s fastest-selling 4WD for five years on the bounce following its launch in 1997. Still, you wouldn’t necessarily put it down as a true classic – nor as a particularly reliable car, as any 1.8-litre petrol owner will tell you.

Now, you’d think Land Rover’s Heritage vehicles are all just a bunch of Series trucks and a two-door Rangey thrown in for good measure – and generally you’d be right. However, Land Rover defines a Heritage model by the

number of years it’s been out of pro-duction. In this case, any more than ten and you’re considered a legend.

To be fair, the Freelander 1 did carry patented and pioneering tech tricks when it first appeared, including the now-ubiquitous Hill Descent Control (HDC). And seeing as the production of this relic ended a decade ago in the dim and distant days of 2006, Land Rover has given it the green light for sainted retirement.

Its new official Heritage status also means current owners can benefit from the Land Rover Heritage Parts network, where there are over 9000 available bits for the Freelander 1. Owners can rest assured then that they’ll be able to keep their one-time European hero safe and solid for many years to come.

Tim Hannig, Director, Jaguar Land Rover Heritage, said: ‘With the addition of the Freelander 1 as a Heritage model, Land Rover is reaffirming its support and commitment to its loyal customers by providing exceptional cars, services, parts and experiences for models more than 10 years out of production. Genuine Land Rover Heritage Parts for Freelander 1 have been engineered and tested in extreme conditions. As such it gives our customers total peace-of-mind that their vehicles are maintained to the highest possible standards.’

Freelander 1 is now Land Rover Heritage

Above: Launched in 1997, the Freelander 1 came in a variety of body styles, includ-ing the Station Wagon, Hardback and the now rarely seen Softback. This was the Range Rover Evoque of its day

A Freelander wouldn’t normally strike you as a particularly brilliant escape vehicle, but

early in January a group of teen-agers appeared to reveal one as a bit of a dark horse.

As reported by the Northern Echo, on Sunday 3 January police were made aware of a suspected stolen vehicle in Stockton.

The red Land Rover was then allegedly pursued by two police cars after failing to stop in the area of Billingham.

However, reports suggest that before police could get the drivers to halt, their vehicles got stuck in mud when they tried to pursue the Freelander off-road in Rothwell Crescent, Roseworth.

Shortly after, occupants of the vehicle abandoned it and fled from the scene.

A spokesperson for Cleveland Police commented: ‘A vehicle was reported stolen from Stock-ton and located by officers in Billingham area. The vehicle then failed to stop for police and after a short pursuit, was abandoned in Roseworth.’

According to witnesses at the time, police vehicles had to be towed out of the mud with the help of a local garage.

Since the initial reports, Cleveland Police have confirmed the arrests of three teenagers, aged 16, 17 and 19. They have all been released on bail pending further enquiries.

With the return of the Bearmach-sponsored Great British Land Rover Show on 24

April in its new home at Stoneleigh, the organisers of the indoor Land Rover fest will be giving out cash prizes for the best display vehicles at the show.

This year, two Land Rover vehicle displays – one for classics and the other for modified off-roaders – will be exhibiting at the Great British Land Rover Show.

If you think your Land Rover fits into either of these categories and would wow a packed Stoneleigh crowd, then fill in your details on the corresponding slip below.

All the successful candidates will be given a year’s free subscription to The Landy. And, as if that wasn’t enough, the show’s organisers will be dish-ing out £150 to the winners of each respective category – as chosen by the public on the day of the show.

Even the runners-up will drive home with an extra £50 in their pock-et. So if you want to showcase your Land Rover this April, and if you fancy winning £150, then fill in the forms for your chance to display your Landy!

With planning for the show still very much in progress and trade stand space filling up fast, the organisers are yet to decide whether the display will be inside or outside of the main show hall. It has been confirmed, however, that if the display is positioned outside it will be right in front of the hall.

Remember, Sunday 24 April is the day the Land Rover season officially kicks off. And while you can also win money at the Great British Land Rover Show, you won’t have to pay to get in – as all successful candidates for the vehicle displays will receive two FREE tickets.

What about for the rest of you? Well, you can all still get your FREE tickets too – with one being included at no extra cost with each paid-for ticket you buy in advance.

Even these only cost only £5. So for example, if you want three tickets, you just need to pay £5 for each of the first two and the third will be free. If you want two, buy one and the second’s free. And so on.

Keep an eye out for announcements over the coming weeks as we bring you more news on who and what will be there in order to make this the biggest, best and most exciting Great British Land Rover Show to date. And put 24 April in your diary now!

Win cash with your Landy!4 Issue 25: March 2016

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If you prefer to email your whole application, please include all the information requested above, along with a photo of the vehicle, to [email protected]

Closing date for applications: 20 March 2016Successful applicants will be notified by 1 April 2016

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Closing date for applications: 20 March 2016Successful applicants will be notified by 1 April 2016

Off-Road Land Rover Display Classic Land Rover Display

So, what’s new this month? Oops, that’s right, nothing. Jaguar Land Rover are still hitting other car manufacturers

for six, knocking them out of the park and wiping the floor with them.

Perhaps you’re also thinking ‘Yep, it’s about time someone changed the re-cord!’ Well, Jaguar Land Rover just did.

Don’t worry, they’re not about to collapse into a heap of liquidation. No, instead they’ve just managed to crack America like the next big boy band.

Let’s not blow anyone’s brains here and simply keep to the facts you really need to know.

For starters, 2015 was Jaguar Land Rover’s best year to date. Period. They sold more vehicles in that calendar year than they ever have, with 487,065 a total of being sold globally – a 5% increase on 2014 and a colossal 50% improvement over 2009.

It was also their sixth successive year of sales growth and – not that we needed it – another reminder of how

far the company has come in the last half-a-dozen years.

There’s even bigger news from across the pond, though, as Bloomberg Business reported on how Land Rover posted the highest percentage increase of sales from 2014 over any other car manufacturer, including the USA’s very own Jeep and Ford. A kick in the teeth, some might say…

The launch of the Discovery Sport was bound to be an ace up Land Rover’s sleeve. And as it turned out, around 10% of sales accounted for were indeed for the new baby Disco. Around 20% went to the Range Rover Evoque, while a total of 70,582 Range Rovers were sold (25%) – maintaining its position as the most popular model in the Land Rover Range.

Commenting on the success of the year, Andy Goss, Jaguar Land Rover Group Sales Operations Director, said: ‘This has been a significant year for Jaguar Land Rover, with updated mod-els being introduced across the range,

as well as the addition to our portfolio of the completely new Jaguar XE and Land Rover Discovery Sport.

‘Customer response has been extremely positive, resulting in record retails across UK, North America and Europe. The appeal of our Jaguars and Land Rovers has also been recognised through over 95 global awards in 2015, including 15 for the Land Rover Discovery Sport and 19 for the Jaguar XE alone.

Looking ahead, 2016 promises to be another exciting year – with the sales launch of the Range Rover Evoque Convertible a highlight along with further all-new and refreshed vehicles.

The only blot on an otherwise perfect parchment is that China isn’t swinging to the same tune as Land Rover anymore. It’s not a disaster by any means, but the company won’t like the fact that 92,474 sales in China represent a 24% downturn.

Food for thought perhaps, alongside the glasses of champagne...

6 Issue 25: March 2016


Charting at Number One





Comment

A couple of months ago, I wrote in this column about my old 300Tdi 90. I kind of fell in love with that truck, and I’ve always felt like a little part of me died when I sold it on. But you know how it is – I needed to raise the deposit for my first flat, and so M146 HPL had to go.

I’ve always wondered what’s happened to her in the years since then, whose hands she’s passed through and what she looks like now. And of course, I still nurse the faint and probably futile hope that one day, I’ll be browsing through the Trader and there she’ll be, looking back at me from my screen and waiting for me to bring her home.

Yes, I know, it sounds like the plot from the crappest Disney movie ever. But I absolutely guarantee that my story will strike a chord with a lot of people who’ve sold Land Rovers and then wished they hadn’t.

Gary Newton, whose 90 is the one on our front cover this month, would certainly recognise how stunned, excited and downright emotional I’ll feel if it ever happens. He’d only owned his very early 2.25 for a couple of years before selling it – but still, a decade and a half later, when he spotted it for sale there was no way he was going to miss out. And now he’s got it back, there’s no way he’s ever going to be letting it go again.

Like most of us, I spend a good portion of my spare time sniffing at the small ads and wondering if this 90 or that 110 might make a handy addition to the collection of ageing metalwork on my drive. Most of the time, I’m picturing how they’d look with bigger suspension and all that, and I wonder if that’s how mine ended up (it was already running 33s and a cage by the time I sold it). But like Gary, if I were ever to get hold of her again I’d be looking at a galvy resto and treating her to a life of semi-retirement and TLC.

Which is ironic, really, considering the amount of abuse I gave her when she was new. And actually, when you look at it that way it’s probably best if I never do find her again. Because let’s face it, since when was a 90 ever meant to have an easy life?

Alan Kidd, Editor

Each year, the prestigious What Car? Awards are held in January. And each year Land Rover walks away with a sack

full of gongs.And it was the same for the 2016

versions of the ‘who’s had a good year?’ event. Although while Land Rover picked up three awards along the way, they might not necessarily have been in the categories you’d expect…

First up is the Discovery Sport. Launched in early 2015, this new arrival to the Discovery family was always des-tined to receive some sort of accolade. But it may come as a surprise to hear

that it walked away with the award for Best Large SUV. Yes, large.

This is the award that the Range Rov-er Sport has won for the last two years.

There’s no denying that the Discovery Sport is very good at what it does. But if the award categories are based on size, how on earth could the Freelander’s replacement be eligible for the same trophy as a something that started life as a tarted-up Discovery?

One way or the other, though, the Disco Sport is now a Large SUV, and the best one in Britain to boot. It also took home What Car?’s Best Buy award for the £25,000-£40,000 bracket; if

you’re a Defender man, you’ll probably stop reading here.

Still, the Disco Sport didn’t rest on its laurels, getting the latest in JLR’s engine technology in September when the new 2.0-litre Ingenium engine replaced the Freelander unit used in early models.

What Car? said: ‘Jaguar Land Rover’s new diesel engine, together with its standard seven seats, good space and impressive interior build quality, ena-bled it to see off all its rivals. Families will love the Discovery Sport’s superb blend of body control, brilliant practi-cality and high quality, and subsequent-ly, it is extremely good value.’

Jeremy Hicks, JLR’s UK boss, said: ‘This is the second major What Car? award for Discovery Sport following on from last year’s Safety Award. And with UK sales totalling 16,500 by the end of 2015, the combination of versatility and family practicality has won over new and existing customers alike.’

The Range Rover scored a Best Buy award, too, when the Vogie SE got the nod in the £70,000-£100,000 category.

Judges speaking on their decision for the award said: ‘It is widely accepted as one of the best top-end cars out there, and it’s easy to see why. The high-set driving position gives outstanding

visibility, while the blend of comforta-ble ride and poised handling, matched to top-end off-road ability, makes the Range Rover perfect for many buyers.

‘The entry-level diesel-powered mod-el is one of the most enjoyable in the range to drive. It still feels fast, power delivery is smooth and predictable, and the eight-speed automatic gearbox does what you want it to when you want it to, leaving you to enjoy the beautifully appointed interior and punchy sound system. This really is about as versatile as a luxury car gets.’

Let’s see if the gongs are as plentiful next winter…



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Land Rover scores hat-trick at What Car? Awards





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Further expansion proposed by JLR

Fresh plans for a major £500 million expansion of Jaguar Land Rover’s Whitley base have been revealed, as

reported by the BBC.At the time of writing, Coventry

City Council was expecting the submission of a planning application from the Solihull fi rm with the view to a substantial expansion of its current Coventry facility.

Th e news follows just weeks aft er JLR announced that it would be doubling the size of its recently built Engine Manufacturing Centre, with the infl ux of another £500m pound injection.

Speaking in January, a spokesman for Land Rover said: ‘Last year, Jaguar Land Rover confi rmed plans to expand its advanced engineering and design cen-tre at Whitley. As part of this long-term strategy, we are working with Coventry City Council on proposals to develop land at “Whitley South” which is less than a mile away from our facilities.

‘Coventry City Council and Jaguar Land Rover will hold a public consultation to seek local feedback as this is important before any work can get underway.’

Th e focus of the £500m expansion would be on Whitley’s research and development front and is a further extension to the plans laid out in March last year, where Whitley too is to double its operations.

Warwick District Council was expecting the application by 8 February. Th e proposal could mean thousands of new jobs within JLR, if the company gets its wish to utilise the 60-acre plot.

Following reports by the BBC, the plans follow a long period of negoti-ation between JLR, the council and Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

Speaking to the BBC, LEP chairman Jonathan Browning said: ‘It is hard to over-state the importance of this announcement.

‘Just last year, Jaguar Land Rover doubled the size of its land around its world HQ at Whitley – and this, in turn, is another doubling in size.’

Th e LEP has in turn launched a bid to win a £40m government grant which would be used to construct new and required infrastructure – including a link for both sites through a new bridge over the A45.

Should JLR’s application be approved, it is estimated that work would com-mence by the end of this year.

Every couple of years or so, Land Rover lets its Expe-rience team head off to somewhere remote and they

always come back having proved the prowess of the vehicles they took.

At the end of 2015, participants in the Land Rover Experience Tour head-ed out to Australia – and specifically to the Outback. Their vehicle of choice this time: the tweaked Discovery Sport that now possesses Land Rover’s latest engine from the new Ingenium line.

You may have some misconceptions about the baby Disco, thinking it’s just the husband to the more female-orien-tated Range Rover Evoque (which it is) and another sales success that is making millions for Land Rover (which it is).

Seemingly, though, it is suitably more rough and ready than its spouse.

Venturing into the Outback is not for the weak and feeble. There are many things waiting to kill you in your sleep out in the wilderness – and that’s if you survive the furnace-style temperatures.

Still, last year’s tour undertook a mammoth 3,000km trek across Aus-tralia, with the Discovery Sport being their survival tool.

Kicking off from Darwin in the Northern Territory, the team navigated through the Outback before reaching Ayers Rock, right in the centre of the land mass. Over 80% of the adventure was off-tarmac, during a trip that spanned a total of 20 days. For the Discovery Sport, however, it seems that that’s all in a day’s work.



Disco Sport is no baby Down Under

Scottish awards for Land RoverLand Rover has added yet

more silverware to its trophy cabinet, thanks to a haul of trophies at the Scottish Car of

the Year Awards.The company had two standout

performers in the Discovery Sport (Best Diesel of 2015) and the retiring Defender (Best Used Car).

A panel of judges from the Asso-ciation of Scottish Motoring Writers (ASMW) decides the winners in these awards. As the Discovery Sport 2.0 TD4 was revealed as Best Diesel, ASMW President Alisdair Suttie said: ‘With its launch powertrain, our winner demon-strated a huge breadth of ability – and the arrival of an all-new diesel engine in September has really put this vehicle on a pedestal. Hushed, frugal and low on emissions, our diesel champion’s engine is also British-built.

‘Scotland’s challenging terrain means we always look forward to the launch of a new SUV and the Discovery Sport is one of the best. No other seven-seater can deliver a blend of ability, refinement and efficiency like this one.’

The new all-aluminium 2.0-litre four-cylinder Ingenium engine, which is designed around light-weight and low-emission technologies, is shared with the latest version of the Evoque. It’s an element of the Disco Sport that has improved it over the launch version, correcting what was one of the vehicle’s only weaknesses when it first came out.

Meanwhile, the Defender is coming to the end of its reign. But even after 67 years of production, it is still being acclaimed for its success.

‘Our top used choice is a vehicle that has kept countries mobile during times of disaster,’ said ASMW Secretary Stephen Park after the Defender was announced as Best Used Car.

‘No other vehicle in history has man-aged to withstand the test of time like the Land Rover Defender. The current model’s family resemblance to the 1948 original is immediately obvious yet one of the oldest automotive designs is one of the best at retaining its value.

‘Buy almost any Defender, from a 1990 example to a nearly new model, keep it in top condition and there’s every chance you will enjoy deprecia-tion-free motoring.

‘Moreover, such a lengthy production run means there’s a huge choice avail-able to suit every budget. Project cars start from a couple of grand, a solid and presentable runner with the famed 300 TDI engine is a sound investment at £5k while upwards of £20,000 buys the very best available.’

The Scottish Car of the Year Awards were received by Jaguar Land Rover’s Managing Director in the UK, Jeremy Hicks, who commented: ‘There is probably not another car manufacturer in the world whose oldest and newest models can win awards in the same contest, and such a feat underlines Land Rover’s unique position in the motoring world.

‘It is particularly pleasing for our products to be recognised in this way in Scotland, where Land Rover has always enjoyed a special relationship with buy-ers seeking the ultimate in all-wheel-drive capability.’





Editor Alan Kidd

Assistant Editor Mike Trott

Admin and Editorial AssistantGemma Pask

Art Editor Samantha D’Souza

Contributors Dan Fenn, Gary Noskill, Ewan Bogdan, Nicky Smith

Photographers Steve Taylor, Harry Hamm, Vic Peel, Dick Hair

Advertising Sales Manager Ian Argent Tel: 01283 553242

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Publisher Sarah Kidd Email: [email protected]

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NEXT MONTH

Knocked For Six: A 6x6 is rare enough as it is, but we’ve come across a fully functioning six-wheel drive Series II – now that really is something special

PLUS On test: We take one of the latest Discovery 4

Landmark models and ponder whether this really is all the Green Oval you could ever want...

Darren Holmes is very proud of his Defender 110, so much so that he called her ‘Glenda.’ But don’t let that fool you – there’s nothing girly about the way this o� -road beast tackles extreme terrain

NEXT MONTH’S LANDY IS PUBLISHED ON 29 FebruaryYou can pick up your copy of our April 2016 issue from newsagents or Britpart dealers – or read it online at www.thelandy.co.uk



E-mark approval puts Lazer’s LED lighting on the road

RIGHT NOW, LED lighting is as popular in the Land Rover community as people’s New Year’s resolutions have been on social media over the last few weeks. But the market certainly isn’t standing still – on the contrary, it’s developing all the time.

And the latest development is that Lazer Lamps’ Triple-R 750 auxiliary

lighting range has become E-marked. Th is means it’s road-legal – so you can enjoy motorsport levels of lighting on your evening drive home.

Lazer Lamps claims that the Triple-R boasts fi ve times the power of its ST and RS range of driving lights, meaning you should be able to light up country roads like a Christmas tree. (We’re bang

up to the minute with our references here at Th e Landy…)

For example, in the words of the British manufacturer itself: ‘Even the Triple-R 750 Standard delivers enough illumination (one lux) to read a newspaper 430m away from the light source.’

Th e lights are available in Standard and Elite form, with the latter being a claimed 20% more powerful. Lazer is also off ering them in a new black fi nish, meaning they’re as smart as they are bright.

Lazer Lamps also says that the larger Triple-R 1000 Standard model has also been submitted for E-mark certifi cation and the seal of approval is expected any time now.

Prices for the Triple-R 750 start at £228 including VAT, moving up to £300 for the Elite. Th e Triple-R 1000 range lights up at £372, with the 1000 Elite costing £480.www.lazerlamps.com

If you’ve got a Tdi engine and would like it to dish out more power while using less fuel (and who wouldn’t), the Timber Trail Boost Pin should be right up your street. Because that’s exactly what it promises to do.

Fitting one of these is a simple job, says Timber Trail. And once in place, it allows the fuel pump to use its full potential – giving you more power and tractability through the rev range. Available directly from Timber Trail, the Boost Pin costs £56. A great mod for a great engine.timbertrail4x4.com

Britpart’s DIY options for retrimming your Defender’s seatsTIME TO GIVE YOUR DEFENDER’S SEATS a new lease of life? Th ere’s a variety of high-cost options to choose from, and extremely good some of them are too.

But if a full bespoke leather interior is a bit rich for you (or you’ve got a Land Rover whose seats exist on a diet of mud, crumbs and dog), these new retrim kits from Britpart off er a DIY answer that won’t break either the bank or, if they end up taking one for the team, your heart.

Each kit includes pre-shaped foam and outer covers for the cushion and squab, a headrest cover and all the rods, retainers and fi xings required to attach these to the frame of your seat. Th ere are two diff erent

Outer Seat kits, one to suit trucks from the start of manufacture to 2007 and the other for Puma models from 2007 on, as well as a third Centre Seat kit for 1990-on Defenders.

If yours is a pre-2007 model, the choice of fabric styles includes vinyl twill, Techno, black, grey and XS-style black-and-charcoal. For Pumas and centre seats, it’s the same line-up minus the XS-style option.

Prices vary depending on the fabric – and of

course the dealer you’re buying from. But as a rough rule of thumb, you can expect to pay from about £55 including VAT for a Centre Seat kit, and from about £70-100 for an Outer Seat.www.britpart.com

Timber Trail’s boost for tired Tdi engines





A product can’t get a much better recommendation than from the people who fit it for a living – then see their clients coming home from global expeditions to report back on how their truck held up. So aftermarket bush specialist SuperPro has just received a highly worthwhile thumbs-up from none other than Brookwells, the Devon-based Land Rover specialist whose experience in supplying all manner of parts and accessories is formidable to say the least. ’We can vouch for their bushes from personal experience,’ says Brookwells. ‘We have witnessed them fitted to many expedition vehicles which have done thousands of miles in Africa and South America – with no warranty claims at all.’ Good news, then, if you drive a Discovery 2, because the latest product from SuperPro is an upgraded bush kit for that vehicle’s rear watts linkage. Priced at £153.47 plus VAT, this includes the three bushes and all necessary bushes, crush tubes and washers to complete the job. Of course, there are SuperPro bushes available for the rest of the Disco 2 as well – just as there are for pretty much everything Land Rover has ever made. And of course, Brookwells would be happy to sell them to you.www.brookwell.co.uk

Brookwells’ thumbs-up for SuperPro

BRITPART HAS INTRODUCED these headlamp surrounds for the Series I, II and IIA. Ideal if you’re restoring a Landy with the lights in the classic position, or indeed if you’re building a hybrid and want to make it look as much as possible like a true early one. In which case, please tell us about it so we can come and drool when it’s finished..www.britpart.com



ARB’s market-leading fridge-freezers join Britpart range of accessories for building the ultimate expedition LandyARB’S PORTABLE FRIDGE FREEZERS are the stuff of legend among overland travellers. And whatever kind of Land Rover you drive, the good news is that they’re now more widely available than ever in the UK.

Th at’s because Britpart has started off ering these world-class bits of kit, in a range including 35, 47 and 60-litre units. Helpfully, ARB describes this in terms of 375ml Coke can capacity: the fridges can hold 50, 72 and 90 of these respectively.

Running a top-quality Secop compressor, the fridges have a cooling capacity from +10°C to -18°C. Th ey run on built-in 12/24V DC and 100-240V AC power systems with integrated battery protection.

Th e power cables are clipped into place to make sure they don’t get pulled out by accident, and seals are recessed to keep them out of harm’s way. Th e fridge’s case is made of zinc steel, so it’s not going to get fractured by a few miles of bad roads, and its latch, handles and hinges are as tough as they are usable.

Inside, the units have confi gurable storage set-ups – so if, for example, you don’t eat meat, there are no false limits placed on the amount of cold beer you can consume instead. Th ere’s a drain plug in the base of the fridge, and the evaporator is integrated into the cabinet so as not to use up valuable space.

Th e three units in the range carried by Britpart cover a multitude of needs. Starting with the 35-litre job, this is designed to be Freelander-friendly in terms of size and to be suitable for weekends away or, on a major-league build, as a second (read ‘beer’) fridge.

Th e mid-range 47-litre fridge is designed for the Discoverys and Range Rovers of this world. ‘Your perfect travelling companion,’ says ARB (they’ve obviously never seen Wild at Heart).

Th en comes the 60-litre range-topper, which desite having the biggest footprint of the three is also the lowest in terms of height – the reason being that it’s designed specifi cally with roller drawer systems in mind. Ideal for serious off -road travel in highly-prepped 110s and 130s – or, of course, if you’ve got a large family and the Land Rover to match.

Prices? Not a lot of Britpart dealers are quoting them yet, but this is premium kit – and, if you’ve got any real reason for carrying a fridge in your truck, a classic example of an area in which the ‘spend it once, spend it right philosophy’ is bomb-proof. We’ve seen the 60-litre unit for sale at around £800 including the VAT, which gives you an idea of what it’ll cost – and, indeed, what it’s worth.www.britpart.com

• If you’ve got a fridge in your Landy, it’s because you need to keep stuff cold. Th is is most likely to mean beer and burgers for the BBQ at ye olde

lashed-up camping weekend but, in the case of proper vehicle-dependant travel, the word ‘need’ could mean that if the stuff in there all goes off , you’re looking at four or fi ve days on the world’s worst roads just to fi nd a shop. So if you’re investing in an ARB fridge, the same company’s fridge monitor seems like a no-brainer. Th is clips on to a bracket on your dashboard, giving you an instant view of your fridge’s charging condition and internal temperature, and it has a range of up to 100 feet so you can unclip it and keep watch from around the campfi re too. Once again, it’s available through Britpart stockists.





Action cameras have become an essential accessory these days, whether you want to capture the best of your off-road action, collect evidence against other road users or become an internet sensation when someone broadsides an avgas tanker in front of you. But spending the rest of your life driving one-handed might get a bit tiresome after a while, so instead you need somewhere to mount them.

Enter stage left Ram Mount, whose range of industrial-strength mountings has made it a market leader in supplying a wide variety of industries.

Ram Mount’s new action cam holders feature the company’s patented Tough-Claw, Tough-Clamp and U-Bolt and Twist-Lock suction bases. Which means you can be pretty sure you’ll be able to use them on more or less anything – grab-rails, roll cages, windscreens, flat edges, this thing will fit them all.

The point of course is not just to find somewhere for your camera – it’s to be able to locate it in the best possible position. The more adaptable your mountings, the better the chance you’ve got of being able to do that.

Made in the USA from marine-grade ally and durable composite plastics, the mounts feature patented shock-absorbing rubber coated balls and fully adjustable double-socket arms. The range includes adapters for GoPro, Garmin and any other quarter-inch thread compatible camera, and whatever combo you plump for it’ll come with a lifetime warranty.www.ram-mount.co.uk

Mounts for action cams



Upgraded LED interior lights from Mud-UKInterior lights have rather obvious uses. They allow you to use your eyes, for example, so you can see that you’re picking up the cup of coffee you’ve just bought (and not the one next to it that’s been sat there for the last fortnight).

So, light is a good thing. And LED lights are all the rage these days – which is why Mud-UK has combined the two to give you even better in-Landy visibility.

This British designed and manufactured product is a direct replacement for the stock Land Rover interior light – and it comes with a pretty staggering 10-year guarantee. LEDs being what they are, it provides a flood of light which at 228 lumens is 400% brighter than the original.

The light also allows you to see things in more natural colours, thanks to its higher colour temperature. Which is also handy when, for example, you’re presented with two sandwiches and need to work out which is the one that’s not gone mouldy.

All the relevant fittings are provided, so all you need to do is plug it in and go. You’ll also appreciate the switchable colours of white and red, with the latter providing a much better illumination for night time driving.

This product is compatible with all post-1991 Defenders – as well as the Discovery 1 and 2 and, perhaps surprisingly, the first-generation Freelander. It will replace both the stock front and rear lamps, though

for the Station Wagon you will require the rear LED lamp plinth, priced at £3.60. The LED Interior

Lamp itself costs £54.00 including the VAT.www.mudstuff.co.uk

Air suspension salvation for Discovery 4AIR SUSPENSION HAS BECOME a common sight on the shiny Land Rovers over the last couple of decades. It’s one of the reasons why the Disco 3 rode so much better than those before it, and why Range Rovers from the late Classic on are so much more stable than the floppy coilers of old.

But it’s also one of the main reasons why the P38 and, increasingly, the Disco 3 have a fearsome reputation for being cripplingly expensive to run.

Even the current Disco 4 has been around for long enough now that early examples are prone to needing a bit of help. Which is just what Bilstein is aiming to provide with its new aftermarket air suspension modules.

These provide a direct solution for owners with faltering units on their Discovery 4. The German company’s B4 air suspension module is of OEM quality – and, as you’d expect, should be more affordable than the equivalent from a main dealer.

‘The B4 module guarantees quickest ever reactions to road and vehicle conditions,’ says Bilstein. ‘The result is excellent comfort and benign driving characteristics, with high power reserves for maximum safety.’

The B4 module is a ‘plug and play’ affair. So the vehicle’s electronics don’t need to be recalibrated or messed around with to, for instance, get dashboard lights to stop blinking.

The module’s gas pressure technology delivers constant damping power, even when faced with substantial axle loads. It will also allow the Discovery to adjust normally to different height settings, depending on the terrain, load and conditions in store.

Bilstein says that all components are tested to OE specifications, including under intense endurance and cold-impact conditions. The company’s engineers threw the kitchen sink at the damping system during road trials at the Papenburg industry proving ground, too – and of course, there’s a TUV certificate to back it all up.

The module is priced at £254 plus VAT apiece and comes with a 12-month warranty.www.bilstein.de





AS MOST OF OUR BUSINESS IS UK & EUROPEAN 4x4 DEALERS AND OVERSEAS SALES, ALL PRICES ARE PLUS CARRIAGE AND VAT (e&oe)

GOODWINCH LIMITED

East Foldhay, Zeal Monachorum, Crediton, Devon, EX17 6DH, England

Tel: 01363 82666 Fax: 01363 82782 E: [email protected] W: www.goodwinch.com

TDS-9.5c Goldfish complete with wire rope, roller fairleads, and a

heavy duty swingaway pulley block. 9,500 lbs.

Tremendous value at £399 + VAT.

Upgrade to 10mm x 100’ (30.5m) Dyneema® Bowrope and aluminium

hawse in lieu of wire rope £145 + VAT

Goodwinch Bow ‘2’ Powered High Speed Commissioned TDS-9.5c

Challenge winch upgraded by David Bowyer

£599 + VAT

11mm x 90’ (27.5m) Dyneema® Bowrope with an

aluminium hawse as an optional extra for only

£145 + VAT

Goodwinch Bow ’2’ Powered Large Drum High Speed Commissioned TDS-9.5c Challenge winch giving

really impressive results. £794 + VAT

11mm x 125’ (38m)

Dyneema® Bowrope with an aluminium hawse as an optional extra

for only £195 + VAT

TDS-9.5i Bridge Model Goldfish complete with wire rope, roller

fairleads, and a heavy duty swingaway pulley block. 9,500 lbs.

£409 + VAT Upgrade to 10mm x 100’ (30.5m)

Dyneema® Bowrope and aluminium hawse in lieu of wire rope

£145 + VAT

GOODWINCH Air Operated Freespool Kit complete with valve, solenoids, switch, unions & piping. Will fit all TDS winches. (Requires suitable air supply installed on the vehicle.)

£99 + VAT All prices shown above are for 12 volt winches. Also available in 24 volt

Full range of winch spares, Albright and EP sealed solenoids, handsets, quick disconnect

fittings, roller fairleads, winch covers, winch kits, winch blankets, pulley blocks, winch hooks,

shackles, sockets & handset plugs and other

TDS budget DIY Wireless Remote Control System for light duty use. 12 volt only.

£39 + VAT Lodar Professional Wireless Remote Control

System. Unbeatable performance. Available in 12 or 24 volt. £179 + VAT

GOODWINCH Turbo Power Controller for the serious competition enthusiast. Instant, on the fly, 24 volts to your 12 volt TDS winch, or any

other Bowmotor powered winch for high speed ‘winch in’. Complete with wiring

harnesses and in cab switching panel £199 + VAT

Also available for ‘Twin Motor Winches’ £299 + VAT Land Rover Defender Bumper

for TDS / EP9 winches Non Air Con Special Price £189 + VAT

Air Con Special Price £199 + VAT For other bumpers and fitting kits please

see website

TDS GOLDFISH WINCHES - The Best!

Dyneema® Bowrope - available from stock in 5, 6, 8,10, 11,12 & 14 mm. Ready made ropes

are complete with red safety hook or larger yellow competition hook and tubed thimble

10mm x 100’ (30.5m) £179 + VAT 11mm x 100’ (30.5m) £189 + VAT

Also available in Green Budget Bowrope 10mm x 100’ (30.5m) £119 + VAT 11mm x 90’ (27.5m) £119 + VAT

Bowmotor replacement winch motors. Large brushes in brass holders, copper welded

commutators, superb quality. In three sizes, Bowmotor ’1’ 5.6 hp @ 4000 rpm and the longer Bowmotor ’2’ 6.8 hp @ 5000 rpm. As used extensively in the winch challenge field. New Bowmotor ‘3’ larger again 5” diameter 10” long. 9hp fitted with 8 large brushes. Bowmotor ‘1’ 175mm long 12v or 24v £159 + VAT Bowmotor ’2’ 196mm long 12v or 24v £199 + VAT Bowmotor ’3’ 252mm long 12v or 24v £275+ VAT

NEW - Short Drum TDS-8.5 Goldfish Winch, available as a bare winch with no rope or hawse, in 12 volts

for £349 + VAT

Or with either an 8mm x 100’ or 10mm x 75’ Dyneema® Bowrope

and small ali hawse for £449+ VAT

Or as shown in the picture, mounted on a portable Bak Rak kit complete with vehicle harness and

Anderson fittings £549 + VAT

Also available our new receiver hitch mounting kit. See website for

details.

Dyneemais a registered trademark of Royal DSM N.V.

Goodwinch Limited are professional winch engineers in supplying and converting the TDS Goldfish range of high quality winches to suit a variety of special applications.

There are three different ratios, three motor variants and three drum sizes in both 12 volt and 24 volt. All can be Turbo Power Driven to give amazing line speeds.

David Bowyer and his team have a great number of years experience in winch design. David has been teaching the use of winches and using them for nearly 30 years.

He will be pleased to advise you on the most suitable one to have, how to use it through watching his DVD on winching techniques, and any questions you may have.

His Off-Road Training Centre and school facility is now fully open again, and invites you to go to the website 1www.goodwinch.com

and click on ‘courses’ for more information.

David Bowyer’s Off Road Centre

Also available as a Commercial TDS-12.0c Goldfish complete with wire rope, roller

fairleads, and a heavy duty swingaway pulley block. 12,000 lbs. Super value at

£429 + VAT. Upgrade to 11mm x 90’ (27.5m)

Dyneema® Bowrope and aluminium hawse in lieu of wire rope

£145 + VAT

GOODWINCH commercial TDS-12 Goldfish Waterproof medium speed 254:1 ratio winches for

vehicle recovery trucks, trailers and other heavy duty uses

ATV/GP 3000 & 4000 lb Winches Both come complete with wire rope, roller fairleads, pulley block & mounting plates. 100’s of uses around the home, garage, garden, trailers, portable towball use, caravanning, swimming pool covers,

mobility scooters and chairs and of course quad bikes. Available in both 12 or 24 volt.

12 volt ATV/GP3000 £179 + VAT 12 volt ATV/GP4000 £199 + VAT

Either can be upgraded with 5 or 6mm Dyneema Bowrope and Ali Hawse

Importers, Exporters, Wholesale Distributors & Retailers of Winches & Accessories

SPECIAL OFFER WINCH & DEFENDER BUMPER full system Deals TDS-9.5c or TDS-9.5i bridge model, complete with wire rope, roller fairleads, swingaway pulley block, vehicle wiring kit including cut out switch and battery link, TDS Wireless

Radio Remote, a pair of swivel recovery eyes and tested shackles, and a standard Defender non air con Bumper.

All for £599 plus VAT (air con plus £10 plus VAT) (normally £716 plus VAT) with Dyneema© Bowrope and Ali Hawse £744 plus VAT

We also have special offers for Discovery 1 & 2 and Classic Range Rover A TDS-Goldfish in Defender Air Con Bumper with optional swivel recovery eyes

A TDS-9.5i Bridge Model with Dyneema® Bowrope and Aluminium Hawse in a Defender Bumper

We have BRB bumpers & fitting kits to suit Land Rover, Discovery 200, 300 & series 2,3 & 4 plus Classic Range Rover and P38

Come and see us at

Donington 4x4 Show Donington Race Track February Sunday 14th

& Newbury 4x4 Vintage

Spares Day April Sunday 3rd

Britpart is now off ering a variety of anodised aluminium replacement bits designed to pretty up your Defender’s interior. Available in black and silver fi nishes, these include door handles, vent knobs, fuse box screws and locking pegs.

Th ere’ll be more to come, too – Britpart says that among other things, heater controls, door lock trims and rear door handles will be added in the near future. In the meantime, expect to pay a bit more than £15 including VAT for the vent knobs and fuse box screws, £30 for the locking pegs and £40 for the door handles. It could add up, especially as these are all things you need two of, but this is exactly the sort of thing you’ll see dealers putting out on special off ers at shows and so on.www.britpart.com

Britpart to the rescue of dull Defender interiors…

Th ere are some vehicles you wish you still had – like the car you learnt to drive in, for example, or the Land Rover that fi rst got you into this funny old game. Once sold, though, it can be very easy for that treasured vehicle to disappear for good. Some of us, however, do get lucky enough to place our hands on the wheel again…



Few vehicles in the world attract humans as much as Land Rovers. Th ere is something in-herently appealing about them:

whether it’s their rugged good looks or their off -road talent, their heritage or the way they drive, something about these vehicles draws people in.

Back in 1995, Gary Newton man-aged to convince his wife that selling their tidy BMW 3 Series for an old farmer’s 90 would be a sensible thing to

do. Gary’s heart, one, common sense, nil. Th is came aft er years of being talked out of Land Rovers by Gary’s father, who claimed the machines to be expensive and unreliable…

Still, Gary got his Land Rover – one of the earliest examples of a 90 ever made. Th e 2.25-litre petrol motor hanging in the engine bay was a means of propulsion developed in the Stone Age – AKA the late 1950s – but crucially, it gave Gary more power

than any of the motors to be developed between 1984 and the introduction of the Tdi engines.

Having settled into the paradise that is Land Rover ownership, Gary ended up selling his 90 just two years later when his company car became a Discovery. Free fuel is quite a luxury, so common sense gained a point back and the 90 was moved on.

Th e years and months passed with Gary dwelling on his decision to sell

the 90 – but as you’re about to fi nd out, good things come to those who wait…

‘I more or less regretted it straight away,’ remembers Gary. ‘I liked it, though, even if it was troublesome like most Land Rovers!

‘My son, Stuart, started to get inter-ested in them when he was a bit older and rather than put him off like my

father did, I suggested he could get one to help get some cheaper insurance too.’

Stuart owns a Series III called Betsy, which was featured within these very pages last year. Aft er assisting his son with his fi rst Land Rover, it wasn’t long before the bug spread itself deep within Gary once again and so began the search for another 90.

What goes around...

Above: A very worthwhile decision for Gary was when he opted to go for a brand new galvanised chassis. He’s got peace of mind now and has even waxoiled it black to disguise it against any pesky vandals





‘I looked for about eight months and nothing took my eye, until one Sunday night I glanced on eBay and could not believe that the 90 I sold in 1997 was for sale in Manchester,’ says Gary enthusiastically. ‘This seemed too good to be true, especially as only two weeks before, Stuart and I had been wonder-ing where the Land Rover was and if we could ever find it!’

The quickest deal known to man followed. On the Monday morning Gary phoned up the dealer, and before he and Stuart could catch their breath, they were off to bring the old 90 back to its rightful home.

‘When I phoned up, I was quite keen to say the least. But when I eventually got to look at it first-hand after all those years, had it not been my 90 before, I may have had to walk away,’ admits Gary.

The chassis was, as usual, the biggest problem. However, knowing that this 90 was unlikely to get away twice, Gary took the plunge and sensibly decided

Words: Mike TrottPictures: Mike Trott

and Gary Newton

Below: We are seeing one cherished 90 here as the interior clarifies. There’s very little bare metal on show here and for a bit of Land Rover-style DIY, Gary has even got a Landy-orientated tapestry going on

Continued overleaf

Above: Not an engine you see in too many Defenders, this. It’s a 2.25-litre petrol which first appeared over 20 years prior to the 90’s launch, so it was little surprise that the would-be Defender received a seletion of new engines soon after its emergence



to go for a brand spanking new galva-nised replacement.

‘I sold three of my four motorbikes to fund the new chassis, as I knew I wouldn’t be happy patching it up every year,’ explains Gary. ‘If I’m going to do things, I like to do them properly – and once.’

Generally, the 90 was in a similar state to the way Gary had left it but was in need of some attention. Gary was the second owner and is now the fifth; the third had kept it for the majority of the years in between, but the fourth had been meaning to hash it into an off-road-prepped Landy.

Luckily, it needed too much work doing for the guy to handle and landed at the dealership ready for Gary to stumble across.

‘I wanted to get the car to a good reliable mechanical standard, but the bodywork would stay with the patina of its age,’ adds Gary. ‘I’m going to keep it how it was when I first owned it.’

Back in ’97, the 90 had a mere 40,000 miles on the clock. Now, the Land Rover that Gary so dearly yearned for stands at a respectable 83,000 miles. It’s still on that original 2.25 petrol driveline, and keeping as many components as original as possi-ble has been the chief goal for Gary.

When possible, he’s always looked to recondition parts over replacing them outright. The steering box is one, while all the body parts remain original too. The original bulkhead has been painted and that new chassis has been black Waxoyled to disguise it, but there have been some new parts brought in – of-ten as sensible upgrades to make the 90 better behaved on a day-to-day basis.

There’s a brand new carburettor on it, a new clutch, fuel tank and brake

lines, but Gary has set out to do as much of it by himself as he can.

‘This is the first Land Rover I owned and it may well be the last,’ Gary remarks. ‘I was the right person for it to come back to,’ he adds, even if he is understandably a tad biased. ‘It was at that point in its life where it was also just right for saving.’

It should be right for several years to come now and substantially better than how he remembers it back in the late 1990s.

‘Whenever we were about to go off camping or away for a few days, some-thing major would always go wrong,’ laughs Gary, ‘The exhaust manifold, for example. It was never straightforward!’

The 90 is looking a lot perkier these days, now it’s back in Gary’s hands. He’s turned it into a real gem of a Landy and one that has had all the right jobs done to it to ensure it com-bats the test of time that bit better.

‘My first laning trip with it was back in July, and I want to keep it for a bit of light green laning,’ he says. ‘I don’t want to be damaging it, though. I just love driving it round.’

What goes around comes around – and Gary is surely relieved, overjoyed and pleased that the 90 he owned nearly 20 years ago has come home to roost once again.

This, though, is one 90 that shall not be flying the nest again any time soon.

Below Left: From an early age, Gary’s son Stuart was exposed to the brilliance that is Land Rover. Family outings may not have been straightforward – for example, getting off the drive alone proved troublesome on occasion Below Right: After all those years of wishing he’d still got his 90, Gary has fortunately and finally been reunited with his treasure. And now Stuart even has his own to drive when they go out laning together

Above: Gary’s 90 wasn’t in the best condition when he came to buy it for the second time. However, slowly he’s been turning it back into the truck he once parted with, only replacing items when reconditioning is out of the question

ard SVR Land Rover produces – and waved it away with a dismissive sneer. As if to say something along the lines of ‘is that the best you can do?’

Let’s not forget that the standard SVR is a loud and shouty supercharged 5.0-litre V8 hooligan. Gentleman, sorry. It also happens to be rather fast, with its 550bhp output shift ing it to 60mph in just 4.5 seconds. Potent.

Still, Lumma feels that more could be done.

Th e company has taken Solihull’s attempt at supercar-slaying madness and kicked it into top gear with a new styling kit and performance enhance-ments. Th e headline, if you’d be so kind as to provide the drum roll please, is what they call a ‘carefully’ remapped ECU (is there any other way to remap an ECU), taking the power output from an ample 550bhp to a bonkers 630bhp.

Better still, if you live in certain for-tunate export markets that don’t have to abide by EC emissions regulations, Lumma will happily take that fi gure

up to a supersonic 680bhp. If you can’t lose tailgaters, or your licence, with that lot beneath your right foot, you’re not trying.

So you might well be able to keep up with 007 in his Aston. But will you look as elegant? Hmmm. Th is particular Range Rover Sport boasts the Lumma CLR SV styling kit, which

in this observer’s view makes the SVR look like it’s been involved in a lab accident involving gamma rays. Th ere are certainly Hulk levels of power to play with here, anyway.

Th e kit takes the company’s CLR RS conversion and gives the SVR even more aggression in its stance. Notice the larger air intakes in the front bump-

Lumma Design’s take on the Range Rover Sport SVR involves getting yet more power from its super-charged 5.0-litre V8. So, more of a street sleeper than ever, then? Not if you get the company’s styling kit to go with it, no…



There was a load of hoopla about some man in a tuxedo the other month; you know, the one who works for Her

Majesty’s Secret Service and swans about in an Aston Martin? Anyway, that fi lm, Spectre, turned out to be a pretty big hit, although we reckon it may have had something to do with the use of so many Land Rovers in the motion picture.

Th e Defender Bigfoot, for example, the Discovery Sport and, of course, the Range Rover Sport SVR. All of these were shoehorned into the 24th instal-ment of Carry on Bond.

All very nice vehicles, of course. But what we’re looking at here is the fast one – the Range Rover Sport SVR. And not just any old SVR…

A German company called Lumma Design has looked at what the stand-

IN YOUR FACE!

Words: Mike TrottPictures: LUMMA Design





er, for instance, the tweaked spoiler and the slat-free grille to ensure the pumped V8 gets the cooling to match.

‘The more aggressive face that results from these changes gives the Lumma CLR SV Range Rover Sport even greater overtaking presence when other drivers see it coming in their rear view mirrors,’ says the company itself. No kidding! Not that you’d think harassing other road users was neces-sary when you’ve got supercar levels of performance to let you get past them without a fuss, but it’s not enough to feel big, is it? Others must be made to feel small.

The rear is just as offensive as the front with a tasty spoiler, a rear diffuser like you get on circuit racers and rectangular exhausts that provide harmonics from the devil himself. Oh, and there’s a tow bar in case you need it… you know, for pulling your £150 caravan to the ARC National next May, that kind of thing.

Who cares, anyway, when you’re running around on 22-inch alloys wrapped in 305mm-wide Vredestein tyres? Your biggest worry is more likely to be whether your brake calipers are correctly colour-coded to the rest of your CLR SV.

The interior has been revamped too, including a sports steering wheel and seats quilted in leather with a contrast stitching. If you’re feeling really flash, you can even opt to have your initials embroidered on to the back rests.

Throw in the black aluminium foot pedals and a few LUMMA crests around the cabin, and there you have one lunatic of an SVR. The package starts from £21,995, plus of course the cost of your actual Range Rover Sport SVR – to you, sir, just over £95k.

What else could you get for the money? Don’t ask. Because if you can afford to splash it on one of these, you can spend it again on whatever else you want anyway.

All the best Land Rover kit, parts and merchandise. Special show offers and exclusive deals. Find our exhibitor list online at

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Great British Land Rover ShowSunday 24th April 2016, 10am to 4pm

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All the best Land Rover kit, parts and merchandise. Special show offers and exclusive deals. Find our exhibitor list online at

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Great British Land Rover ShowSunday 24th April 2016, 10am to 4pm

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National Agricultural and Exhibition Centre, Warwickshire, CV8 2LZ

StoneleighGBLS_DPSNov15_Landy.indd 1 15/12/2015 21:46

When you’re marshalling at an off -road event or being a general unsung hero of the Brit-ish winter, help-ing out those two-wheel drive boxes that have slid off into the grass verges, it’s a good idea to have everything you need to at least look like you know what you’re doing. So here’s one from Marshall to marshal…



There are many diff erent vehi-cles out there that can prove useful in the British winter. Take a snow plough-fi tted tank

for example, or maybe even just an ordinary Land Rover.

You see, owning a Land Rover is a bit like being born into the royal fam-ily, and I don’t mean the one that used to be on TV every week with Ricky Tomlinson demonstrating how to be a fl atulent lazy git. Good program, though, it must be said.

No, you see, when you own a Land Rover, people look up to you for your help when they realise they’ve found the limits of their Skoda Citigo sooner than expected. Th is is especially true when they have encountered some

snow, applied a sizeable nappy for the impending doom and gracefully twanged the lamppost at the end of their road.

Th e same can be said for when you’re marshalling at a pay and play or keeping the country ticking by deliv-ering nurses and doctors safely to their workplace when their own vehicle just won’t do.

It helps, however, if you yourself have the right tool for the job.

And in front of your big, wide, Land Rover-hungry eyes, we’re bringing you one example which, at time of writing, is for sale at Marshall and Son Motors in Sutton Coldfi eld.

Th is, as you can clearly see, is a Discovery 1. But it’s the closer

look at this vehicle that really gets the mouth watering. It’s one of the three-door Discoverys that was made in the mid-Nineties, but boasts the range-topping 3.9-litre V8 power plant – so a fairly rare piece of kit, especially with its genuine seven seats.

Th e best thing about this Disco 1, though, is surely its general condition. For a vehicle that’s 20 years old, and when you consider that most Discov-ery 1s have transformed into ghastly, rotten and dirty old things that resem-ble a pig sty more than a hero of family mobility, this really is a tidy old chap.

‘Sure!’ I here you say, ‘It looks tidy, but it’s nothing special!’ Well, then you’re kind of missing the point. Yeah, it has probably had a Dyson run

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Words and Pictures: Mike Trott

‘WHEN YOU OWN A LANDY, PEOPLE LOOK TO YOU FOR HELP’

Above: When we say the general condition is good, we mean it. For a V8 Landy that has covered just over 100,000 miles in 20 years, this raucous red Disco is still in the prime of its life judging by the interior. Spotless

through it and it looks great, partly be-cause it’s up for sale. Here’s the bigger picture though.

This D1 has just enough tasty addi-tions that it should satisfy the needs of anyone who drives it. I was talking earlier about being a marshal, whether it’s on a play day site or the A606 in Leicestershire – the D1 we have here has sizeable Kuhmo Road Venture tyres, ideal for luscious scenic lanes, playday sites or roads that have turned to snowy trails more treacherous than in the Pyrenees.

Chequer plating always helps keep the body protected, while the winch and heavy-duty bumper mean you can keep on pulling all winter long. The fact it has a wireless controller means you can sit back in your seat while you watch your friend John being rescued from the bomb hole he failed to crack, or Beatrice who decided to go off-piste in her Vauxhall Meriva.

Land Rovers are Britain’s heroes – and they don’t really get enough credit. People will moan about 4x4s at times – maybe take a pop at how opposing they are when they may be travelling innocently through a small hamlet – but they’re always grateful for being towed out of a mess.

With this D1, or any other non-shiny Landy for that matter, you can apply a few careful additions and become a knight of the road. To be honest, this D1 has gone even further than that and figured ‘Why should everyone else have all the fun?’

There’s a Safari snorkel for deeper wading – like when the River Avon bursts its banks each year – a Terrafir-ma 2” lift kit for more smiles per mile on the UK’s green lanes and guards for the steering, diffs and fuel tank to make this a rough‘n’tough life-saving tool in disguise.

And with just 104,000 miles on the clock, this V8 automatic cruiser has

plenty of missions left in it. At £4500, even for a good one it’s not cheap – but even then, how many other vehicles are so versatile for so little money?

I’m not saying you should shell out blindly for this or any Disco. But if a D1 is your thing and you feel like doing your bit for the community throughout the winter, there’s probably not much of a better option out there.

That is unless you have a snow plough-fitted tank, perhaps.

If you’re interested in becoming the new owner of this off-road-ready Disco, why not give Marshall and Son Motors a ring on 0121 3784886





Above: It might be a three-door Discovery 1, but it’s still got all the seats you’re ever likely to need, seatbelts and all!Below: A heavy-duty rear bumper and light guards will come in handy on the lanes

Above: This is a truck ready to go and off-road straight away. A heavy-duty front bumper, light guards, winch, snorkel and light bar are all handy additions to this D1Below: There’s more underneath too, like the steering and diff guards. Nice

Left: Always useful to have a bit of chequer plating on your skirts. It means you won’t be T-Cutting as many scratches out of your paintwork once you’ve been wrestling superminis out of hedges in the countryside

Below: This Discovery 1 boasts the 3.9-litre V8 engine and a claimed 182bhp (when new). It has covered 104,000 miles, so a few of the ponies may have bolted from the stables, but it’s not the sort of mileage that shouts about a stressed lifestyle

Th e 2.0-litre diesel engine from the early Series II rarely makes it on to any lists of the best bits of work Land Rover has turned out. But with not many left in the state they started out in, it’s a rarity among rarities today. No wonder Nick Lewis didn’t have to think twice…



To most of us, being able to juggle three balls seems like an impossible dream. In the world of circuses and street

entertainment, though, four is the standard – and most of these beguil-ingly skilled people aspire one day to being able to do it with fi ve.

It’s the same in the equally insular world of Land Rover sniffi ng. Most people, you’d think, can tell a Defender from a Range Rover – to those on the outside, knowing a Defender from a Series truck is the equivalent of being able to keep three balls in the air at once (albeit less likely to get you into bed with an unwashed student at the Edinburgh Fringe).

To us lot, though, that’s basic. Being able to tell a Series I from a II from a III is your stock-in-trade four-ball trick. And fi ve? Well, if you can sniff out the diff erence between a II and a IIA without having to ask the owner, you’re doing better than most.

If you manage to inspect one at very close range, the chassis numbers are a good (if somewhat cheaty) place to start. Th e Series II’s will consist of nine digits and start with 1: its successor will have an eight-digit code starting with a ‘2’.

To the untrained eye, though, and especially one that isn’t inches from that tell-tale bulkhead plate, there are very few external diff erences between the Series II and IIA. Fear not, though, because a simple peek under the bonnet should confi rm what lies in front of you – at least when it comes to diesel-powered Landies, anyway.

If you have a diesel Series IIA, the original power unit should have been the vastly improved 2.25-litre four-cyl-inder lump that brought a welcome increase in power and torque to the revamped second-generation Land Rover. It also brought the vehicle in line with higher demands for usable diesels in the early Sixties.

II by 2.0

words and Pictures: mike trott

Above: As fantastic on the inside as it is on the exterior. This Series II has a set of new elephant hide seats that hark back to the Land Rover interiors that became so familiar to the 1950s. Comfort may be lacking, but there will always be a happy driver here





The initial Series II, though, would have had to make do with the 2.0-litre oil-burner from the later Series I. That’s a bit like breaking your leg and being told you’ll have to make do with some paracetamol. This was low in power and didn’t even match its 2.0-li-tre petrol cousin for torque.

It was, however, the diesel chosen by Solihull to go in the Series II, as the un-thinkable happened and the Land-Rov-er (note hyphen) started the process of evolving into what it is today.

Which is why Nick Lewis is particu-larly fond of it. This engine was after all the first diesel motor used in a vehicle with a Green Oval at the front. And if that means it can be classed as genesis for the likes of the Tdi and Td5 in the years to follow, then I’m fond of it too.

This Series II here has just that – the 2.0-litre four-cylinder, underpowered and underprivileged diesel that rattles too loudly and tends to have far too many issues. Shouldering the burden of bringing Solihull into what was then classed as the modern age, this was one of those early trucks sent out into battle with primitive weapons. The 2.25 was hardly a rapier, but even next

to it the 2.0 was like a blunt stick or a hunk of rock.

Still, Land Rovers are nothing if not survivors. Which means this would be the one to emerge from battle with the fewest scars on its body. It’s covered just 18,000 miles – and it’s one of the most unscathed Land Rovers you’re ever likely to encounter.

‘The original owner used the Land Rover to drive to his smallholding before it was parked up in a barn and left,’ says Nick.

That was until two years ago, when he bought it and started what he calls a ‘sympathetic’ restoration.

‘It’s still got the original engine, although it’s very agricultural,’ admits Nick. ‘There’s still the original gearbox, chassis and period extras too, and the engine bay has got all the stickers from the factory.’

When Nick talks about period features, he’s referring to such things as the hand throttle control, the overdrive and the Smiths heater. After this Landy’s recommission, he also replaced the seats with fresh elephant

Continued overleaf

Right: The gem in Nick’s eyes, but maybe not so much for other people… This is the pioneering diesel engine that started the bloodline towards future masterpiec-es, including the Tdi power units and the reliable Td5. This was a 2.0-litre four-pot diesel with a lack of power and a ten-dency to give you more problems than hot dinners. If you’re a purist, however, like Nick Lewis, none of that rubbish will matter to you

Below left and right: The reason it looks so neat and unmolested is because it has covered so little mileage. The axles and brake seals were all replaced, and the chassis and gearbox are both original. Few vehicles look as simplistic and brilliant underneath as this preserved 1960 Series II



hide components, exactly like you’d have seen in the late Fifties.

And just returning to that recom-mission, the phrase ‘sympathetic res-toration’ only hints at the extent of the operation. It also indicates how much Nick values originality.

‘We had the whole thing stripped down, with every component being checked apart from the engine and gearbox, because they really didn’t need doing,’ he he explains.

‘All the perishable items were re-placed, though. So that was all the axle and brake seals, the brake lines and even the door rubbers.’

Even the nuts and bolts are the cor-rect imperial parts. And like the seats, the canvas is also a revitalised accesso-ry, bought to make the onlooker think they’re back in 1960.

‘I was tipped off about this vehicle by my father in law, and it was a bit of a no-brainer to have it,’ reveals Nick without a hint of hesitation. ‘It gets a

lot of attention, this, but I guess the 2.0-litre diesel Series II is quite a thing.’

Nick is happy to concede that it was, and never will be, the most popular of engines. But he likes it for being an honest and gutsy piece of machinery.

‘I like the way it’s not a modern drive. You can’t sit back in it – you’ve got to really drive this thing’.

Using it as a Sunday driver, Nick has rescued this undeniably historic Land Rover from the world of smallholdings and given it a life to be proud of. And he’s got plenty to be proud of, too – especially when he rolls up the sides of that canvas hood and lets the weather pour into that pristine cabin.

For many people, there was nothing wrong with the Series II 2.0 diesel that couldn’t be fixed by fetching the engine out and replacing it with something else. So Nick’s is a survivor in every sense. Land Rover has made much better engines: but you’ll look long and hard to see a better Land Rover.

‘I lIke the way It’s not

a modern drIve –

you’ve got to really drIve

thIs thIng’

Iceland is well worth the visit, even if you’re not a fan of fl ying and have to look for special ways in which to make the journey bearable. It also doesn’t matter

if the vehicle that lies in wait for you isn’t particularly ground-breaking. You just need that Green Oval...



When my friend Tom moved to Iceland with his work a few years ago, we joked that one day,

once he’d got settled and was driving one of those big-foot trucks they have there, I’d go and visit him and we’d drive over a glacier.

Now, I never thought I’d actually do it. See, I’m not a big fan of fl ying. So when I got an email from him titled ‘Off -roading in Iceland,’ I thought it was just going to be a link to a video of some Formula Off -Road rollovers or something. But no. ‘A guy I work with is organising a trip out with his mates in their Land Rovers. Want to come along?’

Like everyone who’s into Land Rovers, I’d heard about Iceland. Th e amazing landscape, the endless gravel roads, so many fords you lose count of them… but how could it possibly be worth that three-hour fl ight? To give you an idea, for me that’s like spending three hours in a box full of spiders.

Still, someone had once told me that whisky would help calm my nerves, which is why I was feeling a little unsteady as I rolled through arrivals at the airport in Reykjavik to be met by a slightly surprised Tom. Unsteady, but I made it. And I’m glad I did.

Not that it was quite what I ex-pected. Iceland, or the off -roading. Reykjavik itself isn’t the small fi shing town you might assume – it’s elegant, prosperous and very appealing, with neat, clean, brightly coloured buildings looking splendid in the aft ernoon sun.

Or was it the morning sun? Or the evening sun? Or the middle of the night sun? I didn’t mention that I was visiting in the middle of the summer, when the hours of darkness are more like a few minutes of dusk.

Now, all Tom had told me was that we were going off -roading for a couple of days with a bunch of guys in Land Rovers. We’d been invited along by his mate from work, Gylfi , who he thought was in some sort of club with

the others. He’s not vague, is Tom, but he doesn’t know too much about the 4x4 game.

Anyhow, we put our overnight gear in bags, jumped in his BMW and set off to Gylfi ’s house on the other side of town.

I pictured a convoy of massive 110s, plus maybe a Disco or Range Rover, expertly piloted over glaciers and lava fi elds by the sort of cheerful, polite but unbelievably hard guys the Arctic countries seem to breed. You know, the sort of lads who get kicked out of the SAS for making the instructors look like fairies.

So we arrived at Gylfi ’s place, and what did we fi nd? Parked outside were three completely standard Freelanders.

Seriously? We were going to take on the Icelandic interior in THESE? Th ey weren’t even on off -road tyres, and on top of being standard they were discon-certingly clean and shiny. It was like turning up for a day out with a classic car club. Were these guys for real?

My reservations were quickly dispelled. Gylfi and his friends were defi nitely very hard indeed – you’d need to be to cope with the nuclear-strength coff ee they were choking down in his kitchen.

Gylfi ’s mate Th ordur, who seemed to be leading the trip, took a break from his brew and told me what Ice-land was all about.

‘Iceland is very special, very fragile,’ he explained. ‘So much of our land is wilderness, but the ground you walk on, maybe it has only been there a few years. So it is delicate. In many wilderness countries like America and Australia, there are places where you can drive where you like. We may not do that in Iceland. But the roads, almost all of them are like your green lanes. Icelandic green lanes… they are not so green!

‘So for us, the Freelander is perfect. We explore our beautiful country, we can spend every day off -road, in rivers, on snow and ice… and then we drive

our cars to work. Diesel is expensive. Th e Freelander is perfect for us.’

So, we’re going trail-riding, not glacier-bashing. Well, he’s convinced me. I’d already seen enough to agree that yes, Iceland sure is beautiful, and I was just as happy to see it from a rough track as the middle of a glacier, if that’s what it took.

Fast forward a day and a half and there I am in the driver’s seat of Gylfi ’s Freelander as a giant man-shaped Gore-tex erection screams in the window. ‘GO, GO! GAS, GAS, MORE GAS!’ He’s screaming because a howling storm is blasting snow into our faces. I can’t see past the end of the bonnet. We’re on a glacier. Th ere’s a crevasse out there somewhere. He wants me to fl oor it else I’ll get stuck in the gathering snow. ‘DRIVE! GO! A HUNDRED METRES, YOU SEE MY FRIEND IN RED! GO WHERE HE POINTS YOU! DRIVE, NOW! IT’S OKAY! GAS, GAS!’

I look at Gylfi . He shrugs. ‘He works here. You have to trust him.’ Okay, I roll

Land of the Free-landerLand of the Free-landerLand of the Free-lander

Words: Ewan Bogdan





my window up (the silence in the car is almost eerie) and floor it. We travel maybe five yards into the white-out, and I stamp on the brakes. There’s an-other Freelander sitting in front of us.

‘NOOOOO! GAS, GAS! YOU GO!’ He’s back.

‘I can’t see anything. There’s another car in front of us.’ He looks at me like I’m the biggest idiot he’s ever met.

‘OKAY, YOU WAIT.’ He peers into the hammering blizzard. ‘NOW! GO! GAS, GAS!’

Bang, down goes the pedal. Up with the clutch. Leap into the blinding snow, another yard or two. Stamp on the brakes. The other Freelander is still sitting there.

‘GO, GO, YOU GO!’‘There’s another car there. If I do

what you tell me I’m going to crash into it.’ This time, I fancy, said with a hint of menace. Now I’m not so much the stupidest person he’s ever met as the stupidest person ever to walk the surface of the earth.

‘I’m not doing it,’ I say, just in case. ‘I’m not going to crash my friend’s car.’

‘OKAY, YOU GO, YOU GO,’ he commands, his voice thick with dis-gust, and gestures at me to do a U-turn.

I look at Gylfi. ‘Am I missing some-thing? Am I doing something wrong?’

Continued overleafBelow: Just one of the many views you’re likely to encounter in this unique and phe-nomenal country. When you make it over there, just remember one thing… the camera



‘No,’ he says very quietly, shaking his head in what I think is bafflement at this nutter’s attempts to guide us across his glacier. ‘I have never seen anything like that.’ Behind him in the back seat, Tom is the colour of an uncooked dumpling, his eyes the size of small saucers. I’m guessing he hasn’t, either.

We make our way back down over the rocky trail to a rough café which, I think, has something to do with matey’s glacier-bashing operation. It’s hard to know, to be honest. Downhill of it, where we’d come from, visibility was pretty good. But almost immediately beyond it, the mist thickened into the white-out we’d experienced.

One by one the Freelanders emerged from the blizzard without a single trashed bumper or stove-in tailgate. I still wonder if I was missing the point of what I was meant to do up there, however much Gylfi assured me I wasn’t.

Langjokull is actually not very far inland from Reykjavik in the greater scheme of things, but it felt as if we’d been driving forever to get there. The

road surfaces in Iceland are excellent, but at times they give way to gravel almost without you noticing.

That’s how it is at times, at least. Fur-ther into the outback, the roads become a lot rougher – some have an ‘F’ desig-nation, which means they’re restricted to 4x4s only. A nice change from in Britain, where the word ‘restricted’ has very different connotations…

The F35 is probably the best known, as it passes close to the famous Gulfoss waterfall, Thingvallavatn Lake and Thingvellir national park, but on top of that for us it was an attraction in its own right. Imagine a green lane like Rudland Rigg, only 110 miles long and taking half a day to drive from end to end. Oh, and surrounded by an empty moonscape of bleak, stony plains and brooding volcanic mountain tops.

Thordur was right, actually. Despite my misgivings, the vehicles were perfect for what we did, allowing us to stretch our legs across the smooth grav-el roads while at the same time taking the rougher stuff easily in their stride.

I suppose it would all have felt more macho if we’d been driving a bunch of 110s on colossal tyres, but there’s pre-cisely nothing in the route we took that a vehicle like that would have done bet-ter. Yes, including the glacier run. Even for those who didn’t back out, would a set of 44” tyres have helped them see better through the driving snow?

The Freelanders still looked pretty clean and shiny as we rolled back south-west, with not a knock, scrape or even a flat tyre between them. One by one, horns were sounded and lights flashed as the guys peeled off to head for home, then it was just the three of us easing our way back through the res-idential streets of suburban Reykjavik to Gylfi’s house.

Which brought me face to face with my biggest fear. I had managed to convince myself that getting in a plane was worth it to come to Iceland, and I’d been right. But getting in a plane to leave this place behind and go back to work? You don’t need a fear of flying not to want to do that.

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You may recall in my last up-date that I was gloating about having an extra day off for me to get covered up to my eye-

balls in rust, dirt and grease from the old Landy. But rain swift ly put a halt on that little dream.

I decided to go swimming fi rst so I could mimic the Landy, but even when I returned it was still raining. Having played the role of kind father and picked my daughter up from the sta-tion, I then endured 20 minutes of her non-stop talking (I swear my girls must breathe through their backsides). Final-ly, we arrived home and I ran upstairs to suit up in my work overalls.

Th e day’s aim was to check the brake system over from top to bottom. Th e wheels really didn’t want to come off ,

though, aft er God knows how many years being stuck on. A three-foot persuading bar on a socket soon put an end to that stubborn obstacle and the wheels came off . It’s a little dusty back there!

Both the front drums came off easily enough and at fi rst glance they didn’t look to be in too bad a shape inside either.

Exploring a bit more, however, revealed the calipers to be full of muck, old copper grease and dust.

I cleaned them up a touch before my youngest turned up with the tea, and then accosted him into helping out by pressing the foot pedal to check on caliper movement.

Th e calipers on both of the front brakes worked well enough, but the

back drums didn’t want to give up their contents. Firstly, the retaining screws were seized solid. A bit of WD40 sorted the problem on one side, but the other side wasn’t playing ball. I soaked it, heated it, bashed it, but it still wouldn’t budge. In the end I called upon my drill.

Quite frankly, the contents of the back drums were a mess. Seized cali-pers, rusty brake shoes and leaks galore led me to think a complete brake sys-tem rebuild was in order. Th ese things are going to be responsible for making me stop both on and off -road, so for the price of replacing them I wasn’t going to be taking any risks.

Having cleaned the drums up with a wire brush and popped the wheels back on, it occurred to me, as I stood

there with my fi lthy kit on, that I really am like the kid whose mum only has to turn away for a couple of seconds before I manage to get a whole caking of mud and dirt on me again.

Later on, while online, I ordered the brake drum rebuild kits to start with and decided to buy the new pipes and connections later – or sooner, if I was allowed to hit the savings account beforehand.

Over the next few sessions, I fi xated on rebuilding the fuel system that I had stripped out. Firstly, I had to remove the old fuel pump that was caked up with some sort of fuzz and cobwebs. Th e fuel lines were as brittle as hell, so getting them out wasn’t a problem.

Th e two bolts that held the fuel pump came off with uncanny ease, and to my

The Project Has Landed: Part FiveSelf-bought birthday pre-

sents, learning the ways of � e Force and trying to co-opt family members

into helping in the workshop – it’s just another day in the world of Nicky Smith.

� is month, we catch up with the forty-something-year-old as he continues his quest for driveway domination over his Land Rover Series III. He’s been at it a few months now and the 109 has thrown some pretty heavy punches Nicky’s way, but it’s a war the enthusiast is beginning to take control of. � ough who know, the battle could swing back the other way at any moment…

Words and Pictures: Nicky Smith

Above: You never know what you’re going to fi nd when you take the casing off things – and in this case it was rather clarted up!

Below: When a bit of WD40 just won’t do, sometimes it’s time to just break out the heavy artillery…





surprise there was no gasket behind it, so it may have rotted away or not been there to start with – but it made cleaning the face up for a good fit of the new pump rather easy.

New pump on and new brake line fitted front to back, I realised that the flexi hose that connects to the carb had perished. But does it have to have that, I thought? Is it going to cause me any great problems without it?

Then it was on to fitting the 88” fuel tank. Apart from cutting a hole in the floor for the filler to come out of it, there weren’t really any issues. Come to think of it, if you don’t have a large high-lift jack, two pairs of hands or the use of the force, then you will struggle to do this by yourself.

Having said that, the lovely ladies of my home just looked at me like I’d asked if they would clean the front driveway with their tongues when I asked for their assistance. Naturally, I went and dug out my big jack, my spare set of hands, quickly read up on my Jedi mind powers and got stuck in.

A whirlwind of mild foul language, dropped tools and trapped fingers later and the tank was in!

I connected the fuel pipe and then looked at the wiring from the twin tanks, realising I had not marked or taken any notice of what two wires I would need to plug back in for the fuel gauge to work. Having applied some self-loathing, I was soon underway again, finding out where the fuel filler cap should be so it worked and con-nected to the tank as it’s supposed to.

Continued overleaf

Above: There’s not too much you can do in five spare minutes, but for Nicky, that’s another five minutes on a Landy. Here, our man fixes new gaiters in place of the old and decrepit parts



The cost so far:Land Rover £375Sanding Discs £11.70Ignition Barrel £20Heritage letter £21.752x Batteries and rear 1/4 light £35Pair Battery Terminal Clamps £3.99Floor pan nuts & bolts £6.50Grinding disc £2.25Under Seal £8.99Complete set of lights £855 Litres Primer £24.994 Discovery Wheels £10.20Rear Door £21.00Front Door £20.00Handbrake spring £1.502 Discovery wheelsTwo seatbelts

Wing Mirror2 Headlight surrounds2 headlight frames £602 Front Doors £60Nato Green Paint £36Rear Window Seal and insert £9.99Wiring connectors £3.002 tins of silver metal paint £7.00Fuses & Sandpaper £4.505x tins black spray £5.005x more tins black spray £5.00Clutch fluidExhaust puttyWD40 £8.49Car Boot Bits £13Front & rear shocks £59.45Front & rear brake rebuild kits £81.62

Fuel tank & filler £40Wheels complete with tyres £250Fuel pumpFuel hoseIndicator stalkBonnet strapBrake switchFuel pump gasketFuel line clips £67.7424v Wiper motor24v flasher relay24v heater24v front loomoil coolerDoor tops x2Rear bench seat £67.50TOTAL £1425.16

Above left: Now on to the fuel system, Nicky first set about removing the old fuel pump, which was ‘covered in fuzz’…Above right: The flexi-hose to the carb was perished and proving to be a bit of a head-scratcher for yours truly

After a quick tidy around I moved on to fitting the new brake switch. It wasn’t too hard, this, but I did find my-self needing to slacken the top nuts on the brake servo in order to remove the old one and fit the new brake switch.

After some fiddling around I actu-ally got the brake lights to work! That’s one set of lights on the rear of the motor that actually do!

There was one troubling thing I noticed while crawling around under the Landy and that was the absence of a couple of bolts. These were missing from what I thought was the clutch housing. Hmm.

A few days later and, well, it was my birthday. The big 4-1. Is 4-1 big? They probably all are by now…

Anyway I can hand on heart say it was the best birthday I have had in years! A new laptop (how very extravagant), proper ales in bottles, slippers and chocolate to put Thorn-ton’s to shame.

But there was one extra bonus that I had to pay for myself – although it was definitely worth it!

The last but best present was a full-length roof rack with ladder for the Landy – at a cost of £100 deliv-ered! The chaps who dropped it off were even helping me pop it on to the project, which saved me some stress of trying to put it on myself.

That’s all I could get in on that day as I needed to get ready to be dragged out to a restaurant for a slap-up meal and a few real ales to boot. It’s a dirty job, but someone has got to do it!

If you would like to read the full story of Nicky’s Series III rebuild, or if you can’t wait to hear how he got on with the rest of the project, you can purchase a copy of The Project Has Landed from www.amazon.co.uk. Alternatively, you can read all of his rants and raves on most walks of life – but mainly Land Rovers – at www.nickysmith.me.

Above and left: Notice the old rusty shock absorbers, some worse than others, and the new ones which Nicky installed prior to switching attention to the fuel lines

Left: At one point Nicky suspects there could be a couple of bolts missing from the clutch housingBelow: The top nuts were slackened here to help get the new brake switch in place

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USED LAND ROVERS FOR SALESeries I

Series I 86” V8 Truck-Cab. Recommissioned after 10 years in dry storage. 76,126 miles. Rover V8, SIII gearbox (full syncro), Fairey overdrive, FWH. Series III Salisbury axles. Parabolics. Overhauled swivels, like-new brake linings and cylinders. Engine tuned and bored to 3.9. New seats. Chassis and bulkhead both patched but still very strong. £7995. Whitchurch, Staffs, 07811 698250 12/15

Series II

Two Series IIs (‘61 and ‘59). Both 2.25 diesel. The 1961 model needs a rebuild. The other LR has previously been stripped down and its chassis has had a new crossmember and outriggers. It is almost completely there but again will need rebuilding, had

SIII axles fitted but the originals are there. Both have old style V5s. £2250. Porth, Rhondda Cynon Taff, 07791 869549 12/15

Series IIA petrol. MOT August. No hard-top. Gearbox problem. Drives. £2300. 01395 442660 (after 6pm please)

Series III

Series III diesel (1978). Chassis-up rebuild. Galv chassis, rebuilt engine, full rewire, FWH, overdrive, swivels, clutch kit and slave, copper brake pipes, brake master and four drum cylinders, diesel tank and sender. Rebuilt bulkhead, tub floor and cross members. Full MOT. £8500 ono. Manchester, 07749 866756 or 0161 688 6008 01/16

Series III 88” (1981). 55,946 miles. Complete vehicle with Fairey overdrive and FWH. Starts, runs and drives fine, but chassis

needs work or replacement. Has a very rare fibreglass hard top and sides (1 of only 10 made). No MOT or tax. Sold as seen for spares or repair, with no warranty given. £1200. Tiverton, Devon, 01398 331800 12/15

Series III 88” diesel (1983). 40,294 miles showing. Full MOT. In good condition, having just been recommissioned with a very good 5-bearing engine. Deluxe interior (seats, door cards, carpet). Good seats (just a few nicks). Rear bench seats with belts. 4x Goodyear Wrangler 205 x16 tyres (spare is a Camac). 11” front drums. Runs and drives well, nice patina inside and out, neat and tidy and not at all scruffy. Currently on SORN. £2350. 07791 461223 12/15

Series III Hi-Cap petrol. Current MOT. Original condition. Very rare – this is 1 of only 17 left. £3200 ono. 07544 889163 12/15

Lightweight

SIII Lightweight (believed 1979). 20,000 miles. 12 months’ MOT. Rock-solid chassis and bulkhead. Engine starts, revs and idles beautifully but does over-run when turned off. 3 new front seats plus rear bench. New canvas top. Roll bar and rear spare wheel holder. Towbar and electrics. Paintwork could be improved, and it’s on non-standard wheels. Currently Q-plated, but original chassis plates are present and correct so you could revert to an age-related number. I have MOTs from 1990-2004. Has been on SORN since and was stood for years, but was easy to recommis-ion. All offers considered. £4500. London, 07711 064214 01/16

Series IIA Lightweight (1969). £2800. [email protected] 01/16

Series III Lightweight GS (1979). Last stationed with the infantry in Northern Ireland prior to MOD release, making its 12-volt electrics a little unusual (most Army Lightweights were 24v FFRs). Engine is an ABRO reconditioned unit fitted prior to release. The Lightweight was going to be a project but events have overtaken me and it has to go. Like any Land Rover of this vintage, it lets water in and lets oil out, but essentially it is all there and it runs. Gauges have let me down and the front right indicator is proving a stubborn fix. RH fuel tank was removed by a previous owner. It will come with two spare tyres on rims, the jack and handle and a stack of pa-perwork. £5000. Shaftesbury, Dorset, 07989 560075

101

101 Ambulance (1974). LHD. V8 with LPG conversion. 30,700 kilometres on original engine.

New MOT. First registered privately in 2000. Drives well, and on the button. Partially Waxoyled. Serviced 1000km ago. Partial camper conversion by previous owner which needs completing. Has 240v hook-up with sockets, leisure battery, water tank, filler, pump, tap, external shower (all fitted but need connecting). Single-leg table (needs new base socket). Sofas convert to large double bed. Blown air heater, lights, fans etc. Useful roof rack. Car seats in front. Large awning. Excellent tyres, recent new exhaust, brake shoes and brake cylinders. Good sound, rust-free truck (apart from door tops). £6950. Malvern, Worcs, [email protected] 12/15

101 Forward Control (1976). 29,700 kilometres backed up by old MOTs. MOT March 16. Demobbed by Army in Sept 1993. 3.6-litre V8 (was bored from 3.5 while by the MOD). Waxoyled. LPG fitted Sep 2005, currently not working but I understand it just needs a switch. Apart from this, an additional cooling fan and a stereo, it’s in 100% original condi-tion – I think even the paintwork. 4 new Cooper Discoverer STs. Comes with an A4 file of history,

receipts and MOD maintenance schedule. Exhaust is blowing, starter needs a tap, a few small oil leaks, some dials need attention. £7000. East Dereham, 07425 605829 01/16

90

Defender 90 2.4 TDCi XS SW (2007). 100,000 miles. ABS, traction, alloys, tow bar, air-con, heated leather seats, PAS, electric windows, CD stereo. Excellent condition throughout, regularly serviced with no trouble. BFGoodrich All-Terrain tyres in good condition, chequer plate, central cubby box, rear tow hitch. Remapped. Obviously there are some marks here and there. £16,100. Fyfield, Essex, 07968 819333 12/15

Defender 90 300Tdi (1996). 101,000 miles. MOT July 2016. Owned for 10 years – only done 20,000 miles in that time, but ser-viced every year. New timing belt in 2013. Comes with a detailed record of work done, plus 14 old MOTs to verify mileage. Never used for any serious off-road stuff, though the previous owner fitted steering/diff guards and rock sliders. Sound chassis (Waxoyled when I bought it) with just two small patches on the rear crossmember. 12/230V invertor with split-charge system (second battery not currently fitted). 3 seats. Dixon Bate adjustable towbar. £4850. Hassocks, West Sussex. 07887 575151 01/16

Defender 90 V8 3.9 EFi (1986). 79,000 miles (unknown miles on engine). Full year’s MOT. First registered with DVLA as a 3.5 but has since been upgraded. Range Rover running gear. High and low range work as they should, as does all wiring. ECU located in the cab. Electric fans. Fantastic chassis with no sign of any welding or rot. Lifted and polybushed. Tyres have probably done less than 500 miles. Swing-away rear wheel carrier. Well made rear seats with belts. Rear cargo cage. Will sit at 70mph+ on the motorway. A few bumps and scrapes, and some rust on the door bottoms plus a bit on the corners of the bulkhead, but the rest is solid. Little exhaust blow but just on a joint. £2995. Weston Super Mare, 07725 687197 01/16

90 200Tdi (1985). 171,262 miles. MOT July. Disco engine and box. Drives well on and off-road. High/low range and diff lock all work. +2” springs and shocks, +2” spring spacers, dislocation cones, steering and diff guards, rock sliders, snorkel, front winch bumper (no winch), A-bar and light bar with spots, new exhaust, twin batteries, Special Tracks. Rear door could do with a new skin but frame very good. £4300 ovno. Kettering, Northants, 07837 014310 01/16

Defender 90 300 Tdi (1989). 120,000 miles. Cage, 2” lift, Pro-Comp shocks, 285/85R16 Special Tracks, winch bumper, rock sliders, steering and diff guards, snorkel, LED bar, drilled and grooved brake discs. During my ownership it’s had a prop, rad, windscreen and seal, wiper motor and blades, hub gaskets, rocker cover gasket, all filters, new fuel pipe, isolator switch and clutch master cylinder. £6500 ono. Newton Abbot, Devon, 07949 249743 01/16

Defender 90 200Tdi (1987). Selling due to lack of use and space. 95,000 miles. Discovery 200Tdi engine with 100,000 miles. Chassis rust-free and newly Waxoyled. Starts first time. Refur-bished starter motor, new battery and clutch. Full list of work from previous owner available. £4500. Aberdeen, 07976 006469

Defender 90 200Tdi (1984). 62,611 miles. Selling due to lack of use. 200Tdi (Defender not Disco engine), always starts first turn. New timing belt, water pump and radiator last year. Scorpion suspension and castor corrected front arms. Simex Jungle Trekkers (inc spare). 24-spline axles, rear has hardened shafts. Rear ARB. Scorpion bumper, Warn 9.5 XP with in-cab controls. HD steering bars, ally 3-piece steering guard. Rock sliders, diff and tank guards. Safari Snorkel. Full exo cage. Front spots, electric fan, Exmoor Trim soft top. Galvanised chassis. CB, MOT April. £5600. Benfleet, Essex, 07970 689629 01/16





Bobtail 90 300Tdi (1987). 145,000 miles. New MOT (no advisories). Solid chassis (never welded or patched), good bulk-head, 3M undersealed. Discovery axles, copper brake lines and braided hoses, polybushed, discs all round. Winch bumper, sill protectors, sump and rear diff guards. As-new tyres. New carpet and paint job. Brake bias lever inside. Land Rover seats. Comes with a full roll cage (not fi tted). House move forces sale. Dash not in great condition and windows do rattle, but in very good condition overall. £4500. Sedlescombe, East Sussex, 07732 518700 12/15

Defender 90 300 Tdi king-cab (1994). 100,000 miles. Just re-built and resprayed. Built with no expense spared. All original en-gine, box, axles and chassis. Mods include +2” HD springs and +5” shocks, Gwyn Lewis mounts and dislocation kit, Johnny Jointed trailing arms, HD steering arms, MSA-spec blue band cage, 8274 with wide drum and Bow 2 on HD bumper, Albright solenoids, rear winch tray for low-line winch or 8274, twin batteries with new split-charge, good Simex Jungle Trekkers on original Mach 5s with 20mm spacers, rock/tree sliders, full-width Allisport intercooler, side-exit straight-through exhaust, LED front lights. Carpets and soundproofi ng, new door cards and Exmoor seats. Recent new alternator, PAS pump and water pump, props just rebuilt with new UJs, new CD stereo and speakers, new wings and full re-spray – there is not a single dent or scratch on this truck. Happy to do a deal with no winches. £9500 ono. Wolverhampton, 07583 027038 01/16

90 pick-up (1986). MOT June 16. Rebuilt last winter on a new galv TD5 chassis. Low-mileage 300Tdi engine and box. Salisbury rear axle. +3” springs on 2” lift blocks, long-travel shocks, extended front top mounts, cranked radius arms. Dislocation cones. Diff , sump and steering guards. Rock sliders. Tree bars for body (not fi tted). HD steering rod. 2.5” side-exit straight-through exhaust. EGR deleted. Insa Turbos on modulars, 30mm spacers, extended arches. Winch bumper and winch. Qt quick-release easy-wash bucket seats. Nissan Navara roll top adapted to fi t Land Rover bed. Re-cent new A-frame ball joint, rear calipers, timing belt, manifold and rocker gaskets, water pump, aux belt, alternator (recon), rear axle bearings and seals, speedo

cable, snorkel and much more. Body a bit rough in places and it needs a few bits and pieces doing, but it’s a great vehicle and with a little bit of love could be fantastic for many years to come. £4500. Stourbridge, West Midlands, 07912 359227 01/16

Land Rover Defender 90 DT King-Cab (1989). 211,000 miles. MOT April. Extended cabin will comfortably accommodate a 6’ 4” driver. Mods done (all in 2014) include +2” suspension with rear dislocation cones, castor-correct-ed radius arms, X-Eng rear trailing arms, Sumo bars, RTC steering damper, 35x10.50R16 Silverstone tyres, fl exi arches, snorkel, rock sliders, steering, diff and fuel tank guards, professionally fi tted cage, full-width LED bar, T-Max winch, front and rear recovery points, side-exit exhaust, Cobra Monaco recliners, Sabelt 4-point harness-es, Momo 14” steering wheel, CB, crystal headlamp conversion. Recent clutch, starter motor, rear crossmember, rear diff , exhaust manifolds and full service. Gemini 3 Turbo, silicone hoses, Allisport header tank, HD battery. £6000. Telford, 07767 796360 01/16

Land Rover Defender 90 2.4 TDCi XS (2007). 58,500 miles. Bought July ‘14 and fully Arctic prepped. Hannibal Roof Rack with chequer plate fl oor, front and rear spots and LEDs, Hi-Lift, Masai steering guard and winch bumper, Warn M8000, Webasto fuel-powered pre-heater, Odyssey PC1230 batteries, split-charge, Mantec internal window grilles. Chipped by previous owner. Coo-per Discoverer 235/85R16 M+S tyres with only 6000km, plus full spare set of General Grabber M+S tyres with over 5mm tread and unused spare. Prep work done by LR dealers, previously serviced by independent specialists. Large accessory bundle also available for £450, including Hannibal storage boxes with covers, snow chains, Trac Mats, jerry can, winching kit, fuel tank and cooler guards, ARB puncture repair kit, external window grilles and winch blanket. £18,500 ono. Hemel Hempstead, Herts, 07946 433397 01/16

90 Soft-Top (1986). Ex-MOD. Will come with 12 months’ MOT. Reliable and fun. Battery under a year old, new alternator, new diff oils. Cheap insurance. A great example. Open to sensible off ers. £4995. Kettering, Northants, 07891 402610 12/15

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Defender 90 300 TDi County SW (1986). 59,400 miles. New turbo, new exhaust, light bar with 4 LED spots, A-bar with 2 Ring spots, rear NAS step with tow bar, NAS lights, PAS, steering guard, snorkel, wheel spacers, front headlining. Chassis has no rust, a few patches but generally great condition. Handbrake loose. Very clean and tidy, performs excellently on and off road. Sold as seen. £4500. Long Eaton, Notts, 07929 037037 01/16

110

Defender 110 FFR 200Tdi. Rebuilt from the chassis up by ex-REME Highland Wolf, using low-miles upgrade 200Tdi. New clutch, radiator, exhaust, half-shafts, brakes, gearbox, bulkhead, doors and hinges. Full respray. Riot screens and cages, infra-red beacon and caged Snatch searchlight. Disco seats, Riot cages, PAS, pioneer kit. One-off show-stopping beast. May p/x a desert Snatch Land Rover. £8500 ono. Nairn, Highand, 07980 698137 12/15

Defender 110 2.4 TDCi County Station Wagon (2008). 59,552 miles. MOT Jan 2016. For sale on behalf of one of our customers. Autologic ECU remap, roof rack with additional lights, snorkel, chequer plate, steering guard,

side bars and NAS rear step and towbar. Fully carpeted. EGR valve just replaced. This 110 has had a very easy life and been thorough-ly spoilt, as shown by the lack of serious wear and tear inside and out. £19,995. Hassocks, West Sussex, 01444 241457 Trade

Defender 110 300 Tdi (1994). 169,705 miles. MOT Feb. Drives A1, engine starts first time and pulls well with no smoke. Bodywork straight, small hole in bulkhead (been quoted £200 to repair). Some corrosion to lower door frames, but rear door is fine. Recent new rear crossmember, battery box, clutch and battery. New modular wheels with very good tyres all round. Just been serviced. £3950. Leeds, 07791 663880 01/16

Defender 110. 126,000 miles. Long MOT. FSH. Very good condition. BFGoodrich tyres all round. All Service history. A1 interior. Never ‘dogged.’ Expensive upgraded springs and shocks. Aluminium drop-side rear fitted recently costing over £2250. Ready for work. £6850 ono. 01920 464540 12/15

Defender 110 Wolf XD 300Tdi Soft-Top (1997). 61,300 miles. Remus upgrade. Damaged repairable. Date into service with MOD 24/10/1997. Starts, runs, drives and seems to be complete, has had some accident damage but this should not be too hard to repair. £11,000. Nottingham, 07711 229669 12/15

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Defender 110 TD5 County (1998). 232,951 miles. MOT Aug 16. Air-con, leather, very high spec. Very clean inside and out, drives super. £6995. Glastonbury, Somerset, 01458 834930 Trade

Defender 110 300Tdi County (1994). 185,500 miles. 11-seater, with belts. Drives well. Just had a new (not reconditioned) head, water pump, clutch, timing belt, radiator, steering box and rear exhaust section. High/low range and diff lock all work. +2” suspension, steering and diff guards, snorkel, rock sliders, front winch bumper (no winch) with A-bar and 2 spots, 3/4 roof rack with rear ladder, light bar with four spots, 16” modulars with 255/85/16 BFG Muds (lots of life left). Dixon-Bate tow pack with twin electrics. Has been used as a 4x4 response vehicle, hence the amber light. £7250 ovno. Kettering, Northants, 07837 014310 01/16

Land Rover Defender 110. One of a kind show-stopping off-road riot vehicle! Nearly everything has been renewed – now runs a remapped 300Tdi with custom decat exhaust and R380 box. Solid chassis. 35x12.50R15 Cooper Discoverer STTs. ARB compressor and locking diffs front and rear. Winch bumper with Warn 9000i. Mantec snorkel. Sill, diff, fuel tank and steering guards. Safety Devices cage with additional work. Riot-control windscreen grille on sliders. Twin Optima batteries. Sony stereo with Reference Infinity speakers and top-of-the-range Rainbow amp. Midland CB and external speaker. Raptor dash. LED lights front and rear. Drilled and grooved brake discs. KDX front end. £11,995. Devon, 01404 891 888 01/16

127/130

130 Defender Tipper (1995). 120,000 miles. Waxoyled every year. Good working order for age. BFGoodrich All-Terrain tyres with plenty of tread and brand new spare. £7500. Truro, Cornwall, 07812 153707 12/15

Range Rover

Range Rover Classic 3.9 Vogue auto (1995). 105,000 miles with fully stamped service book and manuals. MOT Aug (no advisories). CVC-reg soft-dash model – this is a final-run model from the very end of Classic production. Clean, velour interior in good condition. Air-con, electric glass sunroof and Classic badging. Pioneer CD player with iPod socket. Stored since 2009, recently lightly recommissioned and serviced. Sound underneath, with no rust in any of the usual places. LPG fitted at some point but has been removed. Some scratches, one bumper end-cap missing, new head lining needed, tailgate logo missing. Tyres all good. Drives very well. One electric window not working, and tailgate key lost, but everything else works. This is a genuine original example, ready to use as-is or for an enthusiast to improve. Comes with spares package and full never-fitted tow bar assembly unit. Possible part-ex for classic vehicle or 4x4. Sensible offers invited. Salis-bury. 01980 610411 01/16

Range Rover 3.9 V8 Vogue (1990). 150,000 miles. 3 keepers from new, MOT June 2016. Ported heads, stainless steel valves, RS head gaskets, chrome piston rings, RPI performance cam, Cloyes uprated timing chain and gears, nitrous injection (could run up to 150bhp), uprated fuel pump, new Bosch starter motor, twin batteries, stainless steel snorkel. +5” Terrafirma suspen-sion with extra long travel shocks, dislocation cones all round, Qt 3-degree corrected arms, HD trail-ing arms, polybushes, wide-angle props, 2” body lift. 37x12.50R17 Cooper Discoverer STTs (inc brand new spare) on black modulars under +2” flexi wheelarches. Champion winch and bumper, steering and diff guards, HD steering bars, adjustable panhard rod, new fuel tank and sender, LED light bar, rear work lights. Custom headlining, uprated speakers, heated screen, fridge. Recent front hub overhaul and gearbox filter. Comes with spares including complete 3.9 engine, auto box, transfer box, complete back axle and four doors. As featured in The Landy! £5995. Worthing, West Sussex, 07957 414844 01/16

Range Rover 2.5 DSE (1999). 165,000 miles. 10 months’ MOT. Cream leather interior. All good tyres. Owned for the last 8 years. £1850 ono. Bedfordshire, 07790 662064 01/16

Range Rover Vogue TD6 Auto (2002). 141,000 miles. Usual Vogue refinements – sat-nav, climate, CD changer, heated electric leather seats, sunroof. Good tyres and very good interior. Some rust showing at rear arches, switch for high/low range has snapped off but still works. Never had a towbar fitted, I believe, and has not been chipped. Only one key present. £5450. Berkswell, West Mids, 07951 059118 12/15

Range Rover Classic Bobtail. MOT May 2016. 3.0-litre Perkins with Garrett turbo, sounds like a tractor on the road but very powerful and great off-road. 35x12.50R16 Maxxis Creepy Crawlers with less than 300 miles, on split rims – the wheels and tyres alone are worth over a grand. Hi-Lux axles, Hi-Lux Surf steering box with crossover steering. Chromoly CVs. Lorry ball joints on trailing arms and A-frame. New engine and gearbox mounts and panhard rod bushes. Husky winch. Chromoly wheel bearings, lock nuts and knuckle studs. Speedo doesn’t work and syncro between first and reverse has gone. £2500. Liverpool, 07949 018469

Range Rover 4.2 V8 (1980). Bobtailed off-roader. 90,000 miles. Roll cage, uprated springs, electric winches, snorkel. Some marks and dents from off-roading and green laning, but well looked after and has always been inspected by myself and another mechanic after being taking it out and used. £2500, Keighley, West Yorkshire. Email [email protected], quoting box number T11/15/001 12/15

Range Rover 3.9 EFi V8 auto off-roader (1992). Bought bog-standard on 124,000 miles and upgraded for off-roading, now on 128,000. New head gas-ket, water pump, HT leads, coil, all belts, engine and gearbox oil and filters. Engine very smooth and quiet, no problem with transfer box. Mods include Southdown snorkel and straight-through 3” side-exit exhaust. 5” suspension lift with brand new Fox shocks and brand new Britpart and Gwyn Lewis HD wide-angle props (all never used off-road). 33” Insa Turbo tyres on Mach 5 rims. Full cage welded, brand new tubular front wings, detachable rock/tree sliders, HD rear bumper, steering

arms and panhard rods, steering, diff and tank guards. Front and rear Warn 8274s. Solid chassis. Rear crossmember changed three years ago. Small rust patches in driver’s footwell and side mem-ber, inner wings badly rusted (new ones supplied). Bodywork has off-road dents and scratches. No MOT. £4950. Dunstable, Beds, 07752 307609 12/15

Range Rover Vogue V8 auto (1992). FSH, year’s MOT. Two previous owners. Drives superb, excellent bodywork. £6995 ono. Essex, 01255 860292

Range Rover 2.5 DSE Auto (2000). 94,744 miles. Excellent condition, stamped up with 14 services. New MOT. Alloys, all good tyres, very clean inside and out, air suspension works well. 2 keys, 3 owners from new. Red with cream leather interior. £3995. Hertfordshire, 07722 723429 12/15

Discovery

Discovery 300Tdi Auto (1995). 130,000 miles. MOT Jan 2016. Professionally bobtailed off-road-er with full exterior/interior roll cage. Engine has tweaked fuel pump and full-width intercooler and pulls really well. Recent new timing belt, rad, glow plugs, full-width intercooler. New +2” lift kit, 35” Maxxis Bighorns (inc spare), arches cut out and extensions fitted. Front and rear winch bumpers with 12,500lb Winchmax on front, HD steering guard, rock sliders. HD steering arms, Safari Snorkel, transmission cooler, switchable electric fan. Twin batteries. 4 Subaru Impreza bucket seats. All 4 wheel bearings recently replaced. Carpets removed. Alloy fuel tank in boot. Just serviced, including all filters and fluids. Brand new front and rear discs and pads (not yet fit-ted). Fully cleaned every time it’s been off-road. Underbody in great condition with no bad rust, just a touch on the rear arches. May part-ex. £3500 ono. Tonbridge, Kent, 07801 569003 01/16

Discovery TD5 GS 5-seat (1999). 173,000 miles. MOT June 2016. Snorkel, roof rails, dog guard. Matching set of 5 Goodyear Wrangler 245/70R16 tyres on 50mm spacers. Roof light bar with spots. Rear ladder.

Inclinometer. New brakes all round. Many new parts. Heavy duty seat covers. Tow hitch and electrics. £2650 ono. Down, 07870 557528 01/16

Discovery TD5 ES Auto (2002). 167,000 miles. MOT April 2016. Facelift model with uprated 16p engine. Runs on biodiesel at 80p a litre. History up to 144,000 miles. Black leather. EGR deletion, 40mm lift and 275/65R18 Cooper Discoverer STTs on less than 1000 miles. Recent new brakes, air bags and ride height sensors, water pump, recon steering box, alternator, steering damper, fuel pump and filter, air flow meter, bump stops, drop links, sump and rocket gaskets, thermostat, belt and tensioner and much more. Sunroofs work with no leaks. VGC – just a few marks, a weep of engine oil and a CV that wants doing. Never off-roaded. May part-ex. £4900 ono. Barrow-in-Furness, 07470 309186 01/16

Discovery Tdi auto (1995). New MOT. Drives great, box changes up and down perfectly. Ready to off-road or green lane. HD bumpers, diff guards, rock sliders, front winch with remote, Terrafirma shocks, 5 BFGoodrich All-Terrains (nearly new), snorkel, Land Rover roof rack, Momo steering wheel, Cobra driver’s seat, rear tank guard with removable tow bar. £2900 ono. East Preston, West Sussex, 07796 234181 01/16

Discovery TD5 (2000). 12 months’ MOT. FSH (most recent service Oct 15). Engine has only done 85,000 miles. Stands on 18” wheels and comes with a set of five 16” spares. Clean body with no rust or dents. Lots of extras. £2950 ono. 07899 783396 12/15

Discovery V8i bobtail (1995).137,000 miles. MOT September 2016. Professionally bobtailed. 4” lift. Roll cage, winch, bucket seats, boot-mounted fuel tank. RDX lights. 6-tonne Super-winch. All tyres in great condition with plenty of life left. Chassis was welded to pass the latest MOT so it’s fine now. Floor has been Hammerited inside vehicle. Engine and transfer box in perfect condition. Rev counter and speedo not working (I just use my sat-nav). £2200. Widnes, 07703 754655 01/16

Freelander

Freelander Soft-Top 1.8 petrol (2001). 98,330 miles. MOT August 2016. With hard and soft tops. Regularly serviced. New front tyres, new clutch, new head gasket Jan 15. Sunroof, tow bar, roof rack, CD stereo. Fun to drive, really smooth and great off-road and in the snow. VGC. £1500. Brightlingsea, Essex, [email protected] 12/15

Freelander 2.0 Td4 Commer-cial (2005). 27,000 miles. No VAT. MOT June 16. ABS, air-con, PAS, CD stereo, front airbags, alarm, metallic paint, remote central locking. Steel wheels. Would be ideal for someone with dogs. Reluctant sale. £5000. Stroud, Gloucs, 07854 506739 12/15

Specials

Hybrid 200Tdi Challenge Truck. 59,501 miles. 10 months’ MOT. Defender body on a short-ened (92”) and strengthened 1989 Discovery chassis. Short

bellhousing LT77 gearbox, allowing engine and transmission to be set further back and giving this truck a far better centre of gravity than normal. Full North Off Road cage, tubular front body, jackable rock sliders, front and rear winch trays, +2” springs and +5” shocks all round, rear dislocation cones. 265/75R16 tyres (3 Insa Turbo Special Tracks and 1 Insa Turbo Dakar). Custom fuel tank. Removable rear wings. £2500. Penrith, Cumbria, 07768 090728 12/15

200Tdi trayback hybrid (1994). 130,000 miles. MOT October 2016. Based on a very solid Discovery chassis. Proper Hi-Cap rear bulkhead. Ex comp safari cage (has some knocks). Challenge wings (brand new and not fitted). 200Tdi with side-exit stainless exhaust. R380 gearbox (sometimes crunches into 2nd). +2” springs, +5” shocks. X-Eng wide-angle A-frame joint. Rear axle recently rebuilt with KAM locker and halfshafts. Warn 8724 with Dyneema rope, recently serviced. 35” Trellborg tyres. Gwyn Lewis wide-angle prop, braided hoses, strong recovery points. Needs a gearbox mount. May part-ex. £2995. Bangor, Gwyn-edd, 07919 561206 01/16

PartsSeries I parts. Front and rear axles, gearbox, front wing, grille. Call for prices. Motherwell, 01698 264937 01/16

Defender Wide Arch Kit. Fits 90, 110, 130 or Series. Paint flaking so will need respraying before use, but no cracks or splits anywhere. All offers considered. £75. Long Eaton, Notts, 07929 037037 01/16

Defender parts, from a 2002 110. TD5 engine, R380 gearbox plus transfer box (may split), rad and intercooler, PAS box, front axle and swivels, rear axle casing, front and rear diffs, radius arms, all halfshafts, propshafts, steering wheel. Call for prices. Bury, Lancs, 07973 561006 01/16

Range Rover Classic parts. New fuel tank, £75. New CSK chrome front bumper, £150. Staffs, 01889 574945 01/16

Galvanised roof rack. With ladder and fittings. Size 109” x 58”. Suitable for 110. Excellent condition. £150. Rossendale, Lancs, 01706 227406 01/16

Discovery 300 Tdi front axle. Complete, good condition. Ready to fit. £79.97. Leighton Buz-zard, 07860 298039 12/15

Range Rover Haynes Work-shop Manual. 1970 to 1980. 225 unmarked white pages. Original, published 1982 (not reprint). £7.75. Kent, 07989 951895





Turning up to the Burton-in Kendal services on the M6 at 10am on a Sunday morning is not something drastically

unusual. Turning up and witnessing over 30 Land Rovers huddled together with their owners deep in conversa-tion, however, is a little more bizarre.

For the thriving Red Rose Land Rover Club, though, this is nothing out of the ordinary.

It’s their fi rst meet of the year and an annual one at that. Each year they come together for a good old-fash-ioned laning day to kick off the year in style – and for 2016 they went all out with a day around the South Lakes.

Once everyone had stocked up on all the usual service station necessities, groups were set out with a maximum of four vehicles each – this year seemed to be a bumper edition with 11 groups in total heading out around the fantastic and beautiful Lake District.

Lanes would vary for each group so as to not clog the arteries around Windermere, but that is where I would be spending much of the cold, yet dry winter’s day. Th at’s been something of a rarity in recent weeks for the north, so

it was good to see some sunshine and, in turn, let us feast upon the splendid selection of lanes they have up there.

Th ere was a whole array of Land Rovers at the services, and it’s clearly a

club that caters for every single type of Landy. Riding with a Disco 1, Disco 2 and a short wheelbase Series II, I man-aged to get a seat in Barry Wootten’s Discovery 3. Smooth.

With the recent weather, we weren’t sure what to expect, but mercifully the lanes were all eminently passable. Th e solid and rocky base of the lanes pro-vided plenty of grip, even with some

of the surfaces still damp. Our little convoy, though, never once became fazed and each vehicle managed to clamber across the rocks with its own particular panache.

Baz’s Disco 3 glided through with the grace of a Range Rover, while the Series II would bobble along, unsteady looking but relentless as a mountain goat. We took in lanes around Kendal, Hawkshead and Grizedale Forest, venturing as far north as Ambleside yet never too far from the iconic and breathtaking Lake Windermere.

It goes without saying that the South Lakes are as picturesque as it gets. Even in the dull grey of winter, there is no bad picture you can share on your news feed later on.

For some lucky devils the Lake Dis-trict is only a stone’s throw away, but for the love of green laning and a day out in your Land Rover, this is a throw that will never be out of reach.



Roses in the LakesWords and Pictures: Mike Trott

Everyone loves a traditional Christmas-time sporting fixture – going off to the foot-ball to cheer on your team,

nipping out to the racecourse for the Boxing Day meet in the freezing cold – it has to be done doesn’t it?

Well not if you’re a Land Rover fan in Suffolk it doesn’t!

Every year as an antidote to Christ-mas Day, the Suffolk LROC put on their annual ‘Mince Pie Driving Day’ at their club site in Newbourne, and it’s not unheard of to see a tinsel-adorned Land Rover or two.

So far, this winter has been wet, windy and unseasonably warm… so no chance of any snow to add to the fun then! But it did mean plenty of wa-ter and mud to test out the multitude of drivers that came for the day.

By lunchtime there was an absolute throng about the place. Stories of Land Rover events, competitions and trips that had happened throughout the year grow like fisherman’s tales: the moun-tains get higher, the water gets deeper and the trial sections get tighter, but everyone has had a great year.

Out on the site, it’s a good job there’s not a penalty fee for getting your Land Rover stuck in the mud as the marshals are ‘assisting’ drivers all over the place. Fortunately, no one breaks anything during the day with the worst tech-nical casualty being one of the local mechanics having to contend with a dodgy immobiliser on a 90. Nothing new then!

Mince pie by name and mince pie by nature, club members Maureen and Norman Southgate not only supply homemade mince pies, but lashings of home-baked snacks, cakes and what seems like gallons of hot soup to feed and warm up all the festive drivers,

guests, marshals, organisers and anyone else there for the day. Indeed the queue at the refreshments marquee stayed solid throughout the lunchtime break.

One of the highlights of the day is being able to announce the results of the club’s efforts in raising cash for local charities throughout the year. At numerous country fairs and local shows, SLROC members donate their time, vehicles and fuel and get organ-ised to give a taste of off-roading to members of the public, and in return collect funds that are 100% donated to charities nominated by club members.

In 2015, the club was extremely pleased to announce that it had had its best ever year and managed to raise £13,500 for its nominated char-ities. The majority of the funds went to the Suffolk Accident Rescue Service who, for more than 43 years, have provided specially trained doctors and paramedics to the East Anglian Ambulance Service at the scenes of

serious incidents – both accidents and medical illnesses.

The other charity to benefit is the East Anglian Air Ambulance, a 365 day-a-year lifesaving service working across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Guys and girls from all the nominat-ed charities who were able to attend on

the day to receive their cheques were also treated to plenty of muddy fun in the afternoon, as a number of the club members took them out to show them how we’d managed to raise the funds.

The weather cleared up and as dusk fell on the day, everyone left having had another great day testing their Land Rovering skills.





Who ate all the pies?!Words: Andy JeffPictures: Cathy Jeff and Will Dowe

While the British winter may have finally ar-rived to deliver us an actual chill, December

was a month of mild manners. Except when it came to the Leicestershire and Rutland Land Rover Club’s CCV trial at Stainby, the site where the 2014 ALRC Nationals were held.

On the first Sunday of the month, the club announced its arrival at the Stainby ground with a host of brightly coloured Land Rovers hoping to steal the show. The aforementioned mild weather was a strange phenomenon at Stainby, with rain holding off until the day’s trial had been concluded.

Nevertheless, Pete Measures clearly hadn’t been walking around with his head in the clouds, as he’d managed to lay out a particularly entertaining selection of sections while assisted by Rob Parnell.

Seven entries didn’t make for the biggest of turnouts, but with Christmas approaching, some people were absent through illness, work or family com-mitments. Seeing as the championship positions had all been sewn up by this stage, however, that was probably another factor.

Still, even the Chiltern Vale LRC and Midland Rover Owners’ Clubs were being represented, and there was

an abundance of willing marshals on hand for the day.

There was nearly a big surprise as the trial reached its climax, as Simon Wise, competing in his Class 6 leaf sprung vehicle, closed in on victory. It was only a mistake at section nine that dropped the win into the lap of Steve Limb. Lucky for some, but not so much for others.

The terrain at Stainby provides everything you could need for both RTV and CCV, with a real mix of surfaces ready to be utilised. And even though it was unusually dry for a De-cember, drivers still managed to sniff out what water they could.

A couple of drivers sniffed out more than they’d bargained for when they discovered the meaning of the Stainby Roll. Upon stopping on a side slope, both Ray Barrett and Dave Edwins made the error of lingering too long and consequently, their respective vehi-cles tilted more than required. Unfor-tunately for Dave, this led to an engine resembling more of a steam train than a Landy, so he had to call it a day.

Well, Stainby loves to serve up a treat! The site always manages to leave its mark on all of the drivers…

So it was Steve (41 points) who didn’t have to go out on a Limb to produce something in the last section, but rather keep his cool to claim the win by two points ahead of Simon Wise (43) in second and John Osborne (49) in third.



Words: Simone BirchPictures: Tony Birch

The Stainby Roll…





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CalendarOff-Road Playdays

30 JanuaryKirton Off Road CentreKirton Lindsey, North Lincs

31 JanuaryCowm Leisure Whitworth, LancashireKirton Off Road CentreKirton Lindsey, North Lincs

7 FebruaryBala 4x4Bala, GwyneddDevil’s Pit Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire

Frickley 4x4 Frickley, South Yorkshire

Parkwood 4x4 Tong, Bradford

Picadilly WoodBolney, West SussexWhaddon 4x4Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

14 February4x4 Without a Club Aldermaston, Berkshire Essex, Rochford and District 4x4 Club Rayleigh, Essex Slindon SafariFontwell, West Sussex

21 FebruaryDevil’s Pit Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire

Explore Off RoadSilverdale, Stoke-on-Trent Frickley 4x4 Frickley, South Yorkshire Whaddon 4x4Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

27 FebruaryKirton Off Road CentreKirton Lindsey, North Lincs

28 FebruaryCowm Leisure Whitworth, LancashireHill ‘n’ Ditch 4x4 Mouldsworth, Cheshire

Kirton Off Road CentreKirton Lindsey, North LincsSlindon SafariFontwell, West Sussex

6 MarchBala 4x4Bala, Gwynedd



13 March4x4 Without a Club Aldermaston, BerkshireEssex, Rochford and District 4x4 Club Rayleigh, Essex Hill ‘n’ Ditch 4x4 Mouldsworth, Cheshire

Slindon SafariFontwell, West Sussex Thames Valley 4x4Slab Common, Bordon

20 MarchDevil’s Pit Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire

Explore Off RoadSilverdale, Stoke-on-Trent


Parkwood 4x4 Tong, Bradford


26 MarchCowm Leisure Whitworth, Lancashire

27 MarchCowm Leisure Whitworth, LancashireKirton Off Road CentreKirton Lindsey, North Lincs Slindon SafariFontwell, West Sussex Whaddon 4x4Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Green Lane Convoy Events

Dates are apt to change, so always check with the site before travelling

31 January

UK Landrover EventsLincoln and Belvoir

7 February

UK Landrover EventsNorthumberland

14 February

LandcraftSnowdonia

20 February

UK Landrover EventsEden District

Yorkshire 4x4 SpecialistsWhite Peak

20-21 February

4x4 Adventure ToursWelsh Marches

Onelife AdventureWales

27-28 February

Atlas OverlandWessex

28 February

UK Landrover EventsDurham Dales

5-6 March

Onelife AdventureYorkshire

6 March

4x4 Adventure ToursSalisbury Plain

13 March

UK Landrover EventsTynedale

LandcraftSnowdonia

17 March

UK Landrover EventsPeak District

19 March

Yorkshire 4x4 SpecialistsWales

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DA6073 Freelander 1 - 2 door Front 2 piece kit

DA6077 Freelander 1 Front & rear 4 piece kit

DA6074 Freelander 2 Front & rear 4 piece kit

DA6070 Range Rover Classic Front & rear 4 piece kit

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DA6076 Range Rover Sport - 2005 - 2013 Front & rear 4 piece kit

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the landy march 2016

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