GAMEKEEPER TURNED POACHER

This Land Rover Discovery 2 once ploughed a doughty furrow as a servant of the police. Having been auctioned off at the end of its life on the force, however, it became a bit of a rebel…

Words and Pictures: Mike Trott

I’ve never been chased down by the police. At least, not to my knowledge anyway. I could be wrong, of course, and may recently have feat red in an episode of ra c ops while on my way home from work. But generally I’ve always kept my distance.

Being a bit of a petrol head, though, I’d be lying if I said I don’t keep tabs on the different vehicles the police use from time to time. The usual panda cars, in my area at least, consist of Focus estates, the odd Astra still in commission and, once you get further out to the motorways, BMW 3 Series and Audi A4s. The latter are also popular in unmarked form (don’t ask me how I know).

Speaking of all things unmarked, check out this ex-police Land Rover Discovery. When we spotted it, it was in such a good condition that had it still been in service and chasing you down the M4, you’d probably be too busy marvelling at its paintwork to notice the blue lights calling you in.

The ladies and gentlemen of the law do of course maintain their vehicles to a very high standard. But when we found the Disco, it was almost ten years into life on civvy street – and yet it still showed every sign of having been treated with the utmost respect. Since then, we’re not so sure – its recent MOT history shows that the chassis has done the Disco 2 chassis thing in a pretty big way, among other wince-inducing slurs upon its character – but what you’re looking at here is a freeze-frame of a 4x4 which remained very tidy well into middle age.

Very tidy, but still growing old disgracefully. It has obviously tried to rebel in its retirement, with a set of alloys that look about as in keeping on an old Disco as a pink mohican on a 60-year-old man. Perhaps this is one of those dodgy old cops who gets away with it and leaves the force with their lairy deeds undetected. But rather than buying a villa in Spain and getting fat on its ill-gotten gains, it’s stuck around its old manor and remained in excellent shape. at rall the vehicle was finished in white so all its orescent mar ings co ld be added few years later, many forces started ordering their cars in silver so they’d have a chance of selling them again afterwards, but you have to say it’s quite a dapper old thing in plain white. Not like a 60-year-old with a pink mohican at all.

Even when it was new, though, the Discovery was a bit of a rebel t’s a five door with rear air-suspension, and everyday people couldn’t get that combination. That’s the power a police order holds over car manufacturers.

The air springs make sense for the sort of work a cop Disco would do, of course. These trucks tended to cover a lot of motorway miles while carrying a heavy load of equipment (it was knocking on for 200,000 when we crossed paths with it), so a self-levelling rear set-up was ideal for them. So too was the deletion of the now-feared sunroofs – perhaps the long arm of the law also had some sort of foresight that made it able to see how unspeakably prone to leaking these would become.

On the subject of mileage, the vehicle may have been well into si fig res b t its engine wasn’t The Td5 engine under its bonnet went in at around the 105,000 mark.

As you’ll have noticed, it’s not just the fruity

As you’ll have noticed, it’s not just the fruity choice of wheels that sets this Disco apart from the crowd, and what a crowd, of its slowly disintegrating peers. Having left the force via an auction, it fo nd its wa to h rchill in romsgrove and thence to MJA 4x4, just down the road –where it gained an Extreme 4x4 heavy-duty front b mper and hampion electric winch as well as facelift-style front and rear lights to give it the look of a later Disco 2.

In addition, the TD5 engine was remapped to give it some more grunt. All of which must have appealed to the g s at h rchill beca se ne t thing you know they had it back.

‘For a while we were using it mainly as a tow car,’ says the company’s main man Jonathan h rchill hen some months after a g was browsing outside and happened to spot the Disco. It wasn’t for sale, but he gave enough of an offer for us to part with it once more.’

You’d think that would be the end of it, and they all lived happily ever after. But no. The guy who’d bo ght it sold it bac to h rchill again

The TD5 is still a TD5, but it’s not the original one anymore. The clock on the dash reads 187,000, but the engine is just nicely run in at about 80,000 less than that. It was remappped for a bit more oomph during the vehicle’s time as the property of MJA Land Rover – it was after this that the guys back at Ch rchi starte fin in o t hat a great two barge it made

And as if that wasn’t enough, the next thing he knew Jonathan had sold it to one of the company’s own mechanics… who in turn sold it back after having his fun.

When a car goes through so many pairs of hands in a relatively short time, it can mean trouble. But not in this case, Jonathan told us. ‘That’s partly down to the fact that all the owners have been enthusiasts and they’ve all helped in ove o on t fin man Disco s of this a e ith s ch a c ean interior ne reason for this is that the po ice specifie theirs itho t s nroofs hich histor has sho n as a ver ise move in ee in an ever one e se s eak ater o n their posts kin of a he first thin o re ike to notice hen o c ap o r e es on the Disco is that someone has p t it on horri e hee s e horri e mi ht not e the or that comes to min t o efinite notice them one a or the other t east the spare mana e to escape ith its i nit intact keeping it properly maintained,’ he said. ‘It’s a great looking vehicle, it doesn’t look the mileage and it runs very well.’

So that’s good, and every owner up to the point where we stuck our lens in its face had been responsible. One of then must have been responsible in the other sense, though – for those alloys.

Keen tho gh we were to find o t if onl so we’d know never to let them anywhere near a vehicle of ours, we thought it would be a bit intrusive to ask.

After all, if you see an old boy with pink hair or a tie-dye T-shirt, you don’t go up to him and ask why he’s chosen to look so silly, do you?

Especially not if he’s the police. I’ve still never been chased down by them, and I’ve no intention for it to start happening any time soon… he Disco has een fitte ith a heav t front inch mper from treme as e as a set of ater st e hea amps to make it ook ike a face ift mo e he rear as treate to face ift st e i hts too an it s so c ean o i in e ieve it s a ater one

Thanks to Churchill 4x4 of Bromsgrove for their help in compiling this article. ou ll find them visiting www.churchill4x4.co.uk.