the landy november 15

THE DRIVING WAS A REAL WHITE-KNUCKLE EXPERIENCENorthern Californias Rover owners head for the Eastern Sierras and end up cast as heroes

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ISSUE 21 NOVEMBER 2015

LANDYFANTASTIC FLATBED

This is more than just a tidy late Series IIA.

It came out of a timewarp when it was demobbed by the MOD in 2013, for a start.

And this ex-ambulance has been turned into something unique, too, in the shape of a beautifully cra ed, timber-lined at-bed pick-up.Full story: Page 24

Iceland: need we say more? It might not be easy to get to, but Europes wildest outpost is well worth it especially when youre going there to explore aboard your Landy Full story: Page 30

If youve got a Land Rover you love, dont sell it. Youll only end up buying another one Full story: Page 20

You dont normally expect to turn a pro t on modifying your Landy. But when the bits you take o are worth a mint, you can be quids in! Full story: Page 26

3Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u kWere on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyukTo advertise in The Landy, call Ian Argent on 01283 553242

Land Rover has announced that the 3.0-litre Supercharged petrol engine from the Jaguar F-Type is to make an appear-ance in the Range Rover.

But the 335bhp V6 is only available in a particularly unusual version of So-lihulls flagship model. And it will cost you almost 300,000 to buy one.

The Sentinel is a version of the Range Rover for people in the line of fire. Hand-built by Jag Land Rovers SVO operation, its as luxurious, ele-gant and capable off-road as any other Rangey. But this is, in Land Rovers own words, a mobile fortress.

It justifies that lofty claim through the use of a purpose-made, six-piece armoured passenger cell constructed from ultra high-strength steel. The windows are made from multi-lam-inated armoured privacy glass, too, and QinetiQ has certified the Sentinel to VR8 standard in its resistance to ballistic attacks.

This means it can withstand 7.62mm high-velocity, armour-piercing bullets and shrug off a lateral attack from up to 15kg of TNT. Itll keep going through a series of DM51 grenade explosions, too, thanks to substantial roof and underbody protection.

Should your enemies try to take a less direct approach, the Sentinel will still throw obstacles in their way. These include an anti-tamper exhaust and a self-sealing fuel tank, and theres an auxiliary back-up battery and split-charging system to minimise the risk of being stranded. The 20 run-flat tyres will keep going even if theyve been cut to ribbons, and you can specify fire suppression systems under the floor and bonnet. The windows around the rear cargo area are made of anti-smash glass, too, and theres a 100mm slot beside the driver specifical-ly for document deliveries. Things you dont think of until youve actually been at the sharp end

Needless to say, all this armour adds very significantly to the vehicles weight, so there are 380mm and 365mm vented discs front and rear and the suspension and dynamic stability control set-up have been reworked to suit. Once youre stationary if your routes been obstructed in an ambush, for example, and your attackers have also blocked your side doors an emergency escape route through the back can deliver you into the hands of your minders in the next vehicle.

Obviously, if youre this worried about coming under attack the last thing you want to do is make a specta-cle of yourself. Thats why the Sentinel looks like any other Range Rover rather than a self-propelled panic room. In the

words of Damien Wilson, Senior Pro-gramme Manager at SVO, this vehicle should only stand out for being a Range Rover Autobiography, and not for its armoured nature.

But there are certain countries in which political bigwigs like nothing more than to travel in ostentatious convoys while their minions look on in awe, and this Rangey can dish up everything from a customer-configur-able siren and emergency service lights to an external loudspeaker system. Ideal for telling everyone how important you are (or asking them to stop lobbing those grenades at you).

SVO boss John Edwards said: The Sentinel is one of the most extraor-

dinary Range Rovers ever produced. It has been expertly engineered by Special Vehicle Operations to provide class-leading levels of protection to occupants against extreme attack, while retaining the Range Rovers luxury and refinement with off-road capability.

Available in the UK and Europe, plus South America, Africa, and, obviously, the Middle East, the Sentinel is priced at nearly 300,000. That does include specialised maintenance programmes and driver training, though and most of them will probably be paid for by taxpayers money anyway, so Land Rover could probably have put another zero on the end of that figure without losing any sales.

An actual bomb-proof Range Rover

Above: The Sentinel has the full set of Autobiography features, and more besides. That hand console operates a set of emergency service lights, and can be used with the optional loudspeaker to invite your adoring public to kindly stop shooting at you

SVO launches the Sentinel an Autobiography for life in the firing line

The new Discovery Sport HSE Dy-namic Lux was unveiled at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show, as Land Rover launched the sportiest version yet of the baby Disco.

The HSE Dynamic Lux version is louder, showier and more garish than before, thanks to Narvik Black details scattered around its exterior, and it looks meaner and more purposeful with its body-coloured mouldings and door claddings.

We think its quite the head-turner, if a little vulgar for some tastes see the 20 Gloss Black rims, for instance. The fact that it still says Lux on the tailgate means this remains a very comfortable cabin to dwell in, though, and of course your mates or offspring can come along for the journey too.

The Discovery Sport Dynamic has been created to heighten the design ap-peal of the Discovery Sport, said Land Rovers design boss Gerry McGovern. Gloss black is a key accent on the ex-terior, while the use of body-coloured bumpers and door claddings empha-sises its on-road, sporty presence. With the launch of the Discovery Sport HSE Dynamic Lux, we are offering our customers greater choice in the look and feel of their vehicle.

Other enhancements across the ange for 2016 include All Terrain Progress Control (ATPC), a feature first seen on the Range Rover which acts as a form of cruise control for the vehicle while negotiating rough terrain.

This enables the driver to cruise off-road between a selected speed of

1mph to 19mph, and also incorporates a Launch feature that gets the vehicle moving by minimising wheelspin on low-traction surfaces such as snow or wet grass.

One of the headlines features on the new Sport, however, is its new Active Driveline system. This has the ability to switch between two and four-wheel drive according to the terrain ahead. The benefits are seen at the service station, because two-wheel drive is sufficient almost all the time on the road and only calling the rear wheels into play when necessary means less work for the engine.

The system operates through two electronic clutches positioned either side of the rear diff, which are tasked with shifting torque to the wheel with the most grip. This helps with on-road handling, but the rear axle can also be locked for the best traction off-road.

The driver can keep an eye on whats happening under the vehicle through the eight-inch touchscreen display.

Also new are the MagneRide active dampers first seen at the top of the Evoque range (and in things like the Audi R8 and Ferrari 599). These are filled with a special fluid containing magnetic particles, whose viscosity when a magnetic field is applied thus stiffening or softening the vehicles ride as required.

Land Rover says this enhances passenger comfort and driver feedback alike, as well as keeping body roll under firmer check and providing more control on rough surfaces. The Adaptive Dynamics package these dampers are part of also includes a new driver-selectable Dynamic mode

an option on the Terrain Response system that gives a more involving driving experience.

This delivers quicker responses from the throttle, gearbox and differential, along with sharper steering and ride all of which should make that B-road stint a more entertaining driving experience. Theyre definitely not forgetting the Sport element of this Discoverys name.

Dynamic features for new baby Disco

4 Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u k ClubsAdventure WorkshopProducts VehiclesNews

The Red Sport badge denotes that this is the most involving Discovery Sport you can buy. Until a future Disco Sport SVR comes along, that is

Mike Trott

Eye-catching new model leads the way as Sport gains new features for 2016

Above: The HSE Dynamic Lux model comes with 20 Gloss Black alloys and an Active Driveline which intelligently switches between two-wheel and four-wheel drive

For every Land Rover that gets blinged up, modified into an off-road battle wagon or restored as a classic, theres probably something like ten thou-sand that get used for towing. Which means there are that many drivers who regularly grapple with the fact that when you look in the mirror, the thing hooked on to your towball isnt see-through.

It might be soon, though. Because Land Rovers latest improbable sound-

ing innovation is the See-Through Trailer concept.

This uses the increasingly com-mon surround-view camera system to provide an image on the vehicles display monitor in which the trailer behind it is rendered as being visually transparent. As you might recall, theyve already done it with the sim-ilarly outlandish Transparent Bonnet concept, which was previewed in April last year, so theyve got previous; in the case of the trailer system, a live video

feed appears in the rear view mirror automatically once youre coupled up.

The image is created using infor-mation harvested from the reversing camera, cameras on each wing mirror and an additional wireless camera at the back of the trailer itself. Land Rov-er says it would allow drivers to make safer manoeuvres and provide a less stressful environment for towing.

It could also impose calibrated guidance lines on the image for easier reversing when hitched up.


Below: The eight-inch touchscreen display lets you check the cargo area behind, while the rear-view mirror provides a video feed of the view behind... minus a trailer

Land Rover through the looking trailer...

Land Rover has also developed Cargo Sense, which uses a remote video camera and a mat of pressure sensors positioned across the trailer floor to let you monitor your load. These link wirelessly to the tow vehicle to deliver images and info on the trailers contents, giving you early warning of a shifting load before its consequences become disastrous and allowing you to check it remotely when a warning pops up. Theres also

a Cargo Sense app which allows you to monitor your cargo even while away from the vehicle, for example by tex-ting you if a horse becomes distressed in its trailer. Many of our customers tow valuable cargoes for business and pleasure, said JLRs research boss Dr Wolfgang Epple. So we are research-ing a range of technologies that would enhance the towing experience and make it safer for the driver and even their horses!

7Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u kWere on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyukTo advertise in The Landy, call Ian Argent on 01283 553242Comment

I was talking to someone recently about old Volkswagens. Ive done a bit of writing about those in my time, and some of the creative handiwork you see at VW shows is phenomenal.

Its not wrapped up with spanners and welding to the same degree as Land Rovers (though theres plenty of that side there too), but some of the clever ideas these guys bring to making their cars and vans look unique have to be seen to be believed.

Theres always been a tendency for Landy fans to look down their noses at the idea of making your vehicle look nice. There was some level of logic in that when everybody was just building trucks for off-roading, but more and more now people are thinking bling for their next project.

Now, I ended up in Land Rovers via the off-road side. But I think its great that people are starting to find ways of bringing out the character in their vehicles without necessarily turning them into hardcore mud-pluggers. And I think the attachment people have to Land Rovers, certainly in this country, makes them perfect for a more creative approach.

One of the things you see at VW shows is that while tuning and racing are writ large in the culture, people love modding cars just to look fun. One thing you really notice in them is a lack of the aggression that comes with so many modded vehicles.

Hardcore Landies can look scary, and I suppose the same can be said about blingers if not in a threatening way, certainly a bit up-yours. But you can make a vehicle eye-catching without just flaunting your wealth rat-look motors, for example, always draw them in at shows.

Of course, theres a difference between rat-look and old shed. And heaven knows, there are an awful lot of Landies that have been allowed to turn into the latter.

These of course are the Landies we all love bringing back to life. Next time youre starting on one, have a think about where you could take it. Off-road is great, bling is fine: but if you were to visit a VW show or two, my guess is that you might come back home with some radical new ideas.

Alan Kidd, Editor

8 Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u k ClubsAdventure WorkshopProducts VehiclesNewsThe Great British Land Rover Show is back. And its going to be just the event to fulfil all your Landy needs throughout the winter!

Set to round off the season at Don-ington on 29 November, the show will continue its tradition of offering FREE entry for tickets booked in advance. And being held on the last weekend before December means it will be the perfect place to shopping for bargains in the run-up to the festive season. Whether youve got Landy-owning friends or want to bring your other half along to fish for ideas or indeed your Land Rover itself is going to be the recipient of your generosity you

wont find a better place to kick off your Christmas shopping!

As before, the show is held indoors in Doningtons exhibition hall, so theres no need to worry about wintry weather washing it out. And also as before, Bearmach will be back as headline sponsors of the countrys only indoor Land Rover show.

Wholl be there? In addition to Bearmach, at the time of writing Goodwinch, 4x4 Overlander, Kahn Design, Raptor Engineering, Venture 4x4, Electric Winch Shop and Tune My Defender, plus many, many more, have all booked their places at the Great British Land Rover Show. So isnt it about time you booked yours?

BrItaINs Best LaNd rover show Is BackAutumn edition of the Great British Land Rover Show Sunday 29 November Donington Park exhibition hall FREE Entry when booked in advance More Land Rovers Than Ever!

Name:Address:Phone:Email:

Vehicle:

Description of vehicle (info, history , mods etc):

I attach a photograph of my vehicle I have emailed a photograph of my vehicle to [email protected] emailing pictures, please include your name and phone number in the message

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: 30 October 2015 Successful applicants will be notified by 6 November 2015

readers vehIcLes coNcours FormFill out the form below for the chance for your Land Rover to star at the Great British Land Rover Show

Th e free tickets are limited to one per household. But dont panic: its only 5 in advance even when you do need to pay, and paying on the day only costs 10. Try compar-ing that to some other shows where youre not nearly as well looked aft er. Under-14s get in completely free, too, and theres no charge for parking.

Talking of how well youll be looked aft er, the hall at Donington

has an excellent cafe and licensed bar, plus winter essentials like heating and toilets that didnt arrive on a trailer.

And of course therell be more Land Rovers to feast your eyes on than you know what to do with. Th ese will include some of the best to have appeared in Th e Landy over the last six months, as well as our famous readers vehicles concours in which this time, your vehicle could be in the most prominent position yet...

Stay tuned for more details of that one. But in the meantime, why not fi ll out the form opposite and it could be your Land Rover that steals the show in November.

With more exhibitors than ever, all ready to off er you the fi nest Land Rov-er gear, Novembers Great British Land Rover Show will surely get the festive season off to a fl ying start.

So come along and help us see the season out in style! Novembers Great British Land Rover Show is open from 10am to 4pm all you have to do to book your tickets is pay a visit to www.greatbritishlrshow.com.


Well bring you our very own Show Guide in next months issue of The Landy, with more details on some of the exhibits as well as the tastiest Land Rovers with which you can expect to get up-close and personal. Dont forget, if you act in advance you can get your ticket FREE see you all there!

BrItaINs Best LaNd rover show Is BackAutumn edition of the Great British Land Rover Show Sunday 29 November Donington Park exhibition hall FREE Entry when booked in advance More Land Rovers Than Ever!

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Land Rover launched a new Defender at the recent Frankfurt motor show. Oh yes it did. But no, not the one weve all been waiting for.

This is a Defender that isnt powered by fossil fuels, or electricity. Its pow-ered by Ready Brek.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, form an orderly queue for the Defender pedal car. On sale next year through Land Rover dealers at a predicted cost of (sit down) 10,000.

Powered by the legs of children it may be, but this is a hand-built piece of work that mimics the very best of Land

Rovers heritage. Styled in homage to the earliest Land Rovers, this Pedal Rover will be built in the UK on a rollededge aluminium frame.

Said frame has its own chassis num-ber, and you also get a personalised number plate for your ten grand. The vehicle can be pedalled forwards and backwards and has working springs and brakes including even a parking brake, which is sure to raise a guffaw or two if you own a Defender of a certain age.

Youll recognise things like chequer plating and cylindrical running bars from many a real Defender, and on the inside theres an authentic style of dash-

board though the amount of leather trim on it, as well as around the seats and doors, is more Rangey than Landy.

Rather wonderfully, the horn button works, too, so that your children can increase their popularity with those of lesser means by shooing them out of the way while careering around in their 10,000 toy.

This is both a wonderful collectors piece and childrens toy, says JLRs Di-rector of Branded and Licensed Goods Lindsay Weaver. It demonstrates our ability to produce goods with world class quality and attention to detail that can emulate our world class Jaguar and Land Rover cars.

10 Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u k ClubsAdventure WorkshopProducts VehiclesNews10,000 Defender toy set for launch

Land Rover delivers 450 vehicles for 2015 Rugby World CupAt the time of writing, the 2015 Rugby World Cup is about to kick off with support from a fleet of 450 Land Rovers. Hosted in 12 different stadia in England, plus one in Wales, the event will also see the 20 teams using a total of 41 different bases and as Official Vehicle Partner, itll be Land Rovers job

to get the match officials, support staff and VIPs all from A to B throughout.

The specially liveried fleet includes Discovery Sports, Range Rovers, Range Rover Sports and Discoverys. Between them, the vehicles are expected to cover around 650,000 miles during the course of the 44-day tournament.


Editor Alan KiddAssistant Editor Mike Trott

Admin and Editorial AssistantGemma PaskArt Editor Samantha DSouza

Contributors Dan Fenn, Gary Noskill, Paul Looe, Andrew Fisher

Photographers Steve Taylor, Harry Hamm, Dawn Williamson

Advertising Sales Manager Ian Argent Tel: 01283 553242Advertising Production Tel: 01283 553242Publisher Sarah Kidd Email: [email protected] effort is made to ensure that the contents of The Landy are accurate, however Assignment Media Ltd accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions nor

the consequences of actions made as a result of these

When responding to any advert in The Landy, you should make appropriate enquiries before sending money or entering into a contract. The publishers take reasonable care to ensure advertisers probity, but will not be liable for any losses incurred as a result of responding to adverts

The Landy is distributed by Britpart. Details of your

nearest Britpart dealer can be found at www.britpart.comWhere a photo credit includes the note CC-BY-SA, the image is made available under that Creative Commons licence. Details are available at www.creativecommons.org

The Landy is published by Assignment Media Ltd, Repton House, Bretby Business Park, Ashby Road, Bretby DE15 0YZ

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01283 553243 [email protected] www.thelandy.co.uk www.facebook.com/thelandyuk

NEXT MONTH

Somethings Cooking: We take at look at why now is the best time to buy a Series Land Rover and which TV chef owned this Gastrowagon at John Brown 4x4

PLUS Rob Hallam loves his military vehicles and when we

asked him if hed show us around his WMIK Wolf Defender 110, he was only too happy to oblige

A two-door Range Rover Classic that has over 530,000 miles on the clock and was once used as a promo vehicle for the JPS campaign in the 70s this is one Rangey with a whole lotta history!

NEXT MONTHS LANDY IS PUBLISHED ON 26 OctoberYou can pick up your copy of our December 2015 issue from newsagents or Britpart dealers or read it online at www.thelandy.co.uk

12 Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u k ClubsAdventure WorkshopProducts VehiclesNewsif youve got a defender, or something else running Defender axles, Tarox has launched a new range of brake pads and discs just for you. The Italian specialist says these are a direct replacement for OEM units with significantly greater performance and much less tendency to fade.

Available for all Defender models, the uprated brakes come in a variety of forms including the spiral-grooved F2000 and diagonally vented G88. Theres also a basic Zero version available without either of these options ideal if you dont want to spend extra money on grooves and vents thatll be full of hard-packed mud and clay after your first session off-road. Either way, front discs are 298mm in diameter and rears are 295.

Each disc goes through a manufacturing process in which each machining cycle is followed by a session of structural stress-relieving heat treatment. This, says Tarox, increases their durability and massively reduces the risk of warping under repeated heavy braking. On a 90 or 110 that hauls heavy trailers up hill and down

dale, thats less of a luxury than it might at first sound, especially if it also runs bigger than standard tyres. If youve never experienced brake fade, rest assured it can be a very scary thing

Whichever disc you go for, it will have been CNC machine-faced down to a tolerance of 0.015mm. Thats not just to give you an immaculate braking surface capable of optimum performance, but to accentuate the overall look of the Defender.

Obviously, theres a whole lot of Defenders in the world whose overall look is one of crustiness, dents and dung splatters, but more and more owners have sussed that Land Rovers best is actually capable of being ultra cool too. Safe to say thats who Tarox has in mind with these discs, and with the Strada high-performance pads it offers to go with them.

These, says Tarox, provide the perfect compromise for cars that are driven daily, with excellent cold performance, instant bite and great wear rates.

How much will all this set you back? A pair of solid front discs is priced

at 216 including VAT, while vented units cost 258 and pads are 90. If your axles are of the post-1990 variety, meanwhile, Tarox also offers full Sport

kits including 325mm discs, pads and 6-pot calipers, though with a price tag of 2100 per end youd probably sooner just have a crash.

Youd need to be very into it to go to those lengths. But for full race trucks, the Sport kits would be just the ticket. www.tarox.co.uk

Tarox adds greater stopping power to Defender

Britpart adds timing belt kits to fit Freelander and early Defender

fLeXiBLe WHeeLarCH eXtenSionS arent the first thing you think about when you plan a build. But once youve bolted on your new set of 37 gumbo mudders and theres a traffic cop rubbing his hands at the end of your driveway, they soon will be.

Weve seen all sorts used for this job, from bits of old conveyor belt to arches from the wrong vehicle. Which is exactly what they tend to look like when youve mashed them into place.

So wouldnt it be good if someone would come up with a universal-fit flexi arch to suit whatever kind of Landy it is you want to modify?

It would, yes. And it is. Because 4x4 Goods has just introduced the Uni-Arch an impact-resistance wheelarch which can be used on more or less any vehicle.

This comes in two sizes 7 x 63 and 5 x 48.5. Thats 178 x 1600mm and 127 x 1350mm in new money. In each case, the kit contains four lengths of flat material which you curve yourself to fit your vehicle and trim to suit with a sharp knife.

Before you go getting all cynical, no they didnt just buy a huge sheet of rubber and chop it into bits.

They are open cast from a polymer-based material and then heat treated to achieve the correct resilience, says 4x4 Goods. Each arch is individually cast here in the UK. So, its not rubbish from, you know, that country, the one that makes rubbish, its good stuff and, having seen some of 4x4 Goods other kit in action, we wouldnt hesitate to use it on a vehicle of our own.

The Uni-Arch is exclusive to 4x4 Goods and comes in a choice of black, blue and yellow finishes. In the 5 size, it costs 87.50 per pair or 155 for a set of four, while in 7 the prices are 109 and 198.www.4x4goods.com

Universal-fit wheelarch extensions for any Land Rover

Britpart has introduced a new range of timing belt kits for the Freelander and Defender. These include the belt itself (an OEM item in each case) along with the relevant tenioners and, in the case of the Defender kit, gaskets.

Kits are available for the 1.8-litre Freelander 1 with the K-Series engine, with options on offer for units with manual and automatic tensioning. Another kit covers the 2.0Tcie version of the same vehicle, and also of the Freelander 2, while the fifth is for Defenders with the 2.5D and pre-Tdi 2.5TD engines.

Prices vary, but as a general guide youll find them at around the 25 mark. Which is a lot cheaper than not bothering to change your belt would turn out to be sooner or later.www.britpart.com


People have been known to use their Land Rovers electric sockets for charging all sorts of different things. Some are more outdoorsy than others, but the most common of the lot is of course the humble mobile phone.

But what if your 12-volt outlets are all busy running sat-navs, fridges and so on? Or indeed if youre one of those peculiar people who think theres more to life with Land Rovers?

Well, Mobile Solar Chargers (MSC) has an answer. Incredibly, its a mobile solar charger.

What were looking at here is the MSC High Efficiency 15w 5v/2A Folding Solar Charger. Its a device which can charge up to two mobile phones or, intriguingly, be used with one of MSCs power banks to store up power for another time.

This three-panel folding solar charger unravels from a space the size of a laptop bag, with the solar controller and USB port detachable from the solar panel to make it suitable for camping.

There are a handful of attachment points that give you good options when hanging the package from a rucksack, tent or vehicle, and all the charging ports are in a zip-up waterproof case for extra security.

The 15w panel and controller, which will charge anything with a USB slot, will commence charging as soon as its opened into the light and will generate up to 2amps about the same as a mains USB socket.

The bonus, of course, is that solar energy is free! Actually, no, the bonus is the one-year warranty, which makes it that much easier to spend the 59.95 it takes to add one of these to your arsenal of gear for days out.www.mobilesolarchargers.co.uk

Handy solar charging for USB devices

14 Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u k ClubsAdventure WorkshopProducts VehiclesNewsUnderbody protection for Land Rovers of all shapes and sizes

If you want underbody protection for your Land Rover, theres a lot of choice available. Or at least, there is if you drive a Land Rover lots of companies make underbody protection for.

But what if yours is a Freelander 2 or Evoque, or even a Discovery Sport? Not a lot of choice, you might find.

But over in Russia, theres a company that makes underbody bash plates for more than just off-road vehicles. Rival, as its called, is a very big outfit and with some of the roads in its home nation being rougher than a lot of green lanes are over here, it offers a vast range of options for pretty much every car on the market even everyday saloons and hatchbacks.

Rivals size means it can develop products at the sort of pace were frankly unused to over here. Hence the appearance of the Disco Sport in its range. And while these plates are primarily intended to help your vehicle shrug off a heavy knock from something hard, they can have other hidden benefits too.

A smoother underside means better aerodynamics, for example, which in turn means better fuel efficiency. On vehicles with electronic security devices, too, having a large metal plate bolted over the top of them makes it a lot harder for thieves to get in there and do their dirty work.

Constructed in lightweight aluminium, the plates are finished

in an Italian polymer powder paint. Both these things are good news when you consider the sustained attack theyll come under the moment your local council starts chucking salt on the road or you start grinding them against the rocks sticking up from your favourite lane.

Rivals range includes plates designed to bolt in underneath your trucks engine, gearbox and fuel tank. The exact details of whats available

depend on what it is you drive but the good news is that in addition to the trio mentioned above, whether yours is a Disco, Rangey, Rangey Sport or even a good old Defender, Rival can help you keep it out of harms way.www.xs4x4.parts

15Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u kWere on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyukTo advertise in The Landy, call Ian Argent on 01283 553242A ground anchor to go with your high-liftIf youve got a ground anchor, that means youve also got a winch. Right? Not necessarily.

Not now that Britpart has come up with this nifty bit of kit, anyway. Its designed to be used with a high-lift jack, and with a space anchor design itll dig itself more tenaciously into the ground the harder you pull.

The anchor can be broken down for stowage when not in use, so you dont have to mount it awkwardly on your bonnet. Shop around for prices with the aim of getting down below the 200 mark and youll not be far off the money though that only gets you the anchor and not the jack to go with it.www.britpart.com

We aLL KnoW HoW PrevaLent Land Rover theft has become. Theres never been a vehicle so tempting to pond-life who see the opportunity to strip them for parts.

Fitting a tracking device is one of the strongest lines of defence you can put up. But theres the nagging worry that as with anything electronic, a life lived amid the mud, water and shuddering impacts of the off-road game is bound to be one in which there are stormy seas ahead.

Enter stage left Trafficmaster, with its new Trackstar TM470R. This is a ruggedised version of its latest real-time GPS tracking system, designed specifically for off-road vehicles on

which its likely to encounter more testing conditions.

Powered by an internal battery that provides more than eight hours of continuous tracking data independent of vehicle power, the TM470R is sealed to IP67 standard and has a toughened outer casing to cope with the rigorous demands of off-road use. Its already to be found protecting heavy plant and agricultural vehicles, so however gnarly your truck is you shouldnt be able to shake it to bits.

Trackstar is fully accredited by Thatcham and is approved by Land Rover as a genuine tracking product, and in the first six months of 2014 it helped recover stolen vehicles with a

total value of more than three million pounds. Whether your truck is taken away with a crane or driven off following the theft of your keys, it can help the police get it back and given the pitiful insurance payouts we hear of all too often from people whove lost modified Land Rovers, thats got to be worth thinking about. www.trackstar.co.uk

Ruggedised tracker helps get your stolen Landy back

Uprated bushes for EvoqueIts hard to believe that the Evoque could already be coming to the point in its life where it might need new anti-roll bar bushes. But if youve got one that could do with a helping hand in this area, or youd just like to enhance its handling beyond even the factory level, Powerflex has just added a new set of bush kits to its range.

These are actually designed primarily for the Mk3 Ford Focus, but theyll suit anything on a related platform and that includes the Evoque. Designed with a unique bore for maximum possible grease retention, the bushes enhance the anti-roll bars overall stiffness, keeping the vehicles suspension under greater control than ever.

A set of bushes for the front suspension costs 47.76, while those for the rear will set you back 45.24. Both prices include VAT.www.powerflex.co.uk

16 Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u k ClubsAdventure WorkshopProducts VehiclesNewsExmoor Trim wheels out a design classicone of the most common things for a Landy owner to change is his trucks steering wheel. Which kind of makes sense, because along with the drivers seat its the bit you spend most time touching. Well, unless you own a v8, in which case its the filler cap, but you get the point.

anyway, you often see defenders looking slightly uneasy with miniscule wheels that look like they were robbed off a trackday car. But if you want to make the most of what is, after all, a timeless cabin, you should think about going with a timeless wheel.

and thats a word you could use for exmoor trims evander Wood rim 15 wheel. Made using beech wood and solid rivets, and polished to the sort of finish you normally only see on Lionel Blair,

these 3-spoke beauties are designed to put you in mind of the best classic cars.

Something this elegant might look a bit out of place aboard an old pig-shifter. But it would enhance the historic feel of a well preserved or restored Series truck, and on a certain kind of defender you could see it providing the finishing touch.

exmoor trim supplies these wheels as a complete kit, with a black boss and polished logo centre cap machined from solid billet. They come complete with all the bolt, nut and washer fittings you need leaving you simply to select the boss you need (36-spline, 48-spline or 2015 defender).

to answer your next question, the 36-spline unit fits all County and XS specification vehicles built between 1998 and 2007 as well as earlier defenders

from launch up to 1993, regardless of interior specification.

if yours is a 1993-1998 defender or a base-spec vehicle from 1998-2008, or indeed dates from 2008 onwards, the 48-spline boss is the one for you.

either way, all exmoor Steering Wheels come with indicator cancel as standard. We only use our own exclusive boss kits, says the company, as we find many others often dont turn off the indicators effectively and fitting of ours is exact.

The wheel can also be used with Series ii, iia and iii Landies, as well as early-type discoverys and range rovers that dont have airbags. The wheel costs 227.50 plus vat when bought with the 36 or 48-spline kit, or 237.50 with the 2015 defender Boss kit.www.exmoortrim.co.uk

It takes a rare kind of vehicle to look finished without a bumper in place at either pole. But with nothing more than a chassis crossmember to finish off its posterior, the Defender is among them.

Up at the (relatively) sharp end, however, theres nothing quite like a hardcore bumper to transform an anonymous looking 90 or 110 into a truck with attitude galore.

If youre an off-roader, chances are youll want something that caters for a winch. If you just want a meaner looking bumper without the need for a winch tray, however, Bearmachs new tubular bumpers could be for you.

These are designed for all Defender models and come in two finishes black and silver. As well as adding some protection to the front end of your truck, you can opt for with finish with daytime running lights, giving you a greater presence either down the road or on the lanes.

Prices for the bumpers range from 189 for a standard silver or black unit to about 246 for the edition with daytime running lights.www.bearmach.com

Heavy-duty bumpers for use without a winch


Those of us who still think the Defender is an off-road vehicle cringe when we see things like this. But Britpart has added a new option to its huge range of suspension kits a 1 lowering coil set for the 110. Ideal if you want to make your truck handle like a hot hatch, tune it to burn off Cobras or fit wheels and tyres that look like they got kicked off the set of a rap video for being too bling.www.britpart.com

Britpart dealers are offering a new service performed by a leading oil condition monitoring lab. Called Lubetrend Analysis, it gains you a full report on the state of the oil in your engine or transmission, potentially alerting you to serious problems before they become critical.

A round of analysis is recommended every year as part of the everyday service regime on a road-going vehicle, or after every event in the case of motorsport. You might not go that far but your Land Rovers engine was a significant investment, whether or not it was in the vehicle when you bought it, so the knowledge to be gained from a service like this is not to be sniffed at.

The kit includes sample bottles, which you send off to the lab for testing, and the report which you receive afterwards. It wont exactly be a fast-moving item with Britparts dealers, though at a typical price of less than thirty quid there are plenty of Land Rover drivers wholl find themselves regretting one day that they didnt take advantage of it.www.britpart.com

What does your oil say about you?

This restoration business is a funny old game. We Land Rov-er enthusiasts can go about it in all sorts of ways, but however we do it were all trying to create the same thing the dream Landy weve always craved.

Th e moment we can roll all our hard work off the driveway using nothing but the engine power rekindled from our tinkering hands is a moment we all yearn for. For the restorer, its like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey, keeping us going through the project until we reach our destination.

Some of us will lock ourselves away in the workshop and re-emerge some

weeks later, having barely slept and never showered. Th e neighbours will be wondering about calling the police to report us missing, and the wife will have left a note saying shes more om-fortable in the arms of Dave from last years Christmas party.

Others will carry on with normal life, maintaining relationships and personal hygiene, but will look to fi nd perhaps just one spare moment a day to twist up a nut or bolt with the confi dence that eventually, the project will come through to the other end of the tunnel.

Earlier this year, we talked to Robert Fraser. He had opted for the long game with his Range Rover Classic restora-tion. But very wisely, he wasnt willing to let it become a job with no end and aft er working on his Classic bit-by-bit

for the best part of 27 months, he set himself a deadline day of 1 June this year for the initiation drive.

So weve caught up with him to see if patience really is a virtue

I stayed up the night before to tax it at midnight, Robert tells us. I then took it out on 1 June, as planned, for its fi rst drive and it made it back under its own steam!

Roberts Classic was formally a British Embassy vehicle based in Saudi Arabia or at least the door cards sug-gested that when, on closer inspection, the sand poured out of them! It also means Robert has had the pleasure of getting used to the steering wheel being on the wrong side, but thats a small price to pay now

Th e Rangey has now been on the road for several weeks and is running remarkably well. Its even been out on the club off -road course at Newbourne, he continues.

Th ere were a handful of issues to begin with, most notably the fuel tank having a lot of sediment in it which only got stirred up with the car being driven and blocked the carburettor jets.

Th e fuel tank had to come off and was washed out problem sorted. Also the bonnet and tailgate kept springing open, a leaking axle oil seal, inaccurate speedometer and the headlamp aim was too low all easily sorted, though.

It seems to be reliable now and Ive gotten the hang of the left -hand drive.

Most two-door Classics that are restored attempt to rewind time and appear like they fi rst did when leaving Solihull. Robert, however, has realised that for his Rangey to fi t the bill as a pleasure vehicle, hed have to make it into a Classic worthy only of him.

Th e suspension set-up consists of standard-spec 200Tdi Discovery (non anti-roll bar) springs front and back, while the self-levelling strut on the rear has been removed and theres Terrafi r-ma dampers all-round.

Th e springs give the car a fi rmer ride and help compensate for the extra weight of the front-mounted winch. Body roll is minimal and I am very pleased with this set-up.

Currently, Robert is riding on 225/70R16 road-pattern tyres on the front and all-terrains on the rear, which

is a combination you dont come across every day. He does also have a set of Grizzly-Claws on Disco steel rims on standby, though. Th ere is no point in having a 4x4 if youre not going to take it off the tarmac!

So now its a vehicle that wants to behave itself, even at playtime. And Roberts many months in the workshop have fi lled him with confi dence in his old Rangey.

Seeing as it had been running nicely, he says, I decided to use the Range Rover for a break in Norfolk. With three adults, one dog and every availa-ble bit of space crammed with camping gear, we set off . Th e car carried all the extra weight with ease and it didnt even sag much on the rear!

I was very pleased with how the car handled and steered which was, of course, even better once we had pitched camp and lightened its load!

A total of 350 miles is a useful shakedown for any vehicle, yet alone a 31-year-old Range Rover that once contained handfuls of the Arabian De-sert in its door cards! And it managed 20mpg over the piece, too.

18 Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u k ClubsAdventure WorkshopProducts VehiclesNewsFINE-ALLY TUNEDA er toiling away for 27 months on a restoration job, youd be pretty excited about nally getting behind the wheel. Naturally, Robert Fraser was prepared for a few teething problems when he started driving his Range Rover but a er some ne-tuning, all that e ort is nally bearing fruitWords: Mike TrottPictures: Robert Fraser

Above: Perhaps not everything will be returned to original in Roberts Classic, but thats because he wants it to be perfect for him - not some judge at a show

I STAYED UP THE NIGHT BEFORE TO TAX IT AT MIDNIGHT

The day after returning, Robert did find that the fuel filter was being blocked by sediment. Hes now fitted a larger filter assembly, which also allows for easily changeable components, and hes installed a new electric pump for good measure.

Theres even more good news on the plumbing front, too. Another thing I was very happy to note was that the car didnt fill up with condensation in the morning. And when it rained all day, it didnt leak. Not that big a deal as the car normally lives undercover but nice all the same!

After more than two years of demonstrating the effect of idle hands, this Range Rover surely is the icing on the cake for Robert. And where he disappears into the sunset, or round the corner on one of Suffolks green lanes... well, almost.

The five-speed manual gearbox was proving to be a bit of a handful second gear wants to hide from me all the time. So I have now acquired a ZF automatic gearbox and once I have assembled all the other associated parts, it will be fitted as soon as possible.

The car will go back on to SORN for this so that I dont work to any deadline. But other than the gearbox, Ill draw a line under the project.

Ah, the famous last words of any Land Rover owner. Theres a more important message here, though. While Land Rover enthusiasts will always keep their hands from being bored (its in our blood), make sure you stick at that project, no matter how long it takes.

Yes, even if it means your personal hygiene goes to pot. Because you know that when your own D-Day comes, youll turn the key and pull off your driveway and you wont give a damn how long it took to get there.


Above: Its hard to believe that this is how the former British Embassy Rangey arrived to be in Roberts possession. It was originally based in Saudi Arabia (the door cards are now sand-free), which meant he had to adjust to the steering wheel being on the wrong side of the vehicle. Still, he wont exactly mind when he goes out laning in it and thinks back to the state is was before

Above: An inaccurate speedo was just one of the foibles Robert experienced during his initiation drive. That, however, is easily fixable with his capabilities.

Below: A recent holiday to North Norfolk was enough to put 350 miles on Roberts new toy, and to confirm that yes, it was worth every minute of those 27 months


A couple of months ago, we featured a NAS 90 Defender belonging to the Dunsfold Collection. Its one of the most desirable vehicles Land Rover has ever made.

The problem, as evidenced by the fact we were talking about a Dunsfold vehicle, is that in the UK these are very rare beasts. You could source one from America, but even there they make strong money at the time of writing,

theres a low-mileage 1995 one on offer with a dealer in New Jersey at (take a deep breath) $99,990.

Then you ship it over, go through hoops to get it licenced for the road, start feeding a V8s thirst, learn to live with the steering wheel being on the left, the V8 starts throwing wobblies about, you know, being a V8

But for some people, it can only ever be a soft-top Landy thats parked on their drive. And thats how it was for Matthew Pike.

Having owned a 300Tdi 90 ragtop as his first Land Rover, Matthew went on to swap it in for a Td5 County Station Wagon. That was in 2007.

Id swapped to the Station Wagon because it was newer and safer, says

Matthew. In the previous Soft-Top, there were gaps in the doors big enough to see the road through and sliding windows were still in place. I soon started yearning for a Soft-Top back in my life, though!

Problem is, theyre rarer than hens teeth. Aside from the odd special edition like the SV and SVX, plus of course those ultra-desirable NAS 90s, barely any ragtops have rolled out of Solihull in the last quarter of a century.

But if you cant get the Landy you want, what do you do? You build it.

In Matthews case, actually, you buy one someone else built. No need for alarm bells in this case, though, because the someone in question was the celebrated Landy specialist

Simmonites. And what they built was a particularly gorgeous looking Td5 Soft-Top.

This delicious 90 was actually a green Truck-Cab prior to Simmonites getting their hands on it. And when Matthew came along in December 2012, he knew this was the 90 for him.

The Land Rovers Ive owned have always been 90s, and having driven and owned the old Soft-Top it was all I ever wanted again! he exclaims.

I like the boxy squareness of the 90s and how it manages to look big without really being big. It looks chunky, but is still fairly compact and is more manoeuvrable.

Its a shame that this squareness is part of the reason why the current De-fender is about to be axed, taking with it the definitive image of a 4x4 that has been with us for over thirty years.

The Soft Approach

Words and Pictures: Mike Trott

When Matthew Pike sold his soft-top 90, he quickly started having withdrawal symptoms. So when he saw that an old green Truck-Cab had been converted by Simmonites into this dazzling new red number, what do you think he did?

Left: Theres a few dark highlights around the vehicle, such as the Puma bonnet and black canvas roof, plus this popular KBX front grille


Nevertheless, despite being a 2003 Td5 Defender this convert looks as bold and as tidy as one of the new age Defenders but with less of the blingy garnish that can turn a great car into a garish one. It also carries one of the engines youd actually want at the front of your Defender the Td5 is arguably Land Rovers most reliable unit.

With glossy black highlights placed carefully around the Evoque red exteri-or the likes of the black Puma bonnet and KBX front grille, the black canvas roof and the chequer plating Mat-thew finds himself with a real diamond in the rough.

Its also a vehicle that does just about everything. It handles Matthews com-mute along the M69, yet with a nice set of Insa Turbo tyres fitted he can put it through its paces on the stuff that really counts.

Its a little noisy in the cabin if my wife Ruth wants to make a phone call, but the tyres give me the best of both worlds, continues Matthew. I like using the Defender for what its for, though some people are surprised when I tell them I take it off-roading.

I get so many comments from people in the club (the Leicestershire and Rutland Land Rover Club, which Matthew goes green laning with) and from the public.

A few months ago, I came out from giving blood and there was an old ex-army 90 parked up next to mine. I took a couple of pictures, as you do, at which point the owner appeared. We had a bit of a laugh when he said he wouldnt mind driving one like mine that looks a bit flashier, while I said I had always liked the old army 90s!

Of course, anything Matthew drives would have to be a soft-top from now on. He uses his smart Defender on the

Continued overleaf

ITs quITe a sedaTe forM of The sPorT, WhIch Is fIne WITh Me


club laning trips and for the occasion-al pay and play site, one of the most recent being at Robin Hoods Bay a place which still possesses one of Mat-thews mud flaps to this day.

It was an off-road taster day at an off-road centre in Nottingham-shire that got me into this off-tarmac business, smiles Matthew. If someone had said to me youll have loads of fun driving round a field at 5mph, Id have laughed at them! I was amazed at how good it was.

I think the most enjoyable thing about off-roading is going places no-one else goes, and the other part is the challenge. Its quite a sedate motor-sport, which is fine with me because Ive never been a particularly fast driver. My nerve is going to give out before the truck does.

And while Matthew is busy driving (sedately) in places few people will ever experience, he can also do it in style with a Defender set up like few other Land Rover owners will ever have. And of course, its every bit as stylish wherever it happens to be.

And not just wherever but when-ever, too. The summer of 2015 wont exactly go down in record as a scorcher but whenever the day does turn out worthy of those back and sides being rolled up, Matthew and his 90 will be ready and waiting.

There Were gaPs In The doors bIg enough To see The road

Above: A steering guard is one of the few clues around this swish 90 that points to Matthews preferred weekend activities: laning and playdaysBelow: While the back may have become more weatherproof and gained a few seats in the process, the front remains a regular and comfortable Td5-era cabin

Above: Once a green Truck-Cab now a tasty devilish red Soft-Top thanks to the work of SimmonitesBelow: While a NAS 90 with a V8 may sound like a good recipe, that concoction usually ends up causing you pain for one reason or another. Land Rovers Td5, on the other hand, is one of the most reliable units the company have ever made

A lot of people assume that customising vehicles is a relatively new thing. But whether it was Brits putting old Spitfi re engines in hot rods aft er the war or Americans building speedsters out of 14-litre fi re engines almost a century ago, its been going on almost as long as cars have existed.

And true to form, for as long as there have been Land Rovers, there have been people customising and modifying them. Th e fi rst was Land Rover itself, actually, when it shipped a Series I off to Tickford and the rest is history.

Th e Series IIA in these pictures is from a few years aft er that. But its a good example of very practical custo-misation not done to yield an off -road champion, just a better, more usable Land Rover than the Truck-Cabs of the day. And it was done very, very well.

It cropped up recently at Norton Automotive, for whose proprietor Adam Norton looking for Land Rovers that are diff erent and a bit interesting is all part of the fun of his job. Its fair to say that thats what he found because there can be few Land Rovers out there combining such uniqueness with this particular trucks practicality as a workhorse.

Th e guy we bought this off was the fi rst owner aft er the Land Rover was demobbed in 2013, explains Adam. It was an old ex-MOD Marshalls ambu-lance that the guy wanted to turn into something a bit more useful.

Ambulances can provide a great base for camping conversions. But if you dont really need all that excess body lumbering around behind you, and the whole military classic thing isnt your bag, it can soon feel like a hindrance.

24 Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u k ClubsAdventure WorkshopProducts VehiclesNewsThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandThe Flat of the LandHaving spent almost four decades in an Army warehouse, this Series IIA popped out of a timewarp when it was sold into civvy hands. As luck would have it, the hands in question belonged to an owner with a clear vision of what he wanted to do with it and the skills to make the project happen Words: Mike TrottPictures: Adam Norton

Left: A atbed that looks fi t for some of the fi nest antiques thats what the previous owner created here, though it was Adam who fi nished the vehicle in this classic Deep Bronze Green and stained the wood of that commodious loadspace. A great fi nish to a great vehicle

From the cab forward, this flatbed is as original as they come. But looking out through that rear window now reveals something much more or indeed less!

The rear is from a 2014 Defender, reveals Adam. Its a project that the old owner built up entirely by himself.

It was a standard Army green colour when it came to us. But I have since painted it in Deep Bronze Green and the wood at the back has been stained to finish it off.

Norton Automotive sees a lot of Land Rovers, as a quick look at their website reveals. Pay a visit and youll see that Adam also specialises in another great British marque with a reputation for well, it had a reputation. I speak of the late, lamented TVR.

Sorry if I just sent a shudder through you with that one. But who among us doesnt just love the smell of mastic in the morning?

Moving hastily back to the matter in hand, the Landys previous owner was obviously very passionate about his truck as well as being extremely handy in the way he went about con-verting it.

The guy was very technical, says Adam. He must have been to carry out all this work.

He must have known what he was doing as a buyer, too because hard as it is to believe, this Series IIA has only covered 1400 miles!

Yes, one thousand four hundred. We didnt miss a zero out.

The speedometer reads 1400 miles, says Adam, and when I first realised this I was thinking this cant be right.

However, you can still see the machining marks holed out on the cyl-inders, so its believed to be correct.

It stands to reason, then, that this IIA is going to drive like one thats just left the factory. Which if you count four

decades sat in an MOD warehouse as a form of limbo, it more or less has.

It drives really well, confirms Adam. The steerings tight and the brakes are good as well. This is a man who knows

what the steering and brakes on TVRs are meant to feel like, lets not forget.

The 2.25-litre petrol engine wont pull quite the same as a Griffith, on the other hand. It will probably run sweet-er, though especially as Adam gets the impression the previous owner really loved what hed created.

The original four-speed box is still in place, along with 12v electrics and a working pair of fuel tanks. A couple of extra touches were added, including a bull bar and a set of Wolf rims, though

the Michelin XZLs mounted on them can be counted as a very significant nod to the vehicles military heritage.

But really, when you look at this Land Rover its all about the flatbed body on the back. Doing anything so invasive to a timewarp classic is sure to cause a few furrowed brows here and there but starting with the best you can find is a firm footing for any pro-ject. And in this uniquely customised utility Land Rover, its a strategy that has worked to perfection.

25Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u kWere on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyukTo advertise in The Landy, call Ian Argent on 01283 553242Right: A 2.25-litre petrol engine thats only covered 1400 miles yes, thats correct and how many of these engines could boast those sort of figures today? It was clearly never the favourite to drive around the barracks so it sat there for about four decades. While the mileage isnt confirmed, the fact you can still see the machining holes on the cylinders gives some validity to the claim

Above: Maybe it looks rather old fashioned, but that rear structure is actually from a 2014 Defender. Spirit level precision too

If youre prepping your Land Rover for off -road use, a normal part of the project is to fi t it with heavy-duty bumpers.Th is is a little less crucial if yours is a

Defender or Series truck, but a Range Rover or Discovery is defi nitely going to want some beefi ng up if you want to use it properly especially if youve already modded its suspension to let it get to more extreme places.

But theres another reason why it might make sense to swap your origi-nal bumpers for a more hardcore set.

As you can see here, were looking at a Discovery 2 in this article, which is receiving new heavy-duty steelwork front and rear from Extreme 4x4. Give or take a few quid, thats around 750s worth of kit. Fine. But when the owner of this particular Disco got home, he was taken aback by what happened when he put his old bumpers on eBay.

Naturally, what happened fi rst was that a few of the usual eBay chancers contacted him off ering peanuts. You cant tell who I am from my user name, he told us. But one of the messages I got was from a guy whose name was very familiar hes in the same club as me! I can give you 150 today. I did have some fun with him over that one!

Just as well, too. Because accepting that sort of money for a Discovery 2 front bumper would be absolutely giving it away.

It was shortly aft er a cold snap in the middle of winter, the cars owner went on. I got one message aft er an-other from people saying they had had low-speed skids, bumped into things and shattered a corner of their bumper.

Seriously, I could have sold it ten times over, and being silver mine was in even more demand. It ended up making over 750, and when the rear one sold too Id made close to a grand.

26 Issue 21: Nov 2015w w w . t h e l a n d y . c o . u k ClubsAdventure WorkshopProducts VehiclesNewsQUIDS IN! Modifying your Land Rover normally costs money. But when

you remove the bumpers from a Disco 2 and replace them with heavy-duty units, selling the originals might actually turn you a pro t

Above: Fragile? Is that meant to be a joke? This is the bumper as it came out of its crate, with fog lights already in place and Extreme 4x4s rotating recov-ery eyes ready to be fi tted

Right: Obviously, being that they rotate, the recovery eyes have moving parts. Rather than just lobbing them on and waiting for the squealing noises to start, give them a generous coating of copper grease fi rst

Below: Prior to starting work, the roadwheels are off and the vehicle is up in the air. Waiting to come off is the front bumper itself, along with its supporting metalwork, the tubular guard piece between the main rails and the separate lower front sections of the inner wheelarch which are visible here

Continued overleaf

Left: Looking more closely into the arch, the separate front inner portion is more apparent. As you can see, its screwed to the remaining wheelarch section and the valance. Dont expect it to just fall away obediently when you free off the most obvious set of fi xings its attached at the bottom edge, too. Note the evidence of penetrating oil being used higher up at this stage of the job, this stuff is your closest friend

Below: With the front section of the inner arch removed, this is what youll fi nd. At least, you will once the fog light wiring, breather pipes and washer jets have been disconnected. You can see the brackets holding the bumper to the chassis main rails here


Above: We pointed out the main brackets holding the bumper shell to the chassis in the previous picture. These should be the last things you free off: before doing so, check that everything else has been undone or disconnected. Remember the splash tray between the main rails, too

Left: With the bumper shell out of the way, its much easier to remove the re-maining fixtures and fittings. Here, youre looking at one of the two collapsible alloy crush cans on the end of the chassis main rails which absorb energy in low-er-speed impacts. Note also the guard bar which runs between the main rails: this simply unbolts and drops away

Above: Tucked into a corner just behind the bumper on the vehicles nearside, the washer bottle hangs down fairly low. Theres a feed from it to the headlight washers, which will become redundant when you fit your new bumper; remove the extra plumb-ing runs and seal this pipe just after the pump to prevent leakage

Above Right: The indicator assemblies need to be removed in order to fit the new bumper (which, as you can just see here, has been offered up here as a dry-fit). Why? Because doing so releases the lower trim strip at the bottom of the headlamp, which is necessary to get at the fixings holding the lower edge of the radiator grille in place. If youre sat there wondering how on earth the assembly actually comes away, search out the small screw hidden in the plastic bracket at the top of the indicator


It was easily more than Id paid Extreme 4x4 for their heavy-duty bumpers which, once they were on, I was very happy with.

Being a Discovery 2, this particular Landy needed a little more than just a few bolts spinning off and tightening back up again to get the bumpers on. But its a job that wont be beyond the vast majority of owners.

As always, preparing for the task in hand will make it that much easier. Get in there first with the pressure washer, then follow this up with a good spray of 3-in-1 or WD40 so the fixings will be that much easier to crack off it might not be a crusty old Series III youre working on, but even the newest Disco 2 is more than a decade old now and thats plenty of time for nature to do its evil work below decks.

After this, youll be removing the valance/bumper assembly itself, the metalwork that supports it and fixes it to the chassis dumb irons, the tubular guard piece between the main rails and the removable separate lower front sections of the inner wheelarches.

Externally, youll need to remove the radiator grille, and to let you do that also the battery cover, the plastic trim

Above: With this removed, you can get the indicator out the hole it leaves is clear to see here. This picture also shows the retainer joining the bottom of the indicator to the lower trim strip this is why the housing needs to be lifted away in order to slide the strip free

Below: Heres the new bumper held roughly in place on its bolts during the necessary dry-fit stage. This is when youll get a feel for how much of your radiator grille and lower frame needs to be trimmed away to make space for your winch of choice


Above: Viewed from behind the new bumper, you can see how close a fit it is around the washer bottle. So much so that if you ever need to change the bulb in the fog light on this side, its likely that one or the other will need to be moved

from above the headlights, the indica-tor assemblies and the lower headlight surrounding trim.

Extreme 4x4 offers these bumpers with a choice of driving lights or fog lights, with this one having the latter.

The connectors for the wiring needed to be changed, which is a small job in the greater scheme of things and provides a nice finishing touch to a bumper any Disco owner ought to be happy with.

Above: The rear bumper is fixed to two brackets on the outside of the main chassis rails. Before you ask, no Land Rover didnt run the wiring loom through the ribs in the bumper shell and attach them using cable ties as standard: this particular bodge happened four years after the Disco in these pics was built, after it had suffered some sort of rear-end impact. We know the date because the replacement bumper still had a Solihull stores label on it

Left: As you can see here, one of the mounts was slightly distorted in whatever shunt the Disco suffered. Would have been interesting to see the sort of state the bumper itself ended up in but either way, whoever drove into it should be glad he did it before the Extreme 4x4 unit went on in its place

Left and Right: The Extreme 4x4 back bumper is designed to use the tail lights harvested from the old Land Rover unit. These slot into a pair of recesses, inboard of which are eyes for use with a high-lift jack

If you love adventures, you need to have Iceland on your must-do list. For Land Rover owners, this

really is the closest thing to heaven


The day started like any other. Aft er breakfast, we set off into the Icelandic interior from the north. We were heading towards Route One and the ferry port at Seydisfj ordur, where we were to meet the members of our expedition team.

We had decided to follow a route which is remote, mountainous and very beautiful. By late aft ernoon, we were presented by a succession of river crossings one of which was a deep, wide glacial outfl ow. Th ere was only one thing for it get out and wade.

Th e water was bitter and, while not too deep for our Discovery 4, it was fl owing rapidly. So with low gear and raised suspension, we put our faith in Terrain Response.

Soon, it was crashing over the Discos bonnet and spraying up its sides. Th is was no everyday river crossing. It was a battle, hard work for man and machine, but fi nally we got to the other side. Wed made it.

With a sense of achievement, we con-tinued deeper into the mountains. Only

a couple of hours to go, we thought, before reaching our campsite.

It was early July and the weather had been warm and dry. But up at nearly 3500 feet, there was plenty of snow. As we descended into a small valley, a bank of the stuff was stretched across our path some 100 metres across, with tyre tracks criss-crossing it. Th ere was no way around and to turn back would have meant a four-hour detour. We had to cross it!

I walked my intended route. Th e snow was fi rm, making only slight crunching sounds beneath my feet. We started well, the snow crackling as we gently drove over it but then we started to sink. I threw the selector into reverse and we made it back out, took another look and went for it again but this time we sank properly.

And there we were, still more than 100 feet from the other side. In the wil-derness, on our own and well and truly stuck. We tried our air jack and snow ladders, all to no avail. And then it started snowing again, the wind picked up and the temperature began to drop.

Well, we wouldnt even have been there alone without a winch. But trees?

Oh no, not up here. Out came the shovel, and we buried the spare wheel to use as a ground anchor. Th ankfully, it worked.

A couple of days later, we were at the quayside waiting for the Norrona car ferry to disembark. Th e Landies this ex-pedition were a Disco belonging to Neil and Jane and a Defender 110 crewed by Mick and Liz, plus of course our D4.

Heading off from the docks, we left the One (the main circular road around Iceland) and headed deep into the interior along the F910. A designat-ed 4x4-only route, this twists and turns through a dark grey desert landscape, void of vegetation. In the distance we kept catching glimpses of the vast eastern edge of Vatnajokull the largest glacier outside of the polar icecaps.

In the evening, we drove the short distance to the foot of Kvertjokull, a glacial tongue accessed via a mixture of desert and lava sand plus a few chal-lenging rock crawls. What an amazing fi rst day great driving, and stunning scenery around every corner.

In the morning we drove towards Herdubreid via the epic caldera of Askja. Th e route took us through long

stretches of soft sand, mountain passes, deep gorges and an immense lava fi eld, which fi lls the whole landscape. In places the lava was up to 30 feet above our heads, dwarfi ng the vehicles; with its twisted and tortured black and red rock, it was a reminder of a tumultuous past and, Icelands geology being what it is, an equally dramatic future to come.

Travelling west from Askja, we re-joined the F910 heading deeper into the

wilderness. Th e track was less defi ned and noticeably more challenging; a combination of deep sand, rocks, water crossings and the inevitable lava fi elds made it a very enjoyable drive requiring concentration not only from the driver, but also the navigator.

Our route took us off the F910 and on to a non-maintained track north to Myvatn. Th is turned out to be rea-sonably easy to navigate, but extremely slow due to the amount of rocks we

Heaven is a place on Earth

Words: Andrew FisherPictures: Dawn Williamson


arrived after taking six hours to cover forty miles!

En route from Myvatn to Akureyri, we called at the spectacular Godafoss waterfall. Further on, the road begins to skirt the eastern edge of Eyjafjor-dur, affording stunning views of the snow-capped mountains reflected in its crystal clear waters.

After a short stop in Akureyri, a delightful city on Icelands north coast, we once again ventured deep into the interior. The route soon changed from tarmac to the more familiar rough track and this further deteriorated as we began to climb to 1000m in altitude. We followed the valley floor, criss-crossing small mountain streams and at times driving along river beds.

In the sunshine, the lush green vegetation on the valley bottoms was in stark contrast to the dark grey landscape. Our campsite for the night overlooked the Hofsjokull glacier and had a geothermic heated pool with wa-ter at 40 degrees a great way to round off the evening!

The following morning, we joined the F752 heading north along a high plateau route. The landscape was deso-late, void of vegetation, and landmarks were all but non-existent with the exception of Hofsjokull, a large glacier to the west which stayed in view for most of the day.

Next came an unmarked 30-mile mountain track with a series of steep gradients. As we started one descent, we noticed two young men standing

by the side of the track, waving. These two lads, who were from Holland, had managed to get their hired Suzuki stuck up to the axles in a muddy bog a short distance away. They were very happy to see us, especially when Neil (whose Disco was fitted with mud tyres) picked its way through the wet ruts to winch them free.

We camped by the towering waterfall of Seljalandfoss and, after waking up to its roar, once again ventured into the


interior at Porsmork via the F249 and more than 60 river crossings! From here we headed for Landmannalaugar, via a track described by some locals as the best 4x4 route in Iceland. Approx-imately 15 miles long, this combines river and gorge driving with sand and rock and includes some very technical ascents and descents as well as pro-viding amazing views of Eyjafjallajokull, the volcano whose eruption in 2010 grounded air traffic across Europe.

By the end of the day, we had driven 60 miles of rough terrain, seen some incredible sites and crossed countless rivers. We had also seen our first grass-filled valley, with a carpet of brilliant white cotton plants waving to us in the wind as we passed.

We spent the night at Landmannal-augar, famed for its stunning mountain scenery and naturally hot river, then travelled south on the F208. By late afternoon, we arrived at the coastal village of Vik which boasts a jet black beach, stunning cliffs, sea caves and petrified Trolls basalt stacks left sticking up offshore by an ancient cliff collapse.

A disconcerting fact about Vik is that its perfectly positioned to take a direct hit from the glacial flash flood thats likely to follow an eruption of Katla. The couple of hundred people who live here are trained to run for the village

church at the first sign of activity, as its the only building on high enough ground to escape the 9.4 million cubic feet of water that thunder out of the glacier at the peak of an eruption.

Katlas last big eruption happened 97 years ago. Prior to that, the longest known gap between eruptions was 95 years. Super.

The following morning, the Three Trolls bade us farewell as we began our journey east along the One, squeezed between the coast to its south and magnificent cliffs and mountains to the north.

Pausing at Skaftafelljokull, we sat watching pure white clouds cascade down from the Vatnajokull glacier and, as they merged into the rays of the setting sun, tiny rainbows appear before being extinguished by the shadows. What an incredible sight to witness.

That would be a good verdict on Iceland itself, actually. Its a landscape that makes you stop and stare, not just at its stunning beauty but its sheer other-worldliness. During our expedi-tion, we met some wonderful people and saw some wonderful scenery. And we had driven some really, really won-derful trails. The authors run Venture 4x4, a company specialising in Icelandic expeditions as well as off-road and winch training. You can find them at www.venture4x4.co.uk.


A couple of weeks aft er I became the proud owner of a very sorry looking old ex-military Land Rover, a letter arrived from the Heritage Motor

Centre confi rming its date of birth: my 109 came off the line at Lode Lane on Monday 8 August 1983.

Having a letter like this is very help-ful when youve got an old heap and youre working towards putting it back on the road. Th e DVLA trusts what the HMC says, so itll help you get your

Landy registered once the rebirth is complete and the MOT man is happy.

For me, though, that happy day was still a long way in the future as I continued the job of stripping down what was still a very sorry old vehicle. Buying a couple of new batteries, for example, sounds like a positive step but I only did it because I wanted to see if any of the Landys electrics actually worked!

With a couple of days off work, though, at least I could look forward to cracking on with some much-needed welding. Or at least I could, until the heavens opened and the rain started. Th ats one of the hazards of working on your driveway.

My initial plan had been to weld up the holes in the passengers footwell, so before the rain began to fall and I fl ed inside to scour eBay for second-hand parts, I had set to work on popping off the (dented to death) nearside wing. I disconnected all the wiring for the lights and fi gured out a bolt at a time exactly where they should be located,

each time thinking well that should come off now before discovering it still wouldnt.

Also while taking off the wing, I realised that the front bumper was in a bad state and was going to need replacing. Needless to say, the bolts holding it in place didnt see it that way, but aft er a lengthy wrestling match involving a wheel brace and brute force it fi nally yielded.

Now I could get a decent shot at the footwell, having ground it back to bare metal to give me something to work with. But no joy: the machine wouldnt work. It took me some time to fi gure out why the feed wasnt playing turns out that the top couple of layers of wire had gone rusty! Th inking about it, the last time I used my welder had been four years previously, so that was hardly a surprise.

With the rusty wire stripped out, we were in business and soon I had a hole-free fl oor. I also had a set of over-enthu-siastic welds that needed to be ground back down, but that was the point when

the rain started. If ever there was a case for renting a lock-up

In other news, my 109 was fi tted with the much sought-aft er Arctic heater, as in the one that actually keeps the cabin warm. It was much sought-aft er by everyone but me, though: there were bits of it all over the place, and I really didnt see myself having a need for it in what is meant to be a hobby vehicle, so I decided to strip the whole thing out once the bodywork was sorted. Th e standard heater, meanwhile, was full of rust holes, but I managed to repair that and once refi tted it worked perfectly.

Prior to any of that happening, any-way, I had the small matter of a chassis to attend to. It was the soundest thing about my truck, but I wanted to keep it that way so while the body was off , I painted as much of it as I could get at before then (and this really is no job for the faint-hearted) getting stuck in with the underseal.

If youve never done this before, you wouldnt believe what a horrible job it is. I have, and even I had forgotten just

The Project Has Landed: Part Two

Words and pictures: Nicky Smith

Above: The colour of metal you dont want to see - that is unless you make a business out of welding. The footwell is the culprit here, but Nicky soon sorted this out, or he did after the welder was stripped of the rusty wire in that too!

Foreword: Fitting a Land Rover restoration into your everyday life can prove tricky especial-ly when youre doing it on your driveway. Weather, work and mechanical warbles can all put a stop on the best-laid plans. Perse-verance is essential here as Nicky Smith illustrates in the second chapter of his story.

Previously, Nicky recounted the moments that led to him bu

the landy november 15

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