Full test of the new Discovery Sport – is the Freelander’s replacement more Sport or more Discovery?
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This Rangey is being restored, little by little. Right now, the project is on month 27 – and counting… Full story: Page 32
This low-mileage Puma is one of many 90s which have been turned into street machines.
But it’s not just another rich man’s shopping-list blinger. For one thing, it would cost you a fraction of what the big-name custom houses charge. And besides, inside it you’ll find a creative touch that makes it 100% unique…
Full story: Page 20
Which Land Rover would you choose for laning? We know a guy who chose a 4.2-litre Bowler 100”… Full story: Page 24
A 130 ambulance is a literal home on wheels. Four wheels (mainly)… Full story: Page 34
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Issue 17: July 2015
Land Rover builds 6,000,000th vehicle We’re on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyuk
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n 2 April, Land Rover produced its 6,000,000th vehicle. A Yulong White Range Rover LWB Vogue SE, this rolled off the production line at Solihull before going on to star at the 2015 Shanghai Auto Show. The special Range Rover is fitted with a bespoke puddle lamp graphic which projects its image through an inscribed lens within the downlights mounted in the door mirrors. When the vehicle is unlocked, the graphic lights up to show the Land Rover logo and that special figure of 6,000,000.
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Jaguar Land Rover’s Andy Goss said: ‘For 67 years, Land Rover has been building the world’s most capable allpurpose vehicles. Over this period, a range of ground-breaking innovations and technologies have blended great design, refinement and unmatched allterrain capability. ‘It’s fitting that the 6,000,000th Land Rover to be produced is a Range Rover, since this year marks the 45th anniversary of the original Range Rover’s launch and, even today, the vehicle remains peerless. With the
LAND ROVER MILESTONES
1947 Original Land Rover project approved 1948 Land-Rover launched on 30 April at Amsterdam Motor Show 1959 250,000th Land Rover 1966 500,000th Land Rover 1971 750,000th Land Rover 1976 1,000,000th Land Rover 1984 Land Rover 90 introduced 1989 Land Rover Discovery launched 1990 Land Rovers renamed Defender 90, 110 and 130 2001 3,000,000 Land Rover (a Freelander) 2007 4,000,000th Land Rover (a Discovery) 2015 6,000,000th Land Rover (a Range Rover LWB)
growth of sales in China since the latest version of the Range Rover was introduced in 2012, it is entirely appropriate that this landmark vehicle is destined for a Chinese customer.’
Indeed, more and more Land Rovers are being sold worldwide than ever before. The company has doubled its entire historical output in a mere 14 years, with a third of the 6,000,000
vehicles having been built in the last eight years alone – which goes to show just how much progress the Midlands car manufacturer has made over the last decade.
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Issue 17: July 2015
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Keeping it legal on Salisbury Plain A
new working group has been convened to help keep 4x4 use legal on Salisbury Plain. With representation from Wiltshire Police, Wiltshire County Council, the MOD, Natural England and the Green Lane Association (GLASS), the Salisbury Plain Vehicular Access Management Working Group was formed with the aim of preventing illegal off-roading in an area which is exceptionally well served for rights of way. Salisbury Plain has long been a mecca for Land Rover drivers looking to explore the country’s rights of way, and it’s one of the few areas in which you can drive for prolonged periods without ever having to set foot on tarmac. The consequences of straying off the rights of way can be lethal, however – the Plain is a military training area and large parts of it are used for live firing, so venturing off it could result in running over unexploded ordnance. A common excuse in the past has been that following the right of way is almost impossible in places, as tank movements create a sea of tracks which obliterate any sign of a byway. However the MOD has in recent years done excellent work to combat this with signposting – and it has made positive steps to welcome 4x4 drivers by creating ‘permissory byways’ on
tracks whose legal rights were removed when RUPPs were scrapped in 2006. Illegal use does remain a problem, however, and as well as the danger of conflict with the Plain’s military stewards there are sites of special scientific interest bordering rights of way in a number of sensitive areas in which leaving the byway could prove highly destructive. Following the new Working Group’s first meeting, Wiltshire Police held an enforcement day on the Plain – and more of these are planned for the future. The aim is not to harass legitimate green laners, whose presence is better tolerated here than in any other part of the country, but to help educate illegal drivers that their actions will not be tolerated. ‘If you are planning a trip to the Plain,’ says GLASS, ‘please ensure your vehicle is road legal, you stick to legal rights of way and take heed of any closure signs – and you won’t have any problems. Ideally stick to groups of four as well.’
• Further good news from GLASS concerns the Dorset Map Scales case, which has finally been put to bed by the Supreme Court. This concerns applications, made before the NERC guillotine fell in 2006, to upgrade RUPPs to the correct status of Byway Open to All Traffic. This case, brought by Dorset County Council, argued that the maps used in the paperwork supporting a group of byway applications were incorrect because rather than being based on 1:25,000 originals they were blown up to that scale from 1:50,000. Having been through the full legal chain leading up to the Supreme Court, the panel of five Law Lords decided by a 3:2 majority to reject the County Council’s appeal – meaning the five byway applications could not be quashed on this narrow technical ground.
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Dingocroft ready for 30th anniversary
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ne of the country’s longestrunning independent Land Rover parts suppliers will celebrate its 30th anniversary on 20 June – with an open day for customers and suppliers. Based in South Buckinghamshire, Dingocroft has been helping Land Rover owners keep their vehicles running since 1985. Its open day, which is timed to coincide with the local Downley festival, will feature a display of customer vehicles, fun competitions, a Land Rover autojumble and more – and will also see the launch of Dingocroft’s newly refurbished shop, where a wider than ever range of parts and accessories will be on display and for sale. Dingocroft grew out of Penn Rental Service, which was established in the late 1960s. This company used a fleet of Land Rovers for towing the caravans, mobile offices and toilet units it rented out, and had its own workshop to keep the vehicles maintained. ‘In 1989,’ says MD Tim Britnell, ‘when the hire side closed down, we continued with Dingocroft as a business supplying Land Rover spares to garages, fleet operators and private customers.’ Today, Dingocroft is known for supplying a wide range of genuine and aftermarket parts and accessories, and for the friendly help and advice it dishes out freely along the way.
‘A good reputation takes time and hard work to create and just minutes to destroy,’ says Tim, ‘so our small team strives to offer the best service to all our trade and private customers. As Land Rover enthusiasts themselves, my staff have a wealth of knowledge and experience that help our customers get the very best. ‘We also pride ourselves on being able to source and supply parts for the earliest Series Is right up to the very latest models, and have stock of hundreds of rare and hard to obtain parts, many of which are still in their original packaging. ‘We send parts all over the world, including unusual destinations such as St Helena, the Falklands, Iceland, Papua New Guinea, Mauritius, the Maldives and New Caledonia.’ Dingocroft’s claim is that if a part is available from any source, they can get it for their customers. ‘We are happy to supply a single bolt or clip right up to complete engines and new galvanised chassis, and pretty much everything in between,’ the company says. ‘We also go to great lengths to find obsolete parts for customers, and have access to specialist engineering firms that supply essential components that help keep even the oldest models on the road.’ Sounds like a challenge? They’d very much like your company on 20 June. For more information, call 01494 796004 or pay a visit to www.dingocroft.co.uk.
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Issue 17: July 2015
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Ingenium confirmed for Disco Sport Mike Trott
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and Rover’s new baby Discovery may have only been on the road for a handful of months, but already it’s been booked in for a heart transplant. The next generation of Land Rover engines is upon us and the Discovery Sport will be produced with the new all-aluminium Ingenium diesel engine from September onwards. A 2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel motor, available in two different power outputs, the new-generation unit should make the Discovery Sport a more economical and cost-effective prospect for customers than the outgoing 2.2-litre SD4 engine. The new Ingenium engine will also bring about the return of the TD4 name, as used on the original Freelander. The arrival of the Ingenium engine means the Discovery Sport will be EU6 compliant, with a 148bhp version returning as much as 57.7mpg. At the fun end of the range, there will also be a more persuasive 178bhp version of the engine. As the base model, the 148bhp derivative will come with a six-speed manual transmission and only be available as a five-seater. It will, however, put out a mere 129g/km of CO2, meaning £110-a-year road tax – and yes, that’s for something with the word ‘Discovery’ on its badge.
Land Rover’s 178bhp TD4 comes with an extra pinch of chilli powder – it’s available with the standard 5+2-seating plan and offered with a choice of the manual or nine-speed ZF automatic gearbox. Figures suggest you’ll achieve an average of 53.3mpg. And with emissions at 139g/km, you’re only one tax bracket higher than the entry-level Disco Sport. Murray Dietsch, Director of Land Rover Programmes, commented: ‘Land Rover’s new family of Ingenium engines is truly class leading. By
introducing it to the Discovery Sport, we can now offer enhanced fuel economy and reduced CO2 emissions while improving overall performance. The Ingenium engine confirms Discovery Sport’s position as the most versatile and capable compact premium SUV in the world.’ Much of Land Rover’s new Ingenium range has focused on the advanced use of lightweight materials and the reduction of friction within the main block. Rigid cylinder blocks are made from aluminium and injectors are decoupled, while a combination of
The new Ingenium range of engines moves Land Rover’s technology to the next dimension. Produced at the new Engine Manufacturing Centre in the West Midlands, the centre is set to produce 450,000 Ingenium engines each year at full capacity low-pressure exhaust gas recirculation and Selective Catalytic Reduction helps to keep both CO2 and NOx emissions down. A blue ‘Sport’ badge will denote the 148bhp version as one of Land Rover’s ‘E-Capability’ vehicles. These models will feature 18-inch alloys and low rolling resistance tyres. Gearing has been adjusted accordingly to achieve the best economy possible, while service intervals are now every 21,000 miles compared to 16,000 previously. It all means the Discovery Sport should be a more affordable vehicle to run.
That brings us to prices, and Land Rover has revealed a lowered starting price for the Discovery Sport – with £30,695 buying you the five-seat 148bhp TD4 manual in SE trim. Finally, another level of trim has been introduced to the line-up with the addition of the HSE Black. Essentially, this is a more black Disco Sport, with additions like privacy glass, though a price of £41,250 on the road would be enough to put many people in the red. The order book is now open for the new Ingenium-powered Discovery Sport, with the first deliveries expected in September.
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Comment
We had our first Discovery Sport on test this month. While I was getting out of it one morning, a guy who works near us piped up. ‘That’s not a Discovery! It’s a Freelander. You can’t call THAT a Discovery!’ Interesting. He was sat behind the wheel of a small SUV at the time – and is therefore exactly the sort of customer Solihull wants to win over. Or is he? He’s a man who likes his cars and knows what he’s looking at. Is that the kind of person Land Rover has in mind for the Disco Sport? The ‘real’ Discovery has always stood for immense practicality in a package that combines supreme family-car ability with the sort of offroad skill that makes a Land Rover a Land Rover. Even the poshed-up and expensive Disco 4 is a phenomenal all-rounder beneath all the jewellery. No-one expected the Disco Sport to be an off-roader, of course. And everyone expected it to justify its high price with a sea of leather and toys. It does that – and it would be unfair on Land Rover to call the vehicle overpriced in isolation, given what some of its premium rivals cost. But what surprised me about it was the lack of anything to move the game forward in terms of family practicality (seven seats don’t count, not when the likes of Renault have been fitting that many people into smaller vehicles for years). More than a decade has passed since the Disco 3 rewrote the book on how it’s done, and no-one has been able to match it since. Not even Land Rover, it seems. The Sport’s back seats don’t even fold properly flat. For that alone, I don’t think it deserves to be called a Discovery in this day and age. But in answer to matey’s question, yes you CAN call it a Discovery. Because that will make people lap it up. And since the entire UK economy seems to rely on Jaguar Land Rover, that’s all to the good. It’s a very good vehicle, too. But I don’t believe that its name will win over one single person who knows what a real Discovery is like. Alan Kidd, Editor
Issue 17: July 2015
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Issue 17: July 2015
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Land Rover helps out big cats A new lion enclosure and education centre has been opened in Ethiopia thanks to Land Rover’s support for the Born Free Foundation. The enclosure and ‘The Tree House’ centre are situated in Ensessakotteh, a newly redesigned facility which is set to be visited by thousands of school children each year. Children will learn about the environment through educational activities such as interactive games, writing workshops and role-playing scenarios within the classrooms to help them understand the importance of conservation. Virginia McKenna OBE was one of the attendees for the special opening in
Ensessakotteh, which means ‘Animal Foot Print’ in Amharic. The enclosure offers sanctuary to more than 70 wild animals which have either been orphaned or rescued from illegal trade or ownership. Visitors can enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the 77-hectre site, which allows wildlife to live peacefully within their natural environment. The centre at Ensessakotteh has a Defender on site, one of the many vehicles Land Rover has donated over the years to support the Born Free Foundation and conservationists in their work, whether it be to carry food for animals or transport people to and from the centre.
Land Rover will continue to support the charity in order to aid animal welfare, protect threatened species and prevent the animal suffering that still occurs on a massive scale throughout Africa and around the world. It also works with local government to aid wildlife management. Mark Cameron, Jaguar Land Rover’s Global Brand Experience Director, said: ‘The redevelopment of the centre is a project that Land Rover and Born Free have been working towards for some time. The facility will provide a protective environment to care for the wildlife. The centre will also play a vital role in educating young people about the importance of conservation and will make a real difference by spreading awareness about how people can adapt their lives and attitudes to ensure a sustainable future for man and wildlife alike.’ Adam Roberts, Born Free CEO, added: ‘The Born Free Foundation works dynamically and diligently the world over to conserve wildlife, stop suffering and rescue individual animals in need. We can only accomplish our significant successes year after year with the strong support of vital partners such as Land Rover. Ethiopia’s wild animals are more secure because Born Free and Land Rover are working together to ensure their well being, and that is a partnership of which we will forever be proud.’
Yet more awards for Land Rover The 2015 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development has been presented to Jaguar Land Rover for the company’s efforts to reduce its impact on the environment. In total, the Solihull outfit has now been honoured with the award on fourteen different occasions, dating back to its first in 1967. Last year, Jag Land Rover also won the award for International Trade, for its global sales success, and was named Responsible Business of the Year by Business in the Community (BiTC). ‘Jaguar Land Rover is honoured to receive this 2015 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development,’ said CEO Dr Ralf Speth. ‘We are focused on growing a long-term, sustainable business, as leaders in environmental innovation and making a positive impact on society.’ The award praises the work done by Jaguar Land Rover to minimise environmental impacts from its business. The company’s use of
aluminium and other lightweight materials, as well as the new range of Ingenium engines, are resulting in reduced CO2 emissions, with its EU fleet average on schedule to be 25%
lower in 2015 than in 2007. These results are thanks to a programme that looks at ways to reduce emissions across a vehicle’s whole life-cycle – from the raw
materials used to build it to the eventual disposal and recyclability of what’s left when it’s scrapped. Hybrid technology is now in operation on the Range Rover and
Range Rover Sport, and this latest generation of vehicles is now 420kg lighter than their predecessors. The new Engine Manufacturing Centre in Wolverhampton includes of the UK’s largest rooftop solar panel installation, and this will help generate up to 30% of the site’s power. It’s not only the vehicles and buildings that have received careful planning either, as JLR continues to find ways to provide employment or schemes that will enable people into work at a later stage. STEM initiatives, for example, have been designed to find fresh talent, encouraging young people, into careers in engineering, while over 2000 people have been employed as apprentices and graduate engineers. ‘We have doubled our workforce in five years,’ said Dr Speth, ‘and developed a culture of continually increasing their skills. And we are helping to inspire the next generation of engineers.’
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Issue 17: July 2015
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Solihull contractor faces jail for £2m parts theft A Jaguar Land Rover worker has been convicted of theft – after stealing parts from the company over several years worth some £2 million.
On 5 May, the Coventry Telegraph reported that after a four-week trial at Leamington Crown Court, logistics co-ordinator Simon Wensley was
found guilty of theft over a period between May 2010 and the start of 2013, and of a further charge of fraud by submitting false tax returns.
Wensley, 55, has been told to expect ‘a lengthy custodial sentence’. In 2006, Wensley was the sole director of a service company called Wenztec Ltd, through which he was employed at Solihull as a project engineer. Following a downturn in business, his contract was terminated and he returned to the company to work in the area of vehicle safety. The prosecution told the jury that in this capacity he was responsible for ordering components needed for tests and delivering them to engineers. ‘Simon Wensley has been employed by Jaguar Land Rover for many years, and was well-liked by his colleagues and had a reputation for being effective, reliable and trustworthy,’ said prosecutor Laura Hobson. ‘But that made it easier for him to take advantage of the trust placed in him and to steal from his employers.’ Explaining how the thefts came to light, Miss Hobson said: ‘JLR’s investigation department noticed that a large number of parts were being ordered, particularly diesel fuel injectors, and there was no apparent reason for that.’
More than 4500 parts were stolen in total, all of them for vehicles no longer in production. During the police investigation into the matter, it was found that while Wensley’s declared income from Wenztec and another company, WT Motorsports, was £36,785 between 2010 and 2013, more than £263,000 in cash was deposited in his account during the same period. ‘The only way to account for that is the sale of all those items he was stealing,’ said Miss Hobson. It is understood that the diesel injectors were for an engine which ceased production in 2007. We asked Land Rover to confirm our assumption that this was the TD5, to which the company responded with the following statement: ‘We can confirm that Jaguar Land Rover’s Internal Investigations team provided comprehensive assistance to West Midlands Police in connection to the case of Mr Wensley, who was a contractor at the company. The resultant investigation led to the recently concluded Crown Court hearing, details of which are well reported. We have nothing further to add.’
Police arrest man after Land Rover pursuit Police officers from Derbyshire and South Yorkshire forces have arrested a man after a stolen Land Rover was pursued along the A61. The Land Rover was reported as stolen after disappearing from a driveway in New Tupton, near Chesterfield, at approximately 3.30am on Thursday 7 May. Officers were directed to search the area for the 4x4 when it was spotted heading north on the A61. Derbyshire Constabulary subsequently alerted South Yorkshire Police and officers from both forces pursued the vehicle for several miles until it stopped on Sheffield Parkway. A 23-year-old man was arrested by South Yorkshire Police officers on suspicion of theft and failing to stop.
The suspect was charged later that day with aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance. He is currently awaiting trial. A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: ‘Derbyshire Police would like to thank their colleagues across the border for their help.’ Anyone with information should call Derbyshire police on 101, quoting crime reference number 19062/15, or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. In the meantime, the successful conclusion of this particular chase means that of the very many Land Rover owners whose vehicles are stolen, there is at least one person this month who has been reunited with their vehicle.
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NEXT MONTH
Farewell friend: Bernard Tomkins has owned this rare Series III Hi-Cap for the last 33 years. But as his 80th birthday approaches, it’s time to say goodbye PLUS
Shaun Carlin tells us how he got his 90 to shine like a new one, but without the TDCi gubbins...
Ever felt that you need a bit more luxury during your overlanding travels? A Discovery 3 isn’t going to be your first thought when it comes to travelling the world – but it makes for one smooth ride...
NEXT MONTH’S LANDY IS PUBLISHED ON 29 June You can pick up your copy of our August 2015 issue from
newsagents or Britpart dealers – or read it online at www.thelandy.co.uk
01283 553243 • enquiries@assignment-media.co.uk • www.thelandy.co.uk • www.facebook.com/thelandyuk Editor Alan Kidd Assistant Editor Mike Trott Admin and Editorial Assistant Gemma Pask Art Editor Samantha D’Souza Contributors Dan Fenn, Gary Noskill, Paul Looe Photographers Steve Taylor, Harry Hamm, Michelle Thruxton
Advertising Sales Manager Ian Argent Tel: 01283 553242 Advertising Production Tel: 01283 553242 Publisher Sarah Kidd Email: sarah.kidd@ assignment-media.co.uk Every 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
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Issue 17: July 2015
iT’S OFTEN THE MOST simple ideas that can be the most effective – life saving, even. If you’ve never driven a Defender Hard-Top before, for example, your first experience behind the wheel is likely to scare the living daylights out of you as you discover just how the visibility over your shoulders really is. Even a seasoned Hard-Top driver can be faced with situations that make you want to go for the parachute. Ever tried joining a busy motorway in mainland Europe while towing? That’s when the size of your blind spot comes home to roost. You can’t make those blind spots go away (at least not without getting in there with a stilsaw), but you can look for ways of seeing round them. And that’s what Mud-UK has done, with its Blind Spot Mirror for the Defender which gives you the visibility a hefty great van back robs. This is a dual wing mirror with standard and convex sections, as found on commercial vehicles from light vans up. A direct replacement for the original, it’s e-marked and has full EU Type Approval. The mirror is the same size as Mud’s XL Defender Mirror Head, measuring 245 x 140 mm compared to the standard 198 x 124. If you already have these larger mirrors in place, a conversion kit can
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be bought instead to provide you with the blind spot insert without having to shell out for the whole lot from scratch. Not that it’s a cripplingly expensive way to improve your ride, at £35 per mirror including VAT. Better still, the new units are compatible with Mud’s Heated Mirror Kit. www.mudstuff.co.uk
Britpart’s range of braking products has just expanded further than ever to include a wide variety of fitments from EBC. These include the Yellow Stuff, Green Stuff and Ultimax ranges, with excellent general availability covering the Disco 4, Range Rover Sport, Evoque and Range Rover L322 and L405. EBC’s Yellow Stuff range of performance race pads has the widest coverage, with the Disco 1, Range Rover Classic, Freelander 1 and 2 and Defender 90 all included in addition to the models listed above. Green Stuff high performance pads can also be used on the Freelander 2 from 2012 onwards, and there’s also a good spread of Landies suitable for fitting with the Ultimax range of heavy-duty pads. In addition EBC’s brake discs are also available for the L322, Evoque and Defender 90. Of course, the goalposts move if your Land Rover has had an axle swap, but the law of probability says you’re more likely than not to find something here that’ll do the job. www.britpart.com
• If you don’t feel the need to go down the full-house EBC route, Britpart’s own branded brake pads are also available for the L405 and 2014-on Range Rover Sport. These are available in XD and heavy-duty XS form, promising to match original equipment quality at prices which ought to be much easier to stomach. Whether you care about prices if you drive an L405 or still-in-warranty Sport is another matter, but these are parts whose popularity will surely grow as these models get older.
LASHING DOWN YOUR WAFFLE boards can be something of a troublesome business. Aside from the fact that they come in different sizes and thicknesses, what happens if they get worn down with use? Suddenly, the nice tight mount you set up is as baggy as a pair of old pants. Salvation is here in the shape of the Uni-Clam from 4x4 Goods, which is easily adjustable to suit both 38mm and 50mm thick waffles. You can get them in black, red, orange and yellow, and with the length and width both being adjustable they’ll never outgrow your boards. A pair of Uni-Clams will cost you £75, with a standard bolt fixing kit included. www.4x4goods.com
To advertise in The Landy, call Ian Argent on 01283 553242 w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k We’re on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyuk FOR A LONG TIME, the P38 Range Rover was seen by many as a classic example of how over-complicated 4x4s have become. These days, however, two more generations of Rangey have left it looking like a welcome throwback to the days of transfer levers and live axles. Still, the P38 has a horrendous reputation for breaking down and costing fortunes to put right. That’s still true – but now that the aftermarket has developed ways of dealing with the worst of its foibles, the old shed’s ability to cause hair loss and uncontrollable rage is at least diminishing. More to the point, prices have slipped… no, plummeted, to the point where now, this most undesirable of Land Rovers may be about to become the company’s most wanted! The guys at Allmakes 4x4 certainly think so. Sensing that with high supply and low prices turning the old warhorse into an increasingly appealing base for a project, they’ve been bringing out P38 upgrades left, right and centre. The company’s air to coil conversion kits have been around for a while, and that’s a very good job because replacing the air suspension is by far the most popular mod on this vehicle. But if you want to take your P38 off-road, you’ll want more than just that. Ironically, considering the number of P38 owners who fantasise about smashing their vehicle to bits with a sledgie, protection is high on the list of off-road mods. So Terrafirma’s Steering Guard could be a good starting point – there’s a zinc-plated steel version for about £125, or for fifty quid more you can go for an alloy unit. ‘We have had a lot of demand for P38 Range Rover accessories and upgrades as they are becoming a very affordable vehicle now,’ says Terrafirma manager James Richards. ‘We have many trade customers who are now using them as demonstrators, and they wanted a range of Terrafirma products to keep the brand loyalty.’ As well as the steering, you might want to armour your Rangey’s diffs. The company’s zinc-plated steel guard will fit directly to either your front or rear axle – demonstrating once again that while the vehicle was built with a great deal of designed-in off-road skill, enhancing that is mainly about
protecting it against the hazards it’ll come across rather than helping it reach them. Let’s not forget that despite everything, this was still a true Range Rover. If you can get away with turning a luxury 4x4 into a hardcore terrainmuncher, then surely the P38 is the one that’s trending at the moment. Further kit in the list includes a front winch bumper, with integrated swivel points, at about £400. There’s also a stronger rear bumper available, again for a similar amount of money. Most recently, Terrafirma has also released a couple of extra steel guards, one for the transmission and the other for the fuel tank – which, in a P38, is quite a precious thing. Well worth the £220 outlay, at any rate. ‘The P38 Range Rover delivers a huge amount of car for the money,’ James
concluded. ‘And there are plenty of people out there that don’t want to go down the Defender or Discovery route.’ With Range Rovers of this vintage lined up waiting to be bought for prices that start at less than a grand, the temptation is certainly there. Yes, buying one of these vehicles is like playing Russian roulette with the health of your bank balance, especially now they’re getting so old and leggy, but James is right – by any standards, this really is a lot of metal for your money. Most of all, it’s a very fine off-roader at a very low price. Certainly, you could have a sound P38 for the sort of money that would only get you a minger of a 90. And with a little modifying, this Rangey can be turned into a truck whose off-road ability stands comparison with anyone. Now, who’d have thought that ten years ago?
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Safety Devices makes roll cages for a lot of different vehicles, but there’s nothing quite as distinctive as the ones they do for the Defender. The latest, which has just been added to the Britpart range, is an 8-point bolt-in job for the Defender 110 Td5 Double-Cab. It’s made using the traditional design with an external front section and internal rear. If that sets alarm bells ringing, it needn’t – whereas in a simple hard-top, the rear stays might be likely to use up some of the cargo area, here the whole cage has been designed to avoid imposing on rear seat space. Shop around carefully for one of these, because prices vary by several hundred pounds (we’ve seen them priced from as low as £720 to more than a grand). But do make sure you’re comparing like for like, as some but not others will include delivery. www.britpart.com
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Rock sliders are pretty much a must-have part of any serious off-road build these days. On a Defender, even if you don’t intend to go dragging it over hardcore terrain, a decent bit of steel will make the difference between shrugging off a chance meeting with a tree stump and turning a sill, and quite possibly the very expensive door above it, into scrap metal. Britpart’s new 90 and 110 rock sliders bolt on as a straight replacement for the vehicle’s original sills, attaching themselves to the vehicle via heavy-duty chassis brackets. They’re fully welded and come zinc primed with a black powder-coated finish. Britpart says these sliders are suitable for all 90s from 1983-on and 110s from 1984-on. Expect to pay in the region of £150 for a pair of the shorter ones, and about a score more for the 110 units. www.britpart.com
On the odd occasion that Britain experiences some fine weather, those of us who live here in our island home will make use of our wonderful coastline and visit some sort of beach. You know, the one that always ends up looking like the scene out of Lost when the rains hit… Anyway, the point is that be it down the beach or out on expedition, this sand business might be beautiful but it gets everywhere, in every crack and hole it can find. Yes, and the cracks and holes in your Land Rover, too. This is something anybody who’s driven across a desert will agree with. But at least now your Defender needn’t be coughing out sand dunes long into the autumn when that weather has well and truly gone. Or, indeed, once you’re out of the desert and rumbling homeward across Europe. That’s because Bearmach has launched a new sand/snow cowl to fit over the grilles on either of your Defender’s wings. This is suitable for all Defenders, including the Puma variant, and will help prevent any foreign bodies from entering into your Landy’s heater ducts. You’ll have noticed that you have a wing on either side of your Defender, so two cowls you shall need. They’re priced with an SRP of £28.00 each, which is a little money for a lot of protection – so now you can go to Weston-super-Mare, or the Kalahari, with peace of mind. www.bearmach.com
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Being soaked through for a prolonged amount of time is part and parcel of off-roading, particularly if you a) do it competitively or b) drive a Land Rover that leaks. Or both, obviously. At least one redeeming feature about wet clothes is that you can take them off. But when you have to put clothes on which are already wet – that’s when things really do get soul-destroying. Especially when they’re overalls, because as the name suggests they’re going to be wet over all. So, good on Demon Tweeks, who have come up with a coat hanger that will actually dry your wet clothes and overalls while they’re hung on it. The HangAir Drying System dries your apparel in hours and will prevent it from starting to smell like a dog that’s been for a morning dip in the canal. The device has a strong nylon body and stainless hook to support up to 100lbs of (wet) clothing. The drying ability comes from a built-in fan, which will ventilate anything from a T-shirt to a full race suit. The mains-powered fan is rated to 120 cubic feet of air per minute (more than a downdraft Weber…), and you can get it with an optional car charger. At £63.54 including VAT, buying a couple of these could be one of the best ways you’ll ever find of saying thank you to the spanner boys who keep you running at event after event. www.demon-tweeks.co.uk
Changing the oil filter on a Td5 isn’t exactly the least swear-worthy of jobs, for the simple reason that there’s not a lot of room around it. But there’ll be more if you fit this Britpart-branded job, which is shorter than standard and therefore that much easier to get your hand around. A proper fit and forget affair – until you come to take it off again, when you’ll remember and give yourself a big pat on the back. www.britpart.com
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16 Caffeine SOS w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k
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Issue 17: July 2015
Sometimes you just fancy a nice, hot cup of coffee that will hopefully be brown in colour, but not brown in nature.With Stuart Hancock and Mabel, his Td5 Defender,
you’re just as likely to sample one of their many splendid beverages on a windy hillside, as you are in Birmingham City Centre... this is All Terrain Caffeine
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here are many applications in which a Defender 110 would be found particularly useful. Indeed, utility companies, overlanders and Mountain Rescue prove this point particularly well. It has the capability of any other Defender, yet enough space to carry the kitchen sink along for the ride too. Take Mabel, for example: she is a 2002 Defender 110 Td5 and, while she may not carry around an actual kitchen sink, she does carry a fully functioning coffee machine. With the coffee machine, Mabel and owner Stuart Hancock, you end up with All Terrain Caffeine – a barista service that really can get caffeine to the most unlikely of places. ‘I’ve been in the outside and mobile catering service for around 20 years,’
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Words Mike Trott Pictures Mike Trott and Stuart Hancock Stuart tells us. ‘I used to have coffee vans and burger vans and all that sort of thing. You see a lot of coffee conversions in VW campers and other vans, and I decided I wanted to do it in something a bit more… sexy.’ Of course, as a coffee shop on wheels, you’re not likely to find hundreds of punters gagging for a cappuccino on top of a cold and foggy moor. So naturally Stuart’s business plan often includes time spent in more accessible locations. Many of you will have seen on TV programmes or witnessed first-hand the sheer amount of street vendors in major cities like New York and, here in the UK, Birmingham is looking to buy into the trend. ‘I travel down to Victoria Square in Birmingham on the first and third
Wednesday of every month, but we also take Mabel to Kings Heath on the second Saturday of every month for Brum Yum Yum,’ says Stuart. ‘If I had a fiver for every person that wanted their picture with Mabel, I’d be able to afford another three trucks!’ Brum Yum Yum is part of the KingshEATh Street Food Market and is well worth a visit if you like your flavours a little more ‘out there.’ As for Stuart, he was keen to latch on to some of the events in Birmingham because, to him, it really is a proper city. ‘You know it’s a city when you have four lanes on the way into the centre! Nottingham is a town compared to Birmingham. I can’t believe how big the place is.’ Having said that, Nottingham does have some importance to Stuart – he
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Issue 17: July 2015
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lives there, for starters. Or ten minutes south of the city, at least. His business also has some crucial links there. ‘Some friends have a roastery not too far from us who have a coffee shop in Nottingham,’ says Stuart. ‘We only use their coffee.’ 200 Degrees Coffee (not literally) is the company name and they are almost as fanatical about coffee as Stuart is. Almost. ‘Coffee is my passion,’ states Stuart, ‘I love coffee, but hate rubbish coffee. You’ll go to some places and they’ve got all the gear, but no idea.’ Stuart did have the right idea in getting a Defender, though, and now he really does have all the gear.
‘It’s the first Defender I’ve owned. I bought the 110 in September; converted it myself and Bonfire Night was the first job we did in it,’ recalls Stuart. This 13-year-old Td5 Defender, which wasformerly owned by Western Power, has clocked up 248,000 miles, so in Stuart’s words it’s an ‘oldie but a goodie.’ Mabel has acquired a set of BFGoodrich Mud-Terrains too, had her EGR valve removed and a roof rack fitted to provide space for a few extra beans, if necessary... ‘I cut the side out to put the hatch in. I could have gone for a shutter but I wanted to keep the lines of the vehicle. And once I paint the hatch it will look
just like a regular 110 from the outside.’ Not a grande or a venti, then… Of course, the advantage of having a Defender over the likes of a Citroën Berlingo – besides being considerably cooler – is that your Land Rover can handle the weight of quite a lot of water. This is why Stuart has an on-board water tank for the coffee machine. ‘I love Land Rovers now,’ he exclaims. ‘I’ve got a dodgy lock on the one side so I worry that when I do lock it, I won’t be able to get back in! The problems make it more interesting, I think; cars are boring in comparison. Continued overleaf
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Above: Set up and ready for the punters, this is what you’ll see parked up around the UK, from folk festivals in Wiltshire to Victoria Square in Birmingham Above: Clearly this is no ordinary coffee shop, because this could deliver your skinny latte up a snowy hillside if needs be, and as such Mabel needs to be equipped with shoes that are capable of getting her to the destination. A set of popular BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain tyres will ensure this Defender doesn’t get ground out...
Right: The extra space in the Defender is utilised by storing away extra stock, gas bottles and the water tank - something you just couldn’t do in a Berlingo
‘The Defender’s got the looks and it’s always going to get us where we need to go, and if we get a bit of dirt and mud on Mabel along the way it just draws people in. The Defender can scrub up well for weddings though!’ When Stuart says ‘we,’ he’s referring to the rest of his team which, as well as Mabel, includes his wife Allison and
As you would expect, the seasons can have a bit of an effect on business, but with the days being so much lighter now it’s full frothing through the summer. ‘We’re going to be busy now all the way through to October really. We’re booked in all over the place, with a folk festival in Warwickshire and the Village
daughter Evie. While the company is Stuart’s brainchild, he will call upon the rest of the family if he’s going to be rocking up to a show or a festival. ‘I run the business, as this is my only occupation so I’m able to focus solely on it. I’ll get the family to help out if needs be though – the wife brings the glamour!’
Pump Folk Festival at the end of July down in Wiltshire. It’s a slow journey, mind, but worth it. ‘The Parafest in North Wales in June will probably suit us quite well. There’s paragliding and mountain biking going on – stuff that involves being a bit more rugged.’ Getting a company up and running is almost always the hardest part, and this is still Stuart’s first year in business. But now people are starting to chase him for future events. The trouble is, as he will tell you, there are only so many weekends in a year. Nevertheless, for every time this special Defender pulls up at a square or a show near you, Stuart will be happily be serving up a boost of caffeine to anyone who needs it. ‘Some people might laugh, but I’m not a massively social person – I don’t have a huge circle of friends. But when you’re out at the markets and shows, I like it. Everyone has a story to tell.’ If you’d like to find out more about All Terrain Caffeine or keep up to date with where Mabel will be parking up next, visit www.allterraincaffeine.com or check them out on Facebook at The All Terrain Caffeine Co.
20 Different Class w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k
News
Issue 17: July 2015
Words Paul Looe Pictures Harry Hamm
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n the world of Defender modding, bling is very much in. Those of us who have traditionally lusted after hardcore 90s with big suspension and bumpers that make little girls cry might struggle to understand it, but more and more people are turning their Land Rovers into posh, eye-catching style wagons. To be fair, even the muddiest of offroad traditionalists should be able to appreciate a well modified 90, even if it is a blinger. ‘Appreciate’ and ‘afford’ are two different things, however – and the sort of prices you see companies asking for as-new Defenders in full tart spec can make your eyes water. Of course, the sort of money you see Land Rover asking for showroom-spec 90s can make your eyes water, but
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The rise of bling in the world of Landy modding has created a great divide between millionaire Defender owners and everyone else. But people are already starting to get creative in a bid to create the classy look on an everyday budget – and this unique 90 built by North West Defenders is one of the most stylish results yet that’s a different story. The point is that putting on the style aboard a 90 or 110 is a pricey business. But more and more companies are cottoning on to the idea that there’s a market for older Defenders done up in the style of these untouchable new footballers’ rides. No, little forum jockeys, don’t get your instant snob on and assume we’re talking about a shed with a paint job. A good 90 or 110 is still a valuable vehicle – and so long as that’s what you’re starting with, giving it the look-at-me treatment will still make people want to, well, look at it. One of the most imaginative companies working this kind of magic on older Landies is Lancs-based North West Defenders. Visiting its showroom is a fascinating experience, not least
because despite its name the company is actively involved in restoring older Landies – parked to one side when we wandered in was a beautiful 80” Series I, and next to it were lines of interestingly restored and modified 90s and 110s with various tweaks to make them stand out. You don’t often see an expedition truck in the same display as a box-bodied tipper, but you do here. What we’d visited to look at, however, was another kind of Defender – a 90 that had been given a sound beating with the style stick. North West Defenders describe the vehicle as ‘a real head turner.’ They’re not wrong. Even in the company of so many other funky 90s and 110s, it stands out instantly in its bright white finish and Twisted Performance alloy
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Above: Stylish, yet functional. This 90 may have enough teak decking to cover the upper levels of the Titantic, and the iceberg white paint job could be a little hazardous if you forget your sunglasses, but at least with the snorkel fitted you won’t be left floating helplessly won’t you encounter a puddle... wheels. It’s a looker, and it makes no apologies for the fact. But let’s go back to what we were saying about a shed with a paint job. Think that’s what this is? At £13,990, certainly, it’s priced at a fraction of what you’d pay for an as-new style wagon from one of the A-list tuners like Khan or indeed Twisted. But we’re not talking about a pensionable Tdi or a pre-Defender heap with retro power here. This 90 came to North West Defenders as a 2.4 TDCi County Hardtop from 2007 with only 23,000 miles on the clock and one owner from new. That’s a bit more, perhaps, than you’d expect to pay for a standard one – though finding an early Puma on such low miles is very rare, so it’s hard to make sensible comparisons. The point is, though, that this is the sort of Land Rover you’d have been proud to own in standard form. You don’t have to look far to see specialists asking almost as much for TD5s on six-figure mileages, so be in no doubt that this is a good bit of 90 for your money. Yes, the 2.4 TDCi has its Continued overleaf
‘That one little touch of class makes this 90 unique’
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detractors, but a Puma’s a Puma when all’s said and done – and the same can be said for a Defender, any Defender. We’re not here to do a surrogate promo job on North West Defenders’ behalf, though, but to admire this most handsome of 90s they’ve put together. As you can see, it has a full external cage, paint-matched to its body, and slick black panoramic windows in place of the old-school van sides that were once in their place. On the other side of these, the interior features XS-spec seats – behind which is the little touch of class that makes this 90 truly unique. In a bid to do something none of the uber-bling merchants have thought of, the guys at North West Defenders got creative with some plywood and veneers… and voila, one teak-decked Land Rover. We’ve seen similar things being tried in the sort of concept cars million-buck tuners and manufacturers like Rolls-Royce exhibit at major international shows, but the luxury yacht look actually suits the back of a Defender remarkably well. It’s topped off with plush carpeting, and the overall effect is great – not the most practical if you want to lob chainsaws in there but it looks fresh, imaginative and classy, without beating its chest at you the way some of the big-money interior treatments can. That can be said about the vehicle as a whole, actually. If it was in any colour apart from white, it would look less like a footballer’s ride, but even with this dollop of Cheshire about it there’s an element of restraint that keeps it from going over the top. In addition to the cage and alloys that we’ve already mentioned, there’s a snorkel and KBX front grille in place to add to the rugged image. And it works, too. This is a 90 that scrubs up very well indeed – but you could absolutely picture it going to work on a farm or building side before donning its posh togs for a night out on the town. Showin’ it off, keepin’ it real - it’s the very essence of a cool modern Defender.
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Issue 17: July 2015
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Bowling Along Nicely...
‘it’s Low, light and agile – it’s the perfect laning truck’
Dale Wyatt runs a Freelander 2 and a classic Series I. But if you were to ask him to show you the true essence of a Land Rover, he’d point you to his green lane toy… a 100” Bowler special with power coming from, if you don’t mind, a Range Rover 4.2 LSE
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he word ‘bowler’ has some pretty yawn-evoking connotations. Watching a man bowl in cricket is boring. A man playing ten-pin bowling is generally American, big and round, with suspiciously large sweat patches about his shirt even though the room he’s standing in is fully air-conditioned. But still boring. And a bowler hat is ridiculous – unless you’re Charlie Chaplin. But one context in which the word ‘bowler’ does get the adrenaline racing is when it’s the kind that was invented by Drew Bowler. Fast, raw and, of course, a Land Rover at heart. And we’ve found an early Bowler 100” that doesn’t have the word ‘compromise’ in its vocabulary.
Words Mike Trott Pictures Mike Trott and Dale Wyatt This is a Bowler that illustrates perfectly what a toy is supposed to be: for the purpose of pure, unhinged fun. Dale Wyatt is the proud (and lucky) owner of this Bowler 100”, otherwise known as his laning vehicle. Yes, laning. That 100” signifies something of a magic number in the Land Rover circle and sure enough, with the looks of a Defender and the wheelbase of a Range Rover this Bowler doesn’t disappoint. I was fortunate enough to accompany Dale – who is also the Wiltshire area representative for the Green Lane Association – on a trip last autumn around some of the lanes of Somerset. And I can confirm that having a front row seat really gives you an idea of just how special this vehicle is.
Bare and stripped out the interior may be, but when all you’re interested in is having fun and actually driving the beast, I doubt there are many better vehicles out there. ‘I like the simplicity of the thing. And I’ve always liked the way they look,’ says Dale. ‘I’ve always been into Land Rovers, ever since I was a kid. I would see them on the road and really admired the shape of them. ‘My first ever Land Rover was a toy one from Longleat. I still like the look of the Series Land Rovers, which is why I have the Bowler – it has a more classic look about it.’ Starting them young is never a bad thing and Dale shows how little toy models of Land Rovers can soon
To advertise in The Landy, call Ian Argent on 01283 553242 w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k We’re on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyuk become big boy toys. This Bowler looks a bit like one of those old military 4x4s you see bouncing about the barracks with a bit of light cargo on board, or perhaps a handful of troops in the back. However, there is definitely only room for two in this snarling machine. Squeezing into the cockpit, a pair of bucket seats beckon you inwards for the start of what you know is going to be an epic ride. It’s an experience that is made all the better once Dale turns over the fearsome lump lurking beneath the angular bonnet. A V8 really is the only engine this sort of vehicle deserves – and even when all you’re using it as is a laning
Above: This is a no-nonsense, straight-talking machine and as such, you’re not allowed to whine about the lack of luxuries, like carpet… Instead you park your backside deep within the bucket seat, strap yourself firmly in, shut up, and enjoy the fabulous ride Left: Dale has everything just how he wants it inside this sparse cockpit. The iPad provides him with Memory Map information and is less of a faff than having to open and close several OS maps. The CB hangs down from above ready for communication with the outside world Below: Glinting the engine may be, but you’ll have a glint in your eye when you hear it. The 4.2-litre V8 has enough torque for all your needs
truck, few engines will put a broader smile on your face. The thing is, though, Dale hasn’t just got any old eight-cylinder motor to fill the void. Instead, he has the 4.2-litre V8 straight from a Range Rover LSE… Yes, go ahead and take a minute if you need to. ‘The LSE engine – I love it. The engine runs so sweet and makes a fab sound! Seriously, it’s got all the torque you need, when you need it,’ enthuses Dale. And it’s not hard to believe him. While Dale and his Bowler together can make some of the sweetest noises ever to be heard in Somerset – or anywhere else for that matter – there’s a few other interesting points you should note about this hardcore star from the Eighties. First off, that barking V8 has SU carbs from Burlen, with its surging waves of torque delivered through the standard LT77 gearbox. The Bowler has also got a couple of handy 10-spline limited slip differentials and a set of 235/85R16 Kumho KL71 Mud-Terrain tyres. The suspension calls upon ProComp gas shocks on the rear and De Carbons on the front, with springs chosen to match the weight of the vehicle. In fact, the weight of the Bowler is one of its biggest assets. ‘Low, light and agile – the Bowler is the perfect laning truck,’ claims Dale. And if you’ve ever found yourself rubbing the roof of your
lifted Disco or Defender up against a tree on a sunken lane, you’ll get what he’s on about. Needless to say, the Bowler is light on its feet because of what it doesn’t carry around… window winders, for example. Instead of wasting precious grams with silly things like that, the military-spec door-tops have windows which just slide open and shut, while the door bottoms are from a Series I – and therefore not exactly the thickest of metals. ‘I’ve owned the Bowler now for about seven years,’ Dale reveals. ‘I had been looking for one specifically, but it was quite a lengthy process. I was searching
for a number of years before this one came up.’ After spending all that time waiting for the opportunity to acquire one, you can understand when Dale says he won’t be parting with this vehicle any time soon. It’s also easy to appreciate why he doesn’t use his Bowler as an everyday vehicle. Harnesses, for instance, don’t make for the quickest of entrances and exits… ‘I have a Freelander 2 for my daily drive, which does everything I ask of it. Then I’ve also got my 1957 Series I that’s just gone in for a bit of TLC,’ says Dale. ‘The Series I is going to be cleaned and tidied up, just keeping it
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original. I still want the old farm truck looks – but I also want to make sure it will last for another twenty years. ‘If I was only allowed one Land Rover in my life, I’d have to keep the Bowler (if that’s Land Rover enough). Totally unpractical of course, but I’d always have a smile on my face (even if it was frozen there in the midst of winter) and an empty wallet! Fortunately I have the three, so it’s ok!’ I for one cannot argue that as three-car garages go, there aren’t too
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‘I’d always have a smile on my face – and an empty wallet!’
many better ones around. The Bowler captures the very best of Land Rover’s heritage, and then throws a whole load of fun and excitement into the cooking pot. If this vehicle were a herb in a jar, the label on it would read ‘Essence of Land Rover.’ It’s pure, uncompromised and tremendously addictive. It’s what Drew Bowler turned Landies into; what made him famous and the reason why some bonnets bear his name. It’s Land Rover at its best. Left: Dale also has a 1957 Series I in his possession and he’s managed to uncover this photograph of his Landy doing what it did best all those years ago – working in the countryside Above: A Mountney steering wheel is one of the few accessories this Bowler carries. No time or allocation for heavy things, like window winders. The military style door tops suit this vehicle perfectly Right: Dale is the Wiltshire area representative for GLASS. So if you frequent the lanes of Bath or Salisbury Plain, there’s every chance that you’ve seen his Bowler out and about
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Issue 17: July 2015
On test: Discovery Sport 2.2 SD4 HSE Luxury
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Welcome to
Words Mike Trott Pictures Michelle Thruxton
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he Discovery is no longer a single model within Land Rover’s ever-growing range. Instead, like the Range Rover, the Discovery has settled down to start a family – and its first born is the Discovery Sport. This is a direct replacement for the Freelander 2. That means it should be at the affordable end of Land Rover ownership. But it’s also a Discovery, so it needs to be capable of taking anything the average family can throw at it. On the latter score, the baby Disco is available with an extra two seats. That moves the goalposts, taking it away from Freelander territory and making it much more like the vehicle the Discovery has become. So the question we have is this. Are we looking at nothing more than a
fancy Freelander here, or does this new addition to the family really deserve that coveted Discovery name?
Is this a true seven-seater? When it was new, more than a decade back, the seven-seat interior in the daddy Disco was a game-changer. Even today, it’s still world-class. It’s a true seven-seater, capable of carrying a full crew of six-foot adults in real comfort. But the Disco Sport is a smaller vehicle. Has the art of interior packaging moved on enough to let it pull off the same trick, or is Land Rover trying to fit a quart into a pint pot here? The answer is that yes, we managed to fit seven six-footers into the
There’s a new kid on the block... But is it just a young pretender - or can this baby dance like the daddy? Discovery Sport. Those in the very back needed to be flexible to get in, and they sat with their knees around their ears, but for short journeys it can do it. The middle row of seats can slide forward and backward by 160mm, which helps significantly. It means you can choose between a very spacious five-seat Disco with lots of luggage room or an adequate seven-seat vehicle with just about enough room in the back for the family shop. Just make sure it’s the kids playing limbo into the back row, because in real terms that’s who it’s right for. Left: The Discovery Sport does hold the advantage of two extra seats over the outgoing FL2. Only to be used for short journeys, though, unless you are under 4ft tall...
How’s the rest of the interior? With a price tag of £43,845 on our HSE Luxury test car, we expected it to be particularly pleasant inside. And right we were, as the 10-way adjustable Windsor Leather seats proved to be very comfortable – even when racking up over 400 miles in one day. Our Disco Sport came with the Glacier interior, a colour that’s neither cream nor grey. After a bit of getting used to, we found this to be very light and airy, creating a much more spacious cabin ambience than you might expect from the alternative Ebony option. The panoramic roof only added to this, too. How long such light seats would stay healthy with a crew of small
children causing mayhem in them is a different matter, but if you can control this it’s certainly a handsome interior. Cruise control helps munch the miles away and at motorway speeds it is one civilised environment. The 8-inch touch-screen infotainment system is easy to use, though perhaps not as slick through the menus as the latest iPad. Buttons and dials are finished beautifully and have functionality in mind. Caress the gear selector dial into ‘R’ and a rear-view camera will pop up to show you the obstacles behind, while an audible signal alerts you the closer you get. This version of the Discovery Sport can even park itself – it’s not the first in its class to be able to do this, but it’s a neat party trick nonetheless. Wherever you look in the cabin there are sockets to let all passengers play on
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their smartphones and stay charged up on the go. In addition, InControl Wifi enables you to stay connected with the outside world – and keep the little gremlins occupied for the duration of the journey. You’ll probably have the back row of seats folded down 99% of the time, in which case the available luggage capacity reaches 981 litres compared to the Freelander 2’s 755. Our Disco Sport had a power-assisted tailgate, which adds a touch of glamour and, a welcome bonus, adds genuine convenience to the vehicle’s practicality. On the minus side, the middle row of seats doesn’t fold entirely flat. This didn’t stop us from transporting a super-sized rabbit hutch in the back of our test vehicle, but loading it was more awkward as a result. When you’re
trying to slide stuff in through the tailgate and suddenly it’s digging in to a carpeted slope, that’s not helpful. Our other beef with the Disco Sport’s interior would be the refinement, or lack thereof, from an engine that
sounds more than a little agricultural around town. Its gruff note settles at speed, though once on the motorway it’s replaced by an element of wind and tyre noise.
Sport by name, sport by nature?
You’re perhaps thinking that because this latest Land Rover wears ‘Sport’ lettering, the young pretender may have taken some lessons in how to dance its way around the Nurburgring. Wrong. This is no speed demon, no stripped out sports car, and it will never set your loins tingling because of how it drives – though the heated seats will have a go. It may bear the ‘Sport’ name on the tailgate, but the word ‘Discovery’ crucially appears before it. It’s no slouch, however – in fact, it’s deceptively quick, with bags of surplus oomph for any everyday situation, and the auto box has flappy paddles for novelty value (but, to us, not a lot else).
Issue 17: July 2015
It handles, too. You can go on the attack through your favourite set of corners with nothing to fear. The suspension, which is in part derived from the Evoque, is tuned for crisp handling and the vehicle will indeed remain
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easily unsettled by bumps, and corrugated surfaces set up an irritating patter through the front that simply shouldn’t be there. To us, it feels that the balance has been skewed too far in favour of handling, and ride quality has suffered as a result.
How about off the tarmac? composed whatever you ask of it. For a car that weighs over 1800kg, it copes remarkably well. That composure dries up over poor roads, though. The suspension is too
As is predictable with any new Land Rover, you get the very latest in Terrain Response wizardry. Like the replaced Freelander, however, the Sport doesn’t have low range, and as such it won’t be climbing any mountains. But you weren’t buying it for that, were you…? Continued overleaf
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Above: From this angle the Discovery Sport looks like a tardis. Okay, so Doctor Who may not be inside, but the Sport is more commodious than the FL2. Middle seats don’t fold completely flat, though. Minus one mark The electronics mean the Discovery Sport is capable of go off-road. But it can do it in the same way that the staff of The Landy can dance the rumba. It’s just probably best for everyone involved if we don’t. Ground clearance and wheel travel will always compromise what a vehicle of this nature can achieve, however
hard the electronics are working to overcome the laws of physics. This is, on the other hand, a gravel track hero that will never leave you stranded, no matter what the weather – indeed, on the sort of loose but fairly flat tracks that make up most of the real-world off-tarmac work people do, it’s probably a better bet than a Defender. It’s what
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Above: As you would expect, the Disco Sport is a nice place to dwell. Leather, polished metals and a host of electronic gadgetry can be provided for you – it will lighten your wallet rather substantially, however
happens when the ground starts asking questions that trips it up.
Farmer or footballer?
New Land Rovers are handsome, generally. They are certainly better
looking than some of the other brands out there, but one man’s classy can be another man’s vulgar. The Black Pack options and Cheshire grilles can be a bit too much, especially first thing in the morning in a traffic jam. But the Disco Sport we tested looked good. Restrained, stylish, cool… everything they’d want you to think of
it, really. The front could be mistaken for a lanky Evoque, but that would be cruel. There’s no baby face to this baby Disco, which sits taller and longer with a hint of elegance. It looks like the premium vehicle it is. Does it look like a Discovery? The short answer is no. Though when the Disco 5 is launched, that might change. Whether this is a good or bad thing is for you to decide.
What’s it like to live with? Elsewhere in this issue of The Landy, you’ll read that the new Ingenium engine will replace the current 2.2-litre diesel from September. Once that next-generation unit comes along, we think the Disco Sport will become much more of the vehicle it already should be. When a new vehicle is launched, it should raise the bar significantly. At the very least, it shouldn’t be hamstrung by the past. But the SD4 engine, a carry-over from the Freelander, sounds coarse by modern standards and at times felt ill-matched to the new nine-speed auto now bolted to it. The vehicle’s quoted fuel consumption figure of 44mpg is good, though without going crazy on the gas the best we could get was 40. Yes, this is a premium vehicle. But a premium vehicle shouldn’t be lumbered with the engine from the car it replaced. A Discovery should have back seats that fold flat. And a family 4x4 should ride better than our test car. Yes, it’s full of gadgets and gizmos. They’re nice to have around and will surely get the odd coo from your
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Above: Gone are the days where you could see deep inside your engine bay. This tidy compartment houses the old 2.2-litre SD4 engine from the Freelander 2. It was built for the FL2; not the Disco Sport. Our advice: hold out for the Ingenium model set to land in September. You’ll go further on a tank, pay less on road tax and hopefully it will add a touch more refinement to proceedings passengers, but how much will you actually use them in real life? That’s not a rhetorical question, because at £43,000 for the HSE Luxury you certainly pay for them.
Verdict While this is not yet the perfect compact SUV, it does inherit some of its ancestors’ vital selling points. It has functionality at the heart of its design and there aren’t going to be many family situations in which it will let you down. Comfortable, well equipped and a pretty credible seven-seater, it’s really not a bad car. The Sport won’t go places a full-fat Disco will go. It won’t tow as much weight either (2200kg), but it’s a good car and families will be happy to have it waiting on the drive for school runs, holidays and mum’s-taxi duty.
Our advice would be to stop at the SE Tech model. Opt for the auto box (essential for resale value) and, if you want to spend some more, add in the servicing option pack. Boring, but good
But £43,000 is too much money. Our test car felt premium, but we think it would still feel premium in SE Tech trim. The blunt truth is that being asked to spend so big on a vehicle with an engine that’s past it sell-by date is out of order. Don’t turn your back on a Disco Sport. But if you can, hold off until the new engine comes on stream and we think you’ll get a better, greener and more refined vehicle. Or if you can’t wait that long, take a look at the nearly-new ‘real’ Discoverys £43,000 will get you. Food for thought…
7/10
value. You’ll be looking at a shade over £36,000, which is still a lot for a small SUV – but at least it’s not the sort of money which, a decade or so ago, would have bought you a new Range Rover.
Stats (as tested)
Engine : 2.2-litre SD4 Transmission: ZF 9-speed auto Top speed: 117mph 0-60 mph: 8.4 secs Power: 190bhp @ 3500rpm Torque: 310 lbf.ft @ 1750rpm Kerb weight: 1,863kg Towing limit: 2,200kg Fuel economy: 44mpg (40) Price: £32,395 (£43,845)
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32 All In Good Time w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k
Issue 17: July 2015
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‘I’ve tried to make sure I’ve done something every day’
Robert Fraser has been restoring his Range Rover for 27 months and counting. Having spent the first part of its life in Saudi, it’s now getting set for semi-retirement on the lanes – because having spent all this time getting it right, the last thing he wants to do is shut it away where it can’t do what it was made for…
M
ost Range Rovers in the Middle East these days are big, flashy things, owned by billionaires who made their fortune selling oil to the West before splashing out on a Premier League football team and luring in a hoard of foreign players with a wheelbarrow of money as bait. Just saying… Chances are you probably wouldn’t miss a Range Rover over in the Middle East because it would blind you with its new gold chrome painted exterior (other disgusting paint jobs are available). Not every Range Rover that resides or has visited the Middle East has fallen victim to what looks to us reserved Brits like lavish vulgarity, though. The Classic we have here spent a few years out there and is currently nearing the end of a thorough – and slow – restoration, by a man who doesn’t believe in dodgy paint jobs or flashy cars. He just wants a nice working Classic… and very soon that’s what he’ll have.
Words Mike Trott Pictures Robert Fraser ‘If I get it done this year, I will be happy,’ said Robert Fraser a couple of months ago. He’s had this 1984 twodoor since February 2013 and has been slowly renovating it piece by piece… literally, at times. ‘I’ve tried to make sure I’ve done something every day, even if it’s just one nut or bolt,’ Robert explains. ‘I haven’t rushed it; I said when I bought it that I’ll take as long as it takes.’ What Robert bought was a fairly run-down old Range Rover that had spent the first four years of its life serving Queen and country in Saudi Arabia (note that the steering wheel is on the left) in the esteemed employ of the British Embassy. Well, it is a Range Rover, after all. In 1988, the Range Rover was exported to Britain, where it spent the next 25 years going through the hands of various different owners. Finally, it went up for sale on eBay, and that’s where Robert comes in.
‘I happened to be browsing on there the one day and this popped up five miles away,’ he recalls. ‘I’d always wanted one, ever since I was a child – they’re pretty cool cars. ‘I don’t have any actual proof that this is a British Embassy vehicle, but the sand that fell out of it seemed to back up the story!’ As well as a substantial amount of desert, there was also a bit too much rust for Robert’s liking. The sills were in a bad state, so he took the Rangey to Off-Road Rovers – where they kept the vehicle for two to three months. ‘You get a better labour rate if you’re in no rush, because then they’ll just work on your vehicle between projects,’ explains Robert. With new sills and the holes in the floor welded up, and the other panels being in a better condition, it was now time for Robert to get stuck in himself. ‘I started doing little bits of tinkering,’ he explains. ‘I wasn’t particularly
Above and Below: When Robert bought this former Saudi Arabian beauty, he quickly realised how much of a project he’d signed up for. Just take a look at the state of the footwell before Robert sent the Classic to Off-Road Rovers. The moment you can identify the terrain by looking down at your feet is never going to be good...
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Above: Before and after, these are a couple of shots of the engine bay at different stages of the refurbishment. Notice how the picture on the left shows how the bonnet seemed to develop its own ecosystem – not so on the right. Just one tasty 3.5-litre V8 bothered about the air-con, so I took it out. The doors were then painted, followed by the whole exterior in 2014. ‘I don’t want it to be restored to a concours level, but just a good, workable condition.’ Next, Robert went through the axles and brakes and rebuilt the original 3.5-litre V8. He’s been making good progress over the last couple of years, but in the past few months he seems to have kicked into overdrive – because 27 months after purchasing this former Saudi sophisticate, the big day is nearly upon us. ‘The Range Rover passed its MOT in March. I could have waited, but my other car is due around this time so I didn’t want both MOTs to come at once in the future,’ Robert says. ‘It’s almost ready to go on the road now. Some of the dashboard needs putting back in place and there are a few other trivial things to sort out. I’ve got a new set of instruments from a slightly newer model, because I wanted to have a rev counter.’
Robert continues: ‘I reckon I can have it on the road for 1 June. Am I looking forward to it? Yes and no. Something may well break or there could be a leak – you never know with these vehicles.’ While he’s spent a great deal of time working on and waiting for this big moment, he’s not going to finish the job and simply admire it while stood in a heated garage. No, Robert wants to use his Range Rover like any Land Rover should be… off the tarmac! ‘Perhaps I’ll take a couple of local trips first, in case it needs to be towed home. I live near a few green lanes, so I’m looking forward to testing it out there. I’m certainly not going to be frightened to use it. Of course, I’ll have to get used to the steering wheel being on the left! Off-roading is one of those things that I should have got into long before I did…’ It’s never too late, though – and with the Range Rover finished off, he’ll have a new companion to test out all the routes with.
Right: This may be how the Classic arrived at Robert’s house, but within a few weeks this former British Embassy vehicle will be back on its feet for good. You’re always going to get a few teething problems, but once they’ve been rectified, Robert will be able to enjoy the fruits of his long and patient restoration Below: New seats in place ready for its rightful owner to take the Classic off to the lanes. These were donated to Robert and needless to say he happily made use of them
‘I will try and put the Range Rover on the road without anything outstanding to do on it. These vehicles are never finished, really. If it’s anything like my last Land Rover, it will always be an ongoing project! ‘I won’t keep changing bits and pieces on this, though. I’m not going to keep playing with it!’ If you’re adamant that classic vehicles should be pickled, stored and never driven, you’ll class Robert (wrongly) as just another Range Rover owner wrecking a priceless piece of Britain’s motoring heritage. If, on the other hand, you have a soul, you’ll appreciate that by bringing this vehicle back from its old state and giving it a new lease of life, he’s doing way more to preserve the legend than any museum ever will.
Above: Let’s play a little game of ‘Spot the Difference.’ Can you tell which panel has been painted?
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When you’re huddled under wet canvas in the pouring rain for two weeks and there’s a converted 127 ambulance keeping its owners warm and dry next door, there’s only one thing for it…
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Words and pictures Andrew Kendall
riving an ambulance to Italy seems rather silly on face value. When the ambulance in question is more than a quarter century old, you’d perhaps think the driver has gone a little mad. But this particular ambulance, who goes by the name of Katy, has been enjoying a very active retirement. She’s a big old girl, and that’s because she’s a Land Rover 127. I’d seen a converted 127 ambulance on a camping holiday in Iceland, while I spent two weeks in the rain inside a small tent. ‘What a wonderful idea,’ I thought. ‘How do you build one of those?’ Back home, I did some research and found I didn’t need to build one – they already existed. I’d been browsing eBay for a while when we purchased Katy, on a bit of a whim. I had just attended the funeral of a good friend who was always up for an adventure, so it seemed appropriate. That was in February 2011. She was described as ‘a Land Rover ex-military ambulance conversion with a solar panel to charge the second battery, on-board water tank, fridge, stove, toilet, hand-held shower’ and as
a vehicle that ‘goes well and pulls like a steam train.’ That wasn’t all. ‘There are many, many years of happy camping here and don’t forget it will go just about anywhere,’ said the listing. So what could go wrong? We bought her, brought her home, cleaned her up and almost immediately set off to visit family in Yorkshire. Cue a catastrophic failure of the gearbox and transfer case on the M42. So we went and got some nice refurbished units from Ashcrofts. While we were at it, we changed the military 1:1.67 ratio to the standard Defender 1:1.4, allowing us to move out of the horse-drawn carriage lanes on the motorways. A couple of tester trips in the UK were enough to persuade us to invest in a full suspension upgrade, with Azalai 130 Camper springs and new 25mm front and 28mm rear Extreme 4x4 anti-roll bars. These proved to be quite literally a life-saving upgrade on our first trip to the Italian Alps. We wanted a good introduction to proper overlanding with a view to gaining experience for the longer trips we plan to do in the future. I had come
across Alpine Rovers on a couple of forums, and we decided to join them for a number of reasons: they only took small groups, their tour was on mainland Europe and the destination in the Alps was somewhere we would be interested in as my wife Rhian and I are both geologists. The equipment we had on board consisted of a fold-down double bed, various cupboards and a shower (we removed the toilet, as we didn’t fancy driving its contents around!) Katy also has a three-burner stove, 50-litre water tank with electric pump, electric hookup for the water heater and shower, large solar panel charging a leisure battery, two Calor bottles and the usual array of spare parts and manuals just in case. What could go wrong? Having booked on to Alpine Rovers’ tour around the Susa valley in Northern Italy, we set off from Cardiff and made our way to Dover. At this point, anything beyond the UK was considered a success. It was a really hot day and running at 65 mph meant we were regularly stopping at rest areas to let Katy cool down. Following out sat-nav, we arrived at the
To advertise in The Landy, call Ian Argent on 01283 553242 w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k We’re on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyuk Camping Grappe d’Or at Meursault, south of Dijon… only to find a sign on the gate saying ‘Complet’ (full). But then something amazing happened. As we sat there trying to decide what to do, the owner Juliette came walking towards us. ‘I bet you need somewhere to stay?’ Yes, we said, we did. And before we could ask if she could recommend somewhere else, she said they could find us a place to park because they have a rule there – which says they always tried to help visitors in Land Rovers! It turned out she was a Landy owner too, hers being a 1980 Series III. And on to Italy we travelled. The Alpine Rovers team consisted of Mandy and Mike Springer in their Tomb Raider 90 and ‘German Mike’ in his 109” Series III. Their reaction to Katy was interesting: ‘That’s bigger than we imagined!’ Clearly 127s are an uncommon sight on these trips. The next day, we set off into the mountains on the north side of the Susa valley. I was very nervous as to how Katy would cope with the steep
tracks; Mike advised second gear, low ratio and diff-lock engaged for the loose stuff, and to avoid changing gear on anything steep. We listened. By the time we had done a fair chunk of climbing and the tracks were levelling out, we were making it into third or even fourth gear (still in low box, of course) on the flatter sections and running easily with almost no smoke, even at this high altitude. Through some more woodland, we found our first problem with Katy’s proportions. She was collecting the trees as she passed them, and the awning rail soon needing a spot of bending back into shape. Through the rest of the tracks, though, we had no significant issues. We found ourselves able to keep up well with the group, though we did have to take a few more shunts at the tight hairpins. Mind you, with Katy’s wider offset Wolf wheels, we weren’t doing much worse than German Mike’s 109. The following day took us back down from that high point and across the Continued overleaf
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valley to Argentiera. Nothing too extreme in that, but the scenery remained magnificent – and there were some washed-out corners that had us carefully balancing on three wheels as we eased our way through them. Our reward was a wonderful camp site, with no-one else in sight and a huge waterfall in the background. Our next leg took us along the high route from Siestre to Usseaux. Back on day one we had seen a superb Unimog that had been converted into a camper van, and guess what was coming towards us on one of the narrowest sections with a 2000ft drop to the right…? The Unimog was still superb, but the prospect of trying to squeeze past it was anything but. I was very unsure, so I asked Rhian to step out of the vehicle while Mike came forward and started directing me as we inched closer and closer. Just as we were through and Mike said to pull forward, my rear wheel dropped into a hole on the edge of the precipice. All I could do was power on, terrified of what might be happening. It was my scariest moment – but in hindsight, it’s also the one I talk about the most! What would have happened without those suspension upgrades? I shudder to think. For day four, we intended to top out the trip at 10,000 feet at Rochemolles – but the weather was to beat us. There was still late snow across the road and we were limited on time and places to turn around, so we beat a retreat at 9329 feet and headed back down to find our camp site. This involved our first
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river crossing, but the route was well known to the guides and proved easy. It was at this campsite that the benefits of having a 127 became clear. It was lashing down with rain and the mist had set in – and we were able to just pull up and put the kettle on while the rest of the team struggled with their tents. We did make them tea, though! With the rain making the high mountains rather an unpleasant place to be, we dropped down to the lower altitudes for some gentle lanes and a bit of touristy stuff. The next day we finished our adventure by doing part of a wonderful route on an old Roman road heading back towards Susa. We only did part of that route, though, because there had been a landslide and there were rocks to climb over which our guides thought would be a problem with our extra-long wheelbase. That’s clearly a compromise you have to consider in one of these vehicles. We set off back north after several wonderful days of mountainous trail riding, having gained an immense amount of confidence both in our Land Rover and in our abilities to use it properly. We made it home with no issues having cropped up during our 2020-mile round trip. Katy impressed all the tour group, ourselves included – though she certainly wouldn’t have managed the trip in the state she was in when we bought her. We do have things we want to do to improve our 127. But we intend to take German Mike’s advice seriously: ‘Only add things that add value. Knowledge of how to cope and fix things is more useful than any gadget.’ I think he approved when I said the most important things I carried were a tool kit and a Haynes manual for the Defender! Do we want to go on other adventures? Clearly, yes is the answer. But there is work to do – more electrics to sort out, and the bulkhead needs repairing or replacing. I do want to make some more improvements to the interior, too, and Katy definitely deserves a respray. My perfect adventure would be into Uganda, where my Gran lived for ten years, but we’ll probably do a few more shakedown trips to places like the Pyrenees or Morocco before trying anything like that. I’m often asked if we’ve taken Katy on any adventures, and now at last I feel I can look people in the eye and say yes. ‘She’s been over the Alps,’ I tell them. ‘And when I say she’s been over them, I really mean it!’ Andrew is a very firm fan of Katy and indeed all 127 Ambulances. If you too would like to find out more about Katy or different Land Rover Ambulances, visit his blog at landroverkaty.blogspot.com
38 LAND ROVERS AND PARTS FOR SALE w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k
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Series I
dry-stored for several years but is now outside and in need of a new home. £4750. Beccles, Suffolk, 07544 147066 06/15
Series I 88” soft-top (1956). Solid chassis with full cage. Tax exempt. 2200TC P6 Rover engine conversion. Reconditioned carbs, runs superbly and starts first time. Used daily. ARC logbooked. Series III axles with large brake drums. Rear ally petrol tank, parabolic springs, electric fan, new temp gauge, 4 seats with belts. £5500. Lancs, 01942 603091 05/15
Series I hard-top (1958). Needs a full restoration. New V5 present, chassis plate is present and correct. This very rare Land Rover will make a very rewarding project. £4500. Halifax, West Yorkshire, 07825 855740 05/15
Series I double-cab (1955). Not for Landy purists (who I have the greatest respect for), this truck is fitted with a 200Tdi engine and PAS. This makes it easy to drive, and it has seat belts fitted throughout. I am selling in order to buy a one-owner, original, 1948 Series I – no other reason. £12,995. Rye, Kent. Email tor@assignment-media.co.uk, quoting box number L07/15/001 07/15
88” Series I hard-top (1957). For Restoration and Repair. SWB hard-top with windows. 2.0-litre petrol – engine is partly dismantled and not running. Chassis and bulkhead rusted. Original logbook and V5. In present ownership for more than 20 years. Possibily ex-Civil Defence. Good, non-transferable number plate. No tax or MOT needed. Has been
Series II
Classic Series II 109” pick-up (1964). 97,500 miles. Tax-free historic vehicle with MOT. Perkins engine in excellent condition. Comprehensive restoration with chassis repairs, new brakes, wheel cylinders, brake and clutch master cylinders, radiator, recon injectors and pump, new battery, lights all round, new starter motor and top-quality seats. Vehicle has freewheeling hubs and a draw bar. £6000. Stanton Harcourt, Oxon, 01865 883208 or 07769 824913 07/15
88” Series II (1959). 51,000 genuine miles. Very early Series II using the 2.0-litre diesel engine.
GUMTREE 4x4 SpecialiStS in land rover, range rover, diScovery, freelander and all 4x4s servicing, repairs, conversions, rebuilds & chassis replacements. performance and off road modifications.
Recently sympathetic restoration to original working standard, cost more than £5000. Solid chassis, sealed underside. Newly painted. Engine restored to a perfect standard, runs beautifully with no smoke. Fitted with an overdrive, which kicks in well and runs very smoothly. New canvas roof and upholstered seats. MOT and tax exempt. An opportunity to own a rare and beautiful Land Rover. £10,000. Rolvenden, Kent, 07743 709095 06/15
Series IIA 88 (1968). 200Tdi, galv chassis. MOT Aug. Strong Discovery engine. Brake servo. Solid bulkhead. Overdrive. Exmoor Trim full tilt. Parabolic springs and uprated dampers fitted 6 months ago. Range Rover heater. Tailgate modified to open like a door. Electric fan, Range Rover rad, Glencoyne 4x4 alternator. New props and UJs. Phone charger, high-back cloth seats, Hankook tyres on larger wheels. £5600. Telford, 07446 192319 05/15
Series III
Land Rover Series IIA (1969). 2.25 petrol. 48,389 miles. Beautiful marine blue Series IIA 88” softtop. In excellent condition, fully serviced recently, newly repaired starter motor and 10 months’ MOT. No need for tax! Essex. £3000 ono. 07966 242402, eccure@gmail.com 01/15
109” Series III (1974). Ex-military 3.5 V8 project – nearly finished, comes with 100s of spares. Heavy-duty chassis, overdrive, wing reinforcements, longer seat legroom. No tax or MOT, on SORN since August last year (last MOT passed with no advisories!) Chassis is original, fully undersealed and in excellent solid condition for age. Front and rear crossmembers in superb condition. Bodywork very good condition. Rock solid Defender bulkhead, modified to accom-
modate V8 engine and Series III brakes, throttle, windscreen hinges etc. Gearbox, overdrive and axles all in good condition. FWH. New clutch, including 9.5” pressure plate and both cylinders. Good brakes and tyres, recently sealed canvas in average condition for age. Engine makes good oil pressure but appears to need new head gaskets and could do with a tune up. New aluminium radiator and Steve Parker exhaust. Spares include low-mileage gearbox and axles, springs, bonnet, propshafts, hood sticks, bulkhead, panels and more. Loom for brake and rear indicator lights needs replacing. Very little work required for MOT. NB the amount of spares means you will need two trips or a very large trailer! Very reluctant sale due to lack of time and a house move. £2499. Alderley Edge, Cheshire, 07902 078430 06/15
88” Series III (1974). 200Tdi with PAS. 106,049 miles. Tax exempt. MOT Feb 2016 (no advisories). Engine starts, runs and pulls really well. Excellent bulkhead
and chassis with recent new rear crossmember. Fully undersealed. New Parabolic springs and ProComp shocks. Fully polybushed. Front and rear 13,000lb winches, twin batteries with T-Max splitcharging system. Front winch bumper and rock sliders. Rear roll bar with work lights. Disco diffs and FWH. Rebel steering guard. Front prop spacer. 265/75R16 Insa Turbo Special Tracks. Wheel spacers. New adjustable height towbar with electrics. Defender seats (good condition). Heater works fine! £3895. Hull, 07973 849078 06/15
Series III 88” pick-up 2.25 petrol (1977). Extremely good vehicle, but engine seized so for sale as a project. Was in use as a daily driver, 60 miles a day 5 days a week, until a top end bearing went on the previous engine and the cheap one I bought to replace it turned out to be a dud. I no longer have time to spend on it, however the vehicle would be ideal for a turbo-diesel conversion as everything else on it is perfect, much better than most Land Rovers you see. I would swap for another interesting vehicle so don’t hesitate to ask. The Land Rover is still taxed, insured and MOT’d, and has 4 brand new tyres with inner tubes which have done less than 200 miles. £3500. Stroud, Gloucs, 07742 918994 07/15
sound, hood VGC, rust-free for its age! Road tax and MOT exempt. Isolator switch, new fuel pump. £4500. Hull, 07737 320448 05/15
Lightweight
Series III Lightweight FFR 24v (1984). 34,000 miles. 11 months’ MOT (no advisories). First issued to 40 Royal Marine Commando and stayed until decommissioned in 1999 (I have paperwork to prove this). This Lightweight has been upgraded by the military as it was issued to special forces, with Wolf wheels and bigger front brake shoes. It also has an overdrive gearbox. It drives great, all nice and tight on the road. The camo baskets on the bonnet were only put on special forces forward operating vehicles. The engine is fitted with waterproof HT leads, distributor cap etc. Paint has flaked with jet washing, showing original colours below including desert paint, and the vehicle is also fitted with a Land Rover desert sun visor. It comes with canvas, jerry cans, water can, hoops, union flag as issued by the Ministry of Defence. £3195. Wirral, Merseyside, 07598 689135 07/15
90
established in 1981, located in mid-sussex
tel: 01444 241457 info@gumtree4x4.co.uk
Series III 109” Fire Engine (1975). 2286cc petrol. Ex Guernsey and Alderney. Registered for road use in 2001. Good starter, drives and brakes well. No MOT or tax (as a fire engine it is exempt). Fairey winch, some hoses, ladders, suction pipes and various fittings. £3995. Chorley, Lancs, 07714 331685 05/15
Minerva
Land Rover Minerva TT (1952). Recent overhaul, new paint, new suede gaitors. New battery and alternator, 12v aux. Brakes overhauled, new diff and gearbox oil, seats re-upholstered. 4 new tyres. Electronic ignition. Bulkhead
Defender 90 off-roader. MOT Dec. Converted from a 110 in 1993. Discovery 200Tdi engine, just had full cam belt kit including tensioner, water pump and radiator, and good second-hand turbo fitted. Good chassis, bulkhead looks mint. External cage mounted to body. Tubular front end. LED headlights, sidelights, indicators and tail lights. Raptor dash, Puma bonnet, cubby box, Scooby seats (3 seats in back as removed 4th for tools etc). 285/75R16 Insa Turbo Special Tracks. 30mm wheel spacers. New +2” lift springs 3 months ago. Shock relocation kit with 11” travel shocks and dislocation cones all round. Twin snorkels (one for heater, which needs finishing). Diff guards, steering guards, bush cables, rock sliders, brand new tank guard. Winch bumper (no winch). Swing away wheel carrier. Tow bar with electrics. Spare A-frame ball joint supplied as it will need one soon. £POA. Doncaster, 07429 145045 06/15
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Defender 90 TD5 County (2003). Challenge vehicle with massive spec. 68,000 miles, full MOT. Very straight and tidy, just had full respray. Comes with factory-fitted electric windows, full remote central locking and immobiliser. Stage 2 engine remap (off-road/torque map). Professionally fitted challenge front end, HD winch bumper, Warn winch with synthetic rope. TDCi Puma bonnet. Terrafirma +2” springs and +5” shocks in -2” turrets. Qt 6-degree cranked arms, Terrafirma double-cranked rear arms. 2” lift blocks. Sumo bars, steering guard and Terrafirma damper. Good quality snorkel and hardmade side-exit exhaust (sounds unreal!) Small steering wheel. 35x12.50R16 Maxxis Mudzillas on modulars with 2” spacers. Both axles upgraded to TDCi hi-capacity 4-pin diffs and HD 110 rear halfshafts. Body sliders and rock sliders. Many recent parts including new rad, alternator, starter motor, wheel bearings, EGR removal kit, clutch, recon steering box and Bosch HD battery, all within last 18 months. Recorded Cat C as stolen recovered. No rust at all, anywhere. I have more than £15k in this and am only selling due to lack of time. £8999. Holmfirth, West Yorks, 07703 383492 (no calls after 9pm) 06/15
Defender 90 300 Tdi (1997). 141,000 miles. Ex-RAF, served in the Falklands. Very good condition. Chassis just cleaned and sealed. Recent new rear crossmember and front outriggers. 4 new door hinges. Front light bar. Winch bumper (brand new winch can be bought separately, never been fitted and still in box). This truck as had lots of care and it shows how it drives. The interior is in very good condition, seats are like new with heavy-duty covers. Two sets of wheels and tyres also available – alloys with BFGoodrich tyres and modulars with brand new 285/75/16 Insa Turbo Special Tracks. £4600. Conisbrough, South Yorkshire. 07950 461197 06/15
Defender 90 300Tdi (1994). 155,000 miles. Superb condition, with full service and lots of new parts. Professionally restored with 12 months’ MOT. New carpet, one-piece tinted glass, chequer
Issue 17: July 2015
plate, bumper (with DRLs), fuel tank and filler neck, rear shocks, discs and pads all round, brake lines, lift pump, doors, outriggers, 1/3 rear crossmember, steering and diff guards, tailgate and NAS LED tail lights. Full respray inside and out, load bed fully lined, chassis fully welded to high standard. Genuine Wolf wheels with Michelin XZLs. Retrimmed dash with matching gear gaiter. New aluminium gear and diff knobs. Still leaks a little oil, but it is 20 years old! Good strong engine pulls well with no gearbox issues and all. This is a nice solid 90 with all the work done and ready to go. £6400. Leek, Staffs, craigwormald@me.com 06/15
Defender 90 2.8 truck-cab (1984). 133,999 miles. MOT September. 2.8 Daihatsu engine. Snorkel. 285/75R16 Fedima Siroccos. +2” springs and shocks. Heavy-duty steering arms. Chequer plate wing tops. Range Rover grille. New push-button doors. CD player. Honda CRX seats. Side-exit exhaust. May swap. £3400. Newark, 07961 009001 05/15
Defender 90 300Tdi (1985). Full 12 months’ MOT. Excellent condition. Rust-free chassis. Full external cage and challenge-style front wings. Rock and tree sliders. 12,500lb front winch with remote, Plasma rope and air freespool, 9500lb rear winch with remote. 265/75R16 Insa Turbos on beadlockers. Quick-release steering wheel, Raptor dash, ARB compressor with tyre inflator. Rebuilt LT77 box and Disco transfer. +2” Terrafirma suspension with front and rear shock turrets and dislocation cones, wide-angle props and heavy-duty halfshafts. Diff guards. XT disc handbrake. Qt 3-degree cranked arms front and back. Snorkel and diff breathers. Side-exit exhaust. Heavy-duty steering arms. New timing belt, alternator, starter motor and heavy-duty battery just fitted. £4350. Doncaster, 01709 863555 or 07930 876533 05/15
Defender 90 300Tdi. 168,000 miles. Front and rear ARBs, upgraded steering arms, underbody protection, Allisport intercooler, heavy-duty clutch just fitted, chassis and bulkhead in mint condition. £5500, Liverpool. 07956 361888 05/15
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w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k
Issue 17: July 2015
STOCKIST DIRECTORY
South-East England
Importers, Exporters, Wholesale Distributors & Retailers of Winches & Accessories
TDS Goldfish Winches - The Best! East Foldhay, Zeal Monachorum, Crediton, Devon, EX17 6DH Tel: 01363 82666 • Fax: 01363 82782 • www.goodwinch.com • sales@goodwinch.com
South Wales
Foundry 4x4 Ltd
Cast Iron Quality & Service The Old Bakery, Rear of Vale Terrace, Tredegar, Gwent, NP22 4HT
www.foundry4x4.co.uk
info@foundry4x4.co.uk • 01495 725544
Defender 90 300Tdi (1988). 211,000 miles. Repainted in 2011. Redesigned rear lights. Custom winch bumper, front diff guard and steering guard. Terrafirma springs. Heavy-duty steering bars. Terrafirma polybushes. Insa Turbo Special Track tyres. Twin batteries and alternators. K&N performance air filter. Sparco steering wheel. Raptor dashboard. Cobra Monaco seats with 4-point belts. £5500. Hatfield, 07525 147663 06/15
North West England
East Midlands North East England
Gumtree 4x4 “Independent Specialists in Land Rover, Range Rover, Discovery and Freelander.”
Defender 90 300Tdi. 12 months’ MOT. In Heritage green. 2” lift kit, freshly Waxoyled. Chassis has had some patches over the years. Boost alloy wheels (wheels and seats could do with a refurb). This car drives really, really well and is very powerful. it needs to be driven to be appreciated. Has also got Safari snorkel etc. £4250. Halifax, 07896 595192 06/15
Unit C17, Ditchling Common, West Sussex, BN6 8SG
www.gumtree4x4.co.uk admin@gumtree4x4.co.uk • 01444 241457
www.island-4x4.co.uk Online Land Rover Part Specialists Offering Worldwide Mail Order
West Midlands
Defender 90, 200Tdi pick-up (1992). 12 months’ MOT. One owner from new. 129,000 miles. New clutch and cover, new handbrake shoes and heavy-duty adjustable tow bar. Chassis very clean and sound. Good reliable vehicle. £4200. Denbighshire, 07776 210775 06/15
* Free Mainland UK Delivery Over £50 * * Delivery France, Germany and Belgium £10 unlimited weight and parcels *
Defender 90 200Tdi (1987). On/off-road. 150,000 miles. Recently painted in Kawasaki Green. Interior is decent but could do with a slight upgrade. Comes under very cheap c lassic car insurance. Jacked up on big springs and shockers, wide wheels, Momo racing steering wheel (comes with disk lock), stainless steel side-exit exhaust, guards all round, Terrafirma steering damper, dislocation cones. Very solid all-round chassis and bulkhead. £3995. Mirfield, West Yorks, 07563 234944 06/15
Defender 90 (1986). 300Tdi. 12 months’ MOT, 95,500 miles. 300Tdi and R380 from a Discovery fitted professionally at 76,000 miles in 2009. Solid chassis. Disc brake rear axle conversion. Momo steering wheel, high-back half-leather XS seats. Performance air filter. Replacement rear crossmember, fuel tank, front brake calipers, rear brake lines, steering damper and tow electrics, also clutch master cylinder, late newer-type clutch pedal assembly, brake servo pump, fan belt tensioner and water pump housing. Sale includes a replacement bulkhead (the one fitted on the vehicle has some rust). Very low mileage for the year. £4750. Sturry, Kent, 07843 228220 05/15
sales@island-4x4.co.uk
South-West England
North East Scotland
Defender 90 TD5 XS Hard-Top (2000). No VAT. 92,809 miles. MOT Nov 2015. Full service history. Minimal off-road use. Well maintained and in very good condition for age, immaculate interior with grey cloth seats (seat covers fitted since new). Air conditioning, BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain tyres (all in good condition, with brand new spare), 16” Boost alloys with locking wheel nuts, hub spacers, front diff and steering guard, Scorpion Racing front bumper, chequer plate wing tops and side protection, rear roof rack ladder, rear step bumper with tow pack, rear light protection, Sony CD.MP3 stereo , fully lined rear load area, sunroof, lockable cubby box. Sale also includes original front bumper, front light guards, dog guard and two-bar roof rack. £8750. Chichester, West Sussex, 07710 170868 06/15
Land Rover 90 (1988). 2.5 TD (19J) engine. Rear bench seats with four auto lap belts. 2” lift kit fitted, with polybushes. Many new parts and recent full service. All drive, transfer and gears work. Large dual-terrain tyres (including spare). Has MOT but is on SORN. £2995. Edenbridge, Kent, 01732 868067 06/15
Defender 90 TD5 hard-top (2000). 70,470 miles. No VAT. Brand new Insa Turbo tyres a few months ago. Apache winch with synthetic rope, mounted on bumper with A-bar and spot lights. Orange recovery strobes front and
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Issue 17: July 2015
We’re on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyuk back (always good when your friend gets stuck somewhere!) Heavy-duty steering guard. Carpeted inside. Rear bench seats. Sony Bluetooth head unit. Bulkhead spot-on, chassis in good condition, rear crossmember could do with a spray. MOT July. Heaters not working (might just be a fuse), dink on back panel. £7500 ono. Barnsley, 07917 528584 06/15
Defender 90 200Tdi softtop (1994). 137,000 miles. Southdown snorkel with Gwyn Lewis wading hoses and manifold. Terrafirma TF100 alloys with beadlocking rims and Kumho tyres (with less than 1500 miles on them). Toad alarm. Heated windscreen. Raptor console. Terrafirma +11” Mega Sport Competition suspension and +2” springs with SuperPro bushes. Exmoor Trim bikini hood and rear black benches with lap belts. Cobra bucket seats. CB. Black chequer plate throughout. Full replacement dashboard. MOT November. A great fun vehicle in very good condition. £7999. Brockenhurst, 01590 620083 06/15
110
Defender 2.4 TDCi 110 XS (2007). Twisted Performance one-off. 80,000 miles. FLRSH, 11 months’ MOT. Possibly the highest specced one in the country – I challenge you to find a more bespoke example. Modified by Twisted in 2008 with remap, performance stainless exhaust, K&N air filter, de-limited, Gale Force air intake vents, stainless side indicator guards and full hand-stitched Italian leather interior includes seats, cubby box and steering wheel. Baton DVD head restraints in front and rear seats for all passengers to watch, hooked up to Alpine console with sat-nav, DVD, MP3 and iPod capability. This detaches so you can use it as a hand-held sat-nav. Electric sunroof, heated front seats and heated windscreen. Steering and front diff guards, full chequer plate option including rock sliders, privacy glass, towbar
with permanent and switchable feeds. Maintained with no expense spared; has had all rear bushes replaced, brand new turbo and all gaskets fitted by and Rover and all brake lines replaced. Still as capable as any Defender, but you can do it all in much more comfort. Five Range Rover wheels available at extra cost, complete with Continental tyres, hub adaptor spacers, locking wheel nuts and mirror-finish spare wheel cover. This is a very reluctant sale as I no longer use the vehicle enough to warrant it. £17,995. Ripon, North Yorkshire, 07496 579542 07/15
Genuine G4 Challenge Defender 110 TD5 XS (2002). 74,000 miles. MOT Dec 2015. 3 owners. 5 seats. Used in the 2003 G4 Challenge, this is one of 30 built: less than 20 are thought to survive today. This 110 was used by the organisers as a communication vehicle on the Australian part of the Challenge. It has been restored to full G4 spec – proper lights, the correct parts from Mantec, new roof rack and flooring as original with no expense spared. FSH and all receipts since release from Land Rover. Replacement gearbox professionally fitted around two years ago. £20,000. Vehicle located near Stafford. Email exelbys89@gmail.com 07/15
Defender 110 Hi-Cap 300 Tdi (1998). Nice original unspoilt truck. Drives nicely. Usual scratches for age but this is a good honest Landy. Bed is in a really good solid condition for its age. £2650. Somerset, 07798 802102 07/15
Range Rover
Classic Range Rover 3.5 Efi 4-door auto (1987). 78,000 miles with history to prove. MOT June 2015. This Car has had a lot of love, time and money spent on it. I bought it from a well
known body restorer with a very good name, who styled it with a completely unique body kit of his own. The paintwork looks fantastic. The chassis and underneath are in very good order, together with all inner arches and sills. Interior is excellent with grey leather and perfect headlining. Fantastic looking wheels with excellent tyres. Toolkit in its own compartment in the back. It comes with a state of the art Alpine stereo system with DVD Player and screens set in the rear of the headrests, which sounds fantastic. Engine bay is nice and clean. It runs very nicely and goes through the gears very smoothly. Throttle is responsive and, with a twin stainless exhaust system, sounds great. The Range Rover has had seven previous owners. It has just undergone a mechanical check and service, and had all gearbox levels checked and the engine tuned. £8995. Essex, 07771 896798 07/15
Range Rover Classic Vogue SE (1993). Nissan 350 FD Tdi. 119,000 miles. MOT Jan 2016. Converted to coil springs. Nissan engine is more powerful than a Tdi and gives approx 35mpg. Grey cloth interior in tidy condition. Recent bills for £2000 covering new steering damper, clutch master and slave cylinders, ABS, anti-roll bar links, bushes, foglights and top-quality welding of front arch and inner rear door frame for MOT. Genuine RR boot tray, working cassette player, all handbooks and manuals present. Electric glass sunroof which works and doesn’t leak. Nearly new General Grabber tyres. Dual battery conversion. Towbar with working electrics. This is an excellent Range Rover, not a pristine show vehicle but a reliable, comfortable, economical workhorse or family SUV in very good mechanical condition with no expense spared on maintenance. Selling due to downsizing, so open to swap or part-ex for a car or smaller 4x4 with cash either way. £2950. Salisbury, Wilts, 07867 750152 07/15
Range Rover Classic 3.5 V8 (1987). Unfinished restoration project. 92,500 miles. Chassis shotblasted and galvanised, along with shock turrets. Cranked
front and rear arms, Polybushes, Rimmer 30-40mm HD lift springs, 2” Pro-Comp shocks. New 225/75R16 General Grabber ATs on refurbed alloys. New brakes and body mounts, excellent refurbished fuel tank, heavy-duty steering arms. Major engine rebuild with reground crank, high-torque cam, honed bores, skimmed heads, new valves, pushrods and lifters, Edelbrock 4-barrel carb and manifold, SS exhaust, RPI plenum, rebuilt distributor, NGK plugs, Magnecor leads, K&N filter, Facet fuel pump and Optima Red Top battery. New fibreglass headlining and aluminium upper tailgate. Waxoyled from new, including sills, crossmember and pillars. No Rust. Only welded parts are two 4” plates (usual rear seat belt mounts on arch), and two 1 x 6” repairs on footwell corners (wheelarch abrasion area). There is a small hole inside the tailgate under the carpet left to repair, but the only big job left is a respray. Front inner wings, sills, footwells and rear inner wings have been sanded, treated, primed and coated in stonechip guard. Sold with various unused, never-fitted parts. Over £10k spent. This is a reluctant sale as poor health is slowing me up, and I may still keep it if it doesn’t sell. Viewing essential, call for further information. £6000. Hornchurch, Essex, 07974 947285 06/15
Range Rover TD6 Vogue (2003). 101,000 miles. FSH. This is the most comfortable car I have ever driven. It’s perfect and drives like a dream. Comprehensive Warranty Direct Warranty, costs £700 per year and transferable for £50 (currently paid to July). £7450. Hastings, East Sussex, 07886 201398 07/15
Discovery
Discovery XS 300 Tdi 7-seat (1996). Off-road monster. MOT December. Solid chassis and boot floor (never welded). Box-section sills and rock sliders (not fitted). CB. LED rook bar. Five 285/75R16 Insa Turbos. Side-exit exhaust. Lots more off-road equipment, all
fitted new this year and only used twice. £2050. Sheffield, 07469 811159 06/15
Discovery TD5 ES 7-seat (2000). 113,000 miles. MOT March 16. Full beige leather interior with heated and electrically adjustable front seats. New heated windscreen, recent clutch and fuel pump. Harmon Kardon speaker system with Sony Bluetooth head unit. Tow hitch with working electrics. Twin sunroofs have been sealed with silicone due to leakage. Usual age-related marks. Please no time wasters. £2700. Wadebridge, Cornwall, 07449 972737 06/15
Discovery TD5 (2004). 165,360 miles with FSH. Genuine Special Vehicles model with expedition prep. +3” Terrafirma lift with heavy-duty shocks. Terrafirma steering damper and braided brake lines. 50mm Bulldog wheel spacers and extended flexi arches. 19” RR Sport wheels with Koala A/T tyres. Terrafirma fuel tank guard, steering guard, winch bumper, Safari snorkel, breathers and removable tow bar. EGR removed. Full stainless 2” exhaust with de-cat and straight-through pipe. K&N filter. Drilled, grooved and vented performance brake discs. New Clutch and flywheel in 2012. New battery, starter motor, double-cardon propshaft, hubs and bearings and major service this year. Roof rack with spot lights (not wired) and spare wheel. Includes 3-in-1 Armadillo side canopy, awning and day room/tent. This is a real head turner and gets admirers everywhere it goes. I have owned and maintained it for over 4 years (only done 7000 miles in that time), and you won’t find one in better mechanical condition. Private plate not included. £4750. Luton, 07833 413071 06/15
Discovery 300 Tdi (1997). 10 months’ MOT. Full Land Rover service history up to 125,000
miles, then last two from local garage. +4” suspension lift, +2” body lift. Dislocation cones, front and back bumper bars. No advisories on last MOT. New boot floor with cream interior, electric heated leather seats in excellent condition, everything works as it should. Six roof bar lights (all working). Cylinder Head reconditioned last year, new clutch, pads and discs in Feb. This car is sadly Cat D, having suffered damage to the rear of driver’s-side back quarter. £2995. 07807 860007 06/15
Land Rover Discovery 2 TD5 ES (1999). 166,000 miles. MOT Aug. Td5 Alive tuning box, EGR valve blanking kit, larger alloy intercooler, Samco boost hoses, de-cat exhaust. Devon 4x4 heavy-duty bumpers, Warn Powerplant winch, Devon 4x4 steering guard, Safari Snorkel, heavy-duty galvanised fuel tank guard, xenon headlights, 6x light bar (requires wiring), Aeroquip brake hoses, Polybushed trailing arms, uprated shocks, 265/75R16 mud-terrains with lots of tread. Standard equipment includes climate, cruise, steering wheel controls, electric front seats and Harmon Kardon stereo. Sunroofs have been sealed shut. £3000. Bromsgrove, Worcs, 07889 855699 05/15
Discovery V8i GS Auto (1999). Off-road prepped. 136,700 miles, MOT September. Good condition for year, with no rot. Clean and tidy – used every day. Slight wear to driver’s seat. +2” lift, winch bumper, rock sliders, Terrafirma straight-through middle silencer (sounds lovely). Off-road tyres, LED spotlights. New truck forces sale. £2000. Bodmin, Cornwall. 07771 587819 05/15
Discovery 200Tdi auto bobtail. Built several years ago and used as a daily drive as well off-road toy, with dickie seats in the back.
Tubular bumpers. Aluminium tank with integral guard, using original filler. Rock sliders on box sills. Sealed wheelarches – no dirt traps! 4-point play cage. Ally rear floor. Range rover tailgate. Td5 headlights. Currently on SORN and has no MOT. Still a presentable vehicle, but it has been used and the paint has gone dull. £POA. Tetbury, 07970 079727 05/15
Discovery bobtail off-roader. 39,750 miles. Transformed over 5 years of ownership and just been through a complete rebuild and full repaint from body to springs! Disco 1 body bobtailed 10” and roof cut back to C-pillar, all properly sealed and finished off with a 90 rear window. Spec includes fully serviced 80,000-mile 3.9 V8 with injection, ZF 4-speed auto box and LT230 transfer case; rear 24-spline Air-Locker; fully rebuilt front axle; X-Brake; Scorpion props; HD +3” suspension on 2” spacers; Scorpion castor-corrected front and rear arms, adjustable panhard rod, -2” shock droppers and dislocation cones front and rear; 34” Ziarelli Extreme tyres (brand new, used once) on Mach 5 rims; full ARC-spec cage plus custom wings; steering guard, rock sliders, and HD rear bumper; 42” LED light bar; Southdown snorkel; +2” wide arches; Warn XP 9.5 front and Superwinch rear winches with 11mm Plasma and internal controls; Optima Red-Top; Cobra buckets with cage-mounted harnesses; custom 48-litre alloy fuel tank with high-pressure pump. The vehicle has not been body-lifted, but has had the arches modified to accommodate the tyres. £7000. Dunstable, Bedfordshire, 07718 303908 07/15
Discovery TD5 GS (1999). 219,000 miles. High mileage but uses no oil or water, runs well and can achieve over 30mpg even when towing a caravan! Bought in June 2013 and has been used as a family car, generally good but with usual age-related marks. Interior in good condition apart from the driver’s seat being worn. Good tyres all round. Reliable with coil spring conversion and
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ACE system deactivated. Land Rover rubber mats throughout. Both sunroofs have been sealed with black tape as they were leaking. The harder outer case wasn’t re-sealed but this cured the problem. £2100. Cardiff, 07718 995375 07/15
Discovery TD5 XS auto expedition vehicle (2003). 118,000 miles. Built up last year with rip-stop Tuff Trek 6ft roof tent and awning, both with rooms; black powder-coated wrap-around roof rack; snorkel; bush cables; LED spots and bars; HID headlamps; light guards; 5 AT tyres (now on about 3000 miles); de-cat exhaust; rear power supply; carpeted MDF storage system. It was also well serviced at the time, and now has coils on the back with the air springs removed. Gearbox and engine are very strong, with no smoke or rattles, and it doesn’t use any water or oil. The chassis is solid, never welded and needs none, with just some light surface rust. This is an amazingly capable and comfortable vehicle, and I have a genuine reason for the sale – if I didn’t I really wouldn’t think about selling it. £7495. Folkestone, Kent 07450 986710 07/15
Freelander
Freelander Td4 GS (2001). 136,534 miles. New flywheel, clutch, slave and master cylinder and propshaft bearing in 2015. New battery, rear brake shoes and glow plugs in 2014, and head removed and cleaned. All fluids and filters changed recently (including transmission oils and pollen, crank case and turbo filters). Tyres in good condition. £2000, amyowen114@ btinternet.com 07/15
Freelander Td4 challenge/ comp safari off-roader. 117,000 miles. Owned 5 years with no trouble. Bought as a Cat C write-off, with water ingress
Advertising your Land Rover or parts for sale is FREE for private sellers. Just call Gemma Pask on 01283 553242
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ruining the interior (which I was going to strip out anyway) but no other damage. Spec includes Safety Devices MSA roll cage, 2” lift, Cobra bucket seats, 30mm wheel spacers, Allisport full-size intercooler, silicone hoses and stainless pipes, Mantec sump guard, modified intake system and induction kit, raised air intake (not plumbed due to modifying intake), strut brace, light pod, recon gearbox, Synergy 2 tuning chip and BMW Vortex crankcase breather, all new when fitted except the seats and box. Has been regularly serviced twice a year by a Freelander specialist, with anything even slightly suspect being replaced. Due to work I never comped it, the vehicle has been used off-road so there is the odd minor dent. Also, the front inner arches have been modified for oversized extreme mud-terrain tyres. £3800. Birmingham, 07468 904986, ianrbeale@ outlook.com 07/15
Specials
300 Tdi Tomcat 88” competition vehicle. 620 miles only! Spec includes Tomcat reinforced axles and radius arms, ARB Air-Lockers and tyre inflator, HD steering arms, 12” remote-reservoir Fox shocks, Allisport intercooler, Zeus timing gears, X-Brake, wide-angle props, Superwinch EPi9.0 front and X9 rear winches, both with Plasma, stainless fuel tank, bucket seats with 4-point harnesses, heated windscreen, race steering wheel, Tomcat captive engine and gearbox mounts, Tomcat gearbox crossmember, Brantz trip computer, 235/85R16 Special Tracks, Exxide dry-cell battery. I’ve owned it about 18 months and only done one CCV – it’s just too good for me to bash round quarries! Based on a Discovery,
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Issue 17: July 2015 professionally built. Drives spoton, soaking up all the bumps, and went straight through its MOT with no advisories. Chassis is still painted everywhere and all bushes are tight. It has had a mild pump tweak to make it nicely useable but ensuring total reliability – you could go a lot further if you wanted. Comes with extras including a standard ARC-legal front bumper, halfshafts and CVs and 2 spare Special Tracks, and is ready to drive away. £8000. Guiseley, West Yorks, 07725 139888 07/15
Foers Ibex 6x6 pick-up. 1992 (K-reg), first registered in UK 2002. 87,500 miles. MOT May. One owner from new (Environment Agency). 4.6-litre V8 petrol/ LPG, very cheap to run. Automatic gearbox, PAS, built-in winch. Electric sunroof, CD player, cruise control, rear Air-Locker, compressor, dual-battery controller, immobiliser, tow bar. Pick-up bed has 12-foot alloy dropside body. Drives and goes very well. All in very good condition and must be seen. £11,500, Chippenham, Wilts. 07980 278833
88” ALRC Tomcat racer. Highly competitive, for sale due to lack of time and other commitments. 4.6 V8 (approx 300bhp) located in the centre of the vehicle. Jag 3-speed auto box, rebuilt with all necessary internals including rachet shift. Pete Roberts transfer box, heavy duty axles, big vented brakes, camber and castor correction on front axle, radius arms and panhard rod to rear. 12” King bypass 7/8” rod shocks with remote reservoir to front and 14” King bypass 7/8” rod shocks with remote reservoir to rear. Quick-ratio TD5 steering
box, Peugeot brake servo and master cylinder, comp springs and mounts, heavy-duty props. Big rear-mounted radiator with twin fans. New foam-filled alloy tank, Tomcat bonnet and seats. Professionally wired and relayed. Car comes with ALRC logbook Willing to consider any sensible offer. The 4.6 engine and gearbox could be removed if not required by purchaser. I can also supply a 4.2 and 4-speed auto box at cost if required. £6995. North Wales, 07926 869158 05/15
Freelander monster truck pick-up on Discovery 300Tdi (1996). Approx 190,000 miles (est). MOT April 2015. Solid chassis and body, engine and running gear all fine and everything works. Electric windows and mirrors, PAS, bull bar, spotlights, CD stereo, towbar, sunroof, sump guard. NB windscreen is badly cracked. This is a one-off custom vehicle. £1995. Spalding, Lincs, 07447 441990 05/15
Parts
Discovery 300 Tdi R380 gearbox. In working condition. £145. Wirral, Merseyside, 07598 689135 07/15
Genuine Land Rover bonnet windscreen fastener. To fit Series I and military Series vehicles.
Part number MRC5314. Includes the catches and the parts to go on the bonnet. Remanufactured. £70. Contact care of tor@ assignment-media.co.uk
removed from block. A bit dusty on top, but the bottom has been kept sealed to the block. £60. Devon, 07961 832046 06/15
why it should not work. £35. Llandeilo, 07884 333680 06/15
V5 logbook. £900 ono. 07788 535957, Essex 06/15
05/15
Discovery 300 Tdi dash switches. Eight in total. £15. Wirral, Merseyside, 07598 689135 07/15
Quaife 6-speed 4wd gearbox. To fit Range Rover, Land Rover or Discovery, or any 4wd vehicle. I believe it was one of a batch Quaife did for a customer building off-road Land Rovers for the Middle East. Perfect condition inside but has had repairs done to the case. Professionally welded and re-machined. Dog-leg 1st and 6th. Split 50/50 front/rear with Quaife centre diff. All dogs in perfect condition, all parts have Quaife numbers so spares should be no problem. No bell-housing or gear lever, but should be easy to replace (I believe the lever is the same as their standard 6-speed gearbox). Spline shaft on the side for the centre diff lock. £3000. Towcester, robriding@ msn.com 05/15
Discovery 200/300Tdi 3-part clutch. Bought six months ago and never used. Still in box. £30. Reading, Berks, 07831 262829 06/15
Matching set of 5 tyres. 235/85R16C. Road-going pattern, reasonably chunky but nice and quiet. Removed when I fitted off-road tyres. As new. £275. Chichester, 01243 788811 Genuine Tomcat panels and doors. £POA. Montgomery, Powys. 07772 867989 06/15
Discovery 300 Tdi rear window mechanisms. Left and right available. £15 each. Wirral, Merseyside, 07598 689135 07/15
Defender fuel sender. Taken off a 90. £20. Wirral, Merseyside, 07598 689135 07/15
Fairey Overdrive. Suitable for Series II and Series III. £200, Cornwall, 07818 216186 06/15
Series II offside front wing. Very rare. Very good condition for age, no rot where it bolts on apart from where the mud shield bolts on. No dints or creases, no lights been cut into it. £110. Buxton, 07779 782394 06/15
Rover 3.5-litre V8 EFi aluminium cylinder heads. Freshly
Unimog 404 axles. Taken from a 404 model and therefore have locking diffs. One is complete, the other part-stripped in prep for disc-brake conversion. £1000, offers invited. 07968 960619
Series I roll bar. Was fitted to an 86” Series I but has now been removed. Has what seems to be a high-lift jack carrier. The bar is pitted in places and needs a good paint but seems very solid and strong! £40. Exeter, 07722 104796 07/15
Warn 8274-50 12v winch. Has been used but comes with a new fairlead, new live and earth connections and second-hand wired remote (with missing plug). £750. Barnstaple. Contact care of tor@assignment-media.co.uk (message will be forwarded) 05/15
200 Tdi radiator with oil cooler. To fit Defender or Discovery. The radiator was sold to me as fully functioning, I have not tested it but see no reason
Nissan Patrol Y60 axles. One Pair, 3.9:1 ratio, with vacuum rear locker. These axles will easily take 38”-plus tyres and plenty of abuse. Ideal for conversion on to a hardcore off-road Land Rover. Axles removed from a vehicle only recently taken off the road. All internals fine, may need brake parts or bearings but nothing serious. Can deliver to most of UK for around £100-120. £600 for the pair. Forres, Moray. 07780 980373 Discovery 2 (1999) rolling chassis. Complete with TD5 engine and auto box, axles, propshafts, fuel tank, ACE and air suspension, five 18” alloys with tyres (2 as new, 2 very good). Chassis rusty at the rear. Complete with
Land Rover front and rear axles. Complete with bars, diffs and calipers. Need a clean but in good solid condition. I can deliver – please ask for a quote. £210. Sheffield, 07974 657030 07/15 Set of 4 BFGoodrich KM2 Mud-Terrains. 265/75R16 109Q. All in very good condition, no repairs of any kind, no cuts etc. All have 11mm of tread across their width. Two have slight wear to outer edge. Excellent tyres, couldn’t fault them. Selling as I have now got All-Terrains due to covering more miles. £425. Telford, Shropshire, 07882 379602 07/15
Maxxis Creepy Crawler tyres. Set of four 35x12.50R16s on 16x10j Land Rover modulars. No punctures or gashes. £500. Derby, 07817 886950 05/15
Wanted Series I roof. Hard-top roof for an 86” Series I, overall length approx 84”. It has been lined with carpet to reduce noise, I think, but this could be removed. Please note that the ‘cat flap’ door is missing and not included with the roof. It is ONLY the main roof panel and the sides (including widows) that are for sale. It has been taken apart for easy transport – I moved it on a roof rack. £75. Exeter, Devon, 07722 104796 07/15
Seeking my old Defender 90, M146 HPL. I’m looking for information on what happened to my old 90. It was originally a red hard-top with a Safety Devices cage, and used to be a project vehicle in Land Rover World magazine. I sold it to a French guy in the Rickmansworth area in 2000; DVLA info suggests it’s still registered, but I can’t track it down – any information that would help me find it would be greatly appreciated! Email idiotinakilt@hotmail.com or call 07968 960619 07/15
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Calendar
Off-Road Playdays Frickley 4x4
Frickley, South Yorkshire
Hill ‘n’ Ditch 4x4
Mouldsworth, Cheshire
Thames Valley 4x4
Slab Common, Bordon
21 June Explore Off Road
Silverdale, Stoke-on-Trent
Muddy Bottom
Minstead, Hampshire
Mud Monsters
East Grinstead, West Sussex Dates are apt to change, so always check with the site before travelling
24 May Future 4x4
Avon Dassett, Warwickshire
Slindon Safari
Fontwell, West Sussex
Whaddon 4x4
Milton Keynes, Bucks
31 May Avalanche Adventure
Sibbertoft, Northamptonshire
Cowm Leisure
Whitworth, Lancashire
Frickley 4x4
Frickley, South Yorkshire
7 June Bala 4x4
Bala, Gwynedd
Dundry Off-Road Dundry, Bristol
Muddy Bottom
Minstead, Hampshire
North Yorks Off Road Centre Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorks
Muddy Bottom
Minstead, Hampshire
North Yorks Off Road Centre Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorks
Picadilly Wood
Parkwood 4x4
Whaddon 4x4
Whaddon 4x4
Bolney, West Sussex Milton Keynes, Bucks
13 June Burnham Off-Roaders Tring, Hertfordshire
14 June 4x4 Without a Club
Harbour Hill, Aldermaston
Boxgrove
Chichester, West Sussex
Burnham Off-Roaders Tring, Hertfordshire
Devil’s Pit
Tong, Bradford
Milton Keynes, Bucks
27 June Kirton Off Road Centre
Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs
28 June Cowm Leisure
Whitworth, Lancashire
Devil’s Pit
Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire
Frickley 4x4
Frickley, South Yorkshire
Hill ‘n’ Ditch 4x4
Mouldsworth, Cheshire
Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire
Kirton Off Road Centre
Essex, Rochford and District 4x4 Club
Slindon Safari
Rayleigh, Essex
Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs Fontwell, West Sussex
Green Lane Convoy Events 23-24 May
31 May
13-14 June
Waypoint Tours
Landcraft
Onelife Adventure
24 May
6-7 June
14 June
UK Landrover Events
4x4 Adventure Tours
Landcraft
25 May
7 June
16 June
UK Landrover Events
UK Landrover Events
UK Landrover Events
30-31 May
13 June
20-21 June
Onelife Adventure
UK Landrover Events
4x4 Adventure Tours
Wiltshire
Northumberland
Tynedale
Lake District
Snowdonia (Adventure Plus Day)
Exe Valley and Dartmoor
Yorkshire Dales
Durham Dales
Yorkshire
Snowdonia
North Yorks Moors
North Wales
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Issue 17: July 2015
Words Steve Blakeman Pictures Ian Horsman – Triple Effect Photography
Baden Hall welcomed a full capacity line-up for the first round of the 2015 Comp Safari Interclub Championship, with 60 drivers travelling in from all around the country and hoping to kick their season off to a blinder. The annual Staffordshire & Shropshire Land Rover Club’s May Day Interclub event attracted plenty of new faces; however, despite a full entry list, there were a couple of notable names missing from the field: defending overall champion Ian ‘Django’ Roberts, reigning Class Two champion Bert Bullough and reigning
Class Six champion Neil ‘Mobile Library’ Rogers. Five laps over a 4.1-mile course would separate the men from the boys, while taking in a real mixture of terrain, from tarmac straights to woodland tracks, splashes, fields and a new ridge-way section. Some familiar names hit the top of the timesheets early on – Peter Roberts seemed to be a man on fire as he completed his first lap over 20 seconds clear of his closest rivals, Kevin Stubbs and Stuart Winter, while things were getting heated behind as seven seconds covered the next four drivers. In Class Three, a staggering 21 drivers battled it out for top honours.
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Reigning class winner, Steve Strutt, got off to a very solid start slotting into second place in class behind a new entrant to the event, Keith Lynam of P&D, with both setting sub 10-minute times to be well placed overall too, despite the smaller engines. Class Four (Diesels) – although I could hardly see through the smoke! – started with Paul Mansfield out in front, ahead of Wendy Chandler, who beat Jeff Bazeley at the 2014 nationals, with John Hewitson in third. Five drivers bailed out due to retirements after the opening lap, including Simon Cooper(man) after someone had left – according to earlier reports – kryptonite in his turbo, which left him powerless to complete the course. The top three continued to lower their times over the next couple of laps, but with Peter Roberts still maintaining his 20-second plus gap. Wyn Williams still seemed to be recovering from his recent 50th birthday party and finally got into his stride on his third lap, knocking 90 seconds off his first run of the day in his impressive Milner LRM-1, with some flamboyant driving. To the business end and by laps four and five, the drivers were really hitting their stride and pushing the limits of their vehicles, with the same three drivers topping the time sheets. However, this time Stuart Winter was to be the quickest on these runs, setting the fastest time of the day: 7 minutes 36 seconds. Not ones to give up, Dave Hooper and Jim Roberts continued to push on through the remaining two laps, each taking 40 seconds out of Ken Powell. Despite these massive gains, Ken won Class Two by a relatively comfortable
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margin of 20 seconds from Dave and Jim respectively. Special mention must go to Ian Chiles though, who not only remained upright throughout the whole event, but also put in some mega laps (quickest in class on the four runs he completed) and would have surely challenged for a top six finish overall but for his one maximum. To demonstrate the rewards of never giving up, look no further than class three. Going into the final run, Dr John Walters and Steve Strutt were stretching their legs out in front following a pair of quick laps on their fourth run. Nicely placed behind them was Keith Lynam, who could be in contention for class honours if he set a lap some 20 seconds quicker than the two leaders – unlikely... but possible. Keith gave his fastest lap of the event to put a small amount of pressure on John and Steve, hoping one might be caught, but the chances of overtaking them both was unlikely. As it turned out, he managed to do just that and finished first in class, following problems for Steve (a maximum) and John (one minute plus slower than previous lap). With these
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issues, it also promoted Blair and Mark Perman into second, whilst Dr John had to settle for third. Special mention for Class Three goes to Russell Cook, who managed to get through the whole day with only one lunch break to finish a highly respectable eighth in class on his comp safari debut. The fourth lap settled the honours in Class Four as Paul Mansfield recorded a maximum, leaving Wendy to coast home for first place. Second in class went to John Hewitson and third to the Team Mayham in the pink machine. Class Five honours went to Andy ‘Fly’ Bayliss in first, with Paul Gilbert in second, whilst Class Six was won by James Harris in his standard 90. In an exclusive interview with Peter Roberts following the event, he put his victory down to a new pair of trainers, knowing full well that power is nothing without control! For those who want to see or hear more of the action and the championship, please visit the S&S website, www.saslrc.co.uk, and join in the banter on the Facebook page.
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Tay 4x4 entertain the neighbours Words Mike Trott Pictures Andrew Tindal Tay 4x4 have been busy over the last couple of months, hosting a new event for the north of Scotland which is focused around a point-to-point layout. Drivers put their skills to the test over a four-lap competition, tackling every obstacle and punch that stands in their way. Laird of the Den was held at the end of March at Wellsden Farm, near Edzell. And seeing as you can’t do anything without your neighbours noticing, the Edzell Off-Road Club and Buchan Off-Road Driving Club pitched their best drivers in for the event too. There was plenty of variety along the course; clambering over a trailer and pipes, navigating a rock bed and negotiating steps and ditches meant drivers were kept very busy indeed. A number of boggy sections and even a hay bale chicane meant this event catered for virtually every kind of driving, with a set minimum and maximum time to keep things close between the competitors. While there may not have been a new winch waiting for the winner at the end, plenty of drivers turned up to try and win bragging rights over their peers… well, it always adds some entertainment to the drive back at the end of the day! Despite the only prize being a banter-filled ride home, the drivers were still going hammer and tong at the course. Nigel Suddaby, who ended up as the eventual winner, actually found himself perched upside down in a ditch at one stage. Second place went to Sandy Adams, while Andy Smith came home to round out the top three. A few of the sections had taken their toll on the vehicles, as the rock bed and ditch proved to be one of the few make, or indeed break, obstacles. There has been great feedback from both competitors and spectators and all three clubs are looking forward to when the series returns, as Buchan Off-Road Driving Club will be hosting Round Two.
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Issue 17: July 2015
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Cobley stays on top as Defender Challenge returns
Mike Trott The Defender Challenge by Bowler series has kicked off in dramatic style, after returning for 2015 following its inaugural season last year. And after its first two rounds, the championship has already delivered high-speed thrills, adverse weather conditions and a full field of teams showing that the campaign will be hard-fought and unpredictable. The opening round took place on 18 April at the BTRDA Somerset Stages rally. A total of nine teams – four new, five returning – have embarked on their quest for driving supremacy this year, relying once again on identical Bowler-prepared Defender 90s tuned to deliver 175bhp and equipped with full racing suspension.
Teams gathered in Minehead before launching off through a selection of tarmac sections and gravelled forest stages with the beautiful Exmoor National Park providing the backdrop. Defending champion Edd Cobley and co-driver John Tomley quickly established their intent to reclaim the title of top dogs, finishing in a well-deserved first place with just 51 minutes 43 seconds on the clock. Newcomers Brian Palmer and co-driver Calum MacPhail also displayed an excellent performance in what was their first ever race, coming home in a solid fourth with a respectable 55 minutes 23 seconds. Speaking after round one, Cobley said: ‘This weekend has been a great start to the Defender Challenge for John and I – I’m very honoured to
have won the first event. There were some very fast times on the stages from all competitors – this year is going to be very interesting.’ After the event, Bowler Motorsport’s Jon Chester commented: ‘This was a fabulous start to the 2015 season. All the new teams put in strong performances and it promises to be a really exciting championship.’ For the second round, the series headed north to the legendary Sweet Lamb complex in Wales at the start of May – where they were greeted by near-freezing temperatures and unseasonal snowstorms. Not that that mattered to the Defenders, of course, which merely swatted aside the weather conditions. In fact, ten teams lined up for the two-day, seven-stage endurance event which stretched over nearly 150 kilometres, with plenty of twists and turns throughout the weekend – in more ways than one. Despite the loss of power-steering during stage three on the first day, and having to face dense fog and torrential rain on the second, Edd Cobley still managed to wade out on top with navigator John Tomley. Cobley commented: ‘It’s been a great weekend racing. We had a new car, new sponsors and new terrain to work with. We kept it smooth and consistent and achieved the result we were hoping for.’
Stage six wasn’t without its drama, as reports filtered back to base that cars 20 and 22 had overturned with another, car 19, unaccounted for. In the end car 19, driven by David Johnston and co-driver Joe Monaghan, returned to service towing car 22 and followed directly by car 20. Having seen fellow competitors in a spot of bother, Johnston and Monaghan had towed both Defenders back into an upright position before helping them limp back to service. This earned them the ‘Spirit of the Rally’ award; afterwards, Johnston said: ‘The spirit of Defender Challenge is that we stick together. Ultimately, we all want to see the others finish.’ Second place was claimed by Gareth Curruthers and his navigator, Wallace McKay, while Christian Femont and Leon Vanhaesebrouck racing in car 25
won a close battle for third just ahead of The Defenderists, Dave Harlow and Sara Smith. James Tayler, Head of Business for Lookers Group, reflected on his team’s first race after joining the series: ‘We are delighted to see the Lookers Defender make it to Sweet Lamb; only a few days ago it seemed like a tall order owing to the car still requiring its full MSA rally conversion, but thanks to the tenacity and commitment of the Bowler team we are here on our first race and are delighted to have achieved second place on our first outing.’ The Defender Challenge by Bowler series will head to the Goodwood Festival of Speed for the last weekend of June in a non-competitive event, before the gloves come off once again when the season resumes at Walters Arena on 18 July.
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All clear at BADLRC Words Dave Mercer Pictures Nev Brindley
It was a typical, breezy spring morning when Buxton and District LRC descended on Tearsall Farm for their third trial of the year. A strong turnout of 24 motors led us to being split into two groups, before we all trundled across the campsite to find our designated first section. There was a wonderful mixture of motors, from fully caged CCV motors to standard 90s. Our first section gave us a tough uphill challenge; some large bomb holes, tight angles and cross axles to watch out for. Only one motor cleared the section, with most picking up ones or twos, but there was a couple that failed a tricky turn around a nasty looking thorn bush. A compact little section followed, starting off in open ground before flowing through a wooded area and emerging back out into another clearing. On the face of it, an easy section – but we all know how looks can be deceiving. I, myself, was one of the few that got caught out by this awkward number! Dry conditions gave way to much relief as people clambered up the hill in the third, with a difficult finish allowing for just a wheel hub to neck its way between a couple of trees in order to stake your claim for a clear. Time for one more before lunch, and for once a predominantly
downhill section greeted us. Scores were mixing nicely and after the two groups conversed about their morning performances, taking in some crucial food for thought – or driving ability – the groups resumed for the afternoon showdown. The first section of the afternoon was tricky, with a nasty bomb hole between gates eight and nine, testing everyone’s nerve while putting man and machine at a worrying angle. If the line wasn’t driven with precision, a large tree would soon put a halt to further progress! One competitor opted to drive into the bottom of the hole and try to climb out to the left to still enable enough lock before falling victim to the tree. However, just as he started
to climb out of the hole there was a nasty cracking and banging coming from the rear of his motor, where under investigation he had managed to snap his rear trailing arm one side and severely bending the other. The prop had also sheared clean off and both shocks had been bent in the process. Needless to say, this well and truly put an end to his day. The following section was equally as challenging, through a wooded area again, requiring pinpoint accuracy so as not to fall foul to the trees, the hardest part of the section being the gate five and four, which was on a side lean with a muddy ravine at the bottom. Stay high and risk a roll, or go low and get stuck! Most opted for low, although some did go high, with one competitor paying the price as the motor slowly toppled onto its side, with cheers and laughter from fellow competitors and spectators! After a helping hand by means of a quick shove, the truck was soon back on its wheels and clear of the section. The final two sections of the day went off without incident, with some very competitive scores being recorded. With the results calculated afterwards, it was revealed that the overall winner of the day, Dave Billings, had put in an incredible performance to finish on zero points… yes, clearing every section! This was a fantastic day of trialling enjoyed by all, with everybody looking forward to the next trial on 27th June at Mow Cop.
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