September 2021

Page 24: If you thought 90s were the coolest Defenders, here’s a 110 built to make you think again

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SEPTEMBER 2021

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We all know what the new Defender is like around Eastnor.

Land Rover knows how to choose demo routes that show its vehicles off in the best possible light.

But what happens when you take a 90 out into the real world? We tested one on the sort of lanes where old-shape Defenders have been plying their trade for decades – with impressive results.

If you want to prove a vehicle’s off-road credibility, you can’t do much better than take if off-road the whole way across the Rockies…

Full story: Page 26

Full story: Page 14

Got a Discovery modded up for fun?

What you need is a 90 modded up for fun to go with it

Full story: Page 18

Our Green Lane Guide in and around the Elan Valley is literally what your Land Rover was made for

Full story: Page 32

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3 Twisted Defenders convoy through capital to celebrate opening of new London showroom

wisted Automotive, whose name has become a byword for re-engineered Defenders, is 21 years old this year. And the company continues to grow, taking the latest major step in its development with the opening of its first London dealership.

Open to customers by appointment only, Twisted’s Radley Mews premises is just off Kensington High Street.

The showroom, which was previously home to classic car specialist Graeme Hunt Ltd (whose inventory at the time of writing includes a 92,000-mile V8

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Discovery 2 at £18,750), covers 1200 square feet and includes a ‘commissioning space’ where customers can work with the Twisted sales team to spec up their own bespoke Defender.

The showroom also contains a number of display vehicles for prospective clients to view and test-drive. These cover Twisted’s Commissioned, Defined and Certified collections, which are priced from £75,000 to £350,000 plus VAT. The three ranges cover the spectrum of work Twisted undertakes:

• Certified: Used vehicles which are inspected, repaired and upgraded to Twisted’s standard, complete with a certificate issued in the logbook • Defined: A range of 90s, 110s and 130s described as ‘the culmination of Twisted’s two decades of knowledge and expertise; the ultimate Defender’ • Commissioned: Bespoke vehicles built entirely to the customer’s personal specifications Already this year, Twisted has opened a new HQ in a converted cinema in its home town of Thirsk, North Yorkshire. This contains around 25 vehicles as well as related such as Argo, the boat in which Twisted brand ambassador Jasmine Harrison single-handedly crossed the Atlantic.

Even more recently, the company also opened Twisted Performance Silverstone – a shop selling official Twisted brand parts and accessories.

Its US division also recently opened a showroom in Austin, Texas, while a base in the Middle East will launch later this month – followed by Twisted Marine in Salcombe, Devon.

‘While we already enjoy a Home Counties customer base,’ said Twisted founder Charles Fawcett, ‘a home in London will open up Twisted to a whole new audience.

‘You might imagine that the Defender is most at home going across country. But W8 is the biggest postcode in the UK for SUV owners.

‘A Twisted is actually the perfect car for the city. It’s narrow, the 90 wheelbase is reasonably short and it offers incredible visibility. And with an EV coming on stream soon, it’s perfect for a discerning audience that appreciate the combination of iconic design, no-nonsense styling and top of the range performance.

‘We are thrilled to continue the legacy of excellence at Radley Mews with our own range of best-in-class Twisted vehicles. Having a base in London also means we are now in easy reach for our global customers. Many are all over the world but travel frequently through London and are far more likely to drop in here than North Yorkshire.’

To celebrate the opening of Twisted London, the company organised a convoy through the city. Starting at sunrise to avoid the traffic, six Twisted Defenders (three 90s and three 110s) passed by landmarks including the London Eye, Harrods, the Ritz and Tower Bridge before arriving at the new showroom – where a number of them were destined to remain as demonstrators. The Bahama Gold soft-top 90 in the pictures is Charles Fawcett’s own personal vehicle – and an illustration of the sort of Land Rover the company can create for customers see its pricing not as an obstacle but an opportunity to own something unique.

4Green Lane Association pushes for permit scheme on Wolvens Lane as local authority loses patience with illegal off-roaders olvens Lane, between Wootton and Coldharbour in the Surrey Hills, is one of the oldest roads in the country. Passing through ancient woodlands bordered by farmland, it has traditionally offered a mixture of quiet, gentle scenery and enjoyable driving, with one sunken section providing interest as it has an unusual sandy base.

However the lane, like many in the Surrey Hills area, also has a long history of vandalism and abuse by rogue 4x4 drivers. We first drove it almost 20 years ago; even then, the embankments alongside it has become savagely rutted by vehicles with no right to be there. Occasionally, the vehicles in question would be rolled or otherwise wrecked and simply abandoned there, a clear sign that the drivers had stolen them for this purpose.

Nonetheless, with the involvement of the Green Lane Association, Surrey

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County Council did at one point manage to put a stop to this behaviour by blocking off the ‘play’ areas. Since then, however, conditions have deteriorated again – including on the lane itself, which started to become impassable following subsidence under one of the sandy sections.

This prompted Surrey CC to close Wolvens for repairs, which have now been completed – leaving a right of way with a smooth gravel surface that’s drivable for all.

So why has the authority now made proposals for a permanent ban on motor vehicles? In a Notice of Proposal published on 19 March, it states that: ‘Officers now have concerns that if/when the BOAT is reopened to motorised vehicles, some irresponsible motorised vehicle drivers will continue to damage the surface and boundary banks. Some may also cause a danger to other users including walkers, cyclists and horse riders.’

It has long been believed that the problems which have afflicted Surrey’s byways, or rather the land alongside them, have been caused by a very small number of committed and determined vandals. Where access has previously been closed to them on one lane, the problems have simply moved to another.

Surrey County Council says it is considering four different courses of action: 1) A permanent TRO banning all vehicles

2) A permanent TRO banning 4x4s but allowing motorbike access 3) A permit scheme allowing controlled access 4) Carrying on as before with no restrictions Favouring a permit scheme out of these options, the Green Lane Association’s Surrey Rep Stuart Boreham comments: ‘Other options that might be considered sensible would be to leave the lane open but to stake, fence and shut off the areas where damage occurs and to increase police presence. These are things that could have been done multiple times and were entirely successful the one time they were done properly, in consultation with GLASS. ‘A Public Space Protection Order is another option that could be used to immediately criminalise trespass and damage and give the police greater powers to act as a result.’

While it’s clear that Wolvens did indeed need localised repairs in a few places, those who know the lane might feel that surfacing the entire length of what was already a well established, well drained and easily sustainable right of way was a strange way to spend public money. For decades, signs alongside the route have implored drivers to act responsibly out of respect for the ancient character of the lane and its embankments, but the local authority’s action now has been to literally blanket that character in modern road stone.

The money this cost could instead have paid for a proper set of defences and obstructions to prevent further off-piste damage and allow the ground next to the lane to recover long-term from the damage they’ve suffered at the hands of vandals. This fact will leave 4x4 users in no doubt as to the council’s agenda when the proposed

TRO comes up for discussion later in the summer.

‘Wolvens Lane has a long history of reckless damage by illegal 4x4 users over the years, but equally a history of very little being done by County or landowners to defend against this,’ continues Stuart. ‘There has been almost no Police enforcement against the criminal behaviours involved.

‘Everyone is frustrated. The easy knee jerk reaction would be to ban 4x4s, and this is what will be pushed for. Especially since Surrey have spent £100,000 or so surfacing the lane this winter and now wish to protect that investment.

‘This is a glorious ancient route upon which vehicles have driven since roads and vehicles existed. To take away the rights of the public because of the actions of a tiny minority that the authorities have seen fit to largely ignore is entirely unjust.’

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Gibson’s Gab A twist in the tale

As the company’s expansion continues, Tim Gibson remembers driving a Twisted Performance Defender before they were famous Words: Tim Gibson Picture the scene. A seasoned hack and his slightly younger protégé sit in a murky office in the heart of Burton upon Trent. The older man, the founding editor of the UK’s only hardcore off-road magazine, is rifling through a content plan for the coming couple of issues.

‘Do you fancy going and meeting this bloke Charlie Fawcett in Yorkshire?’ he asks his staffer. ‘Says he’s tuning Defenders so they perform like sports cars or something. May be a two-pager in it I suppose.’

The younger man snorts derisively into his chipped mug of tea. ‘A performance Defender indeed! And look what he’s charging for them. Can’t see that

taking off at all. Can’t I go and drive a proper off-roader instead?’

Even so, the reporter heads off to Yorkshire, tempted by the prospect of a trip around the off-road course Charlie runs as part of his business activities.

And then he meets Charlie, who is one of the nicest blokes he’s come across in his time as a motoring journo, and he’s completely smitten by the Twisted Performance demonstrator that he gets to test drive, and clean forgets that he’s supposed to be sneery about shiny cars because he’s all about hairy-arsed challenge trucks with massive tyres and 10-inch suspension hikes.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

That reporter grows up to become a second-rate wordsmith and Charlie

goes on to become, well, Charles Fawcett, founder of Twisted Performance and overseer of an automotive empire that is the envy of most in the sector.

The big news this month is that Twisted has just opened its London showroom, in the prestigious Kensington area where there are seemingly more SUVs per square foot than in any other part of the world. And it all makes perfect sense, because the classic Defender is currently the hottest vehicle you can buy, with investors fighting to get their hands on decent examples and nicely modded or restored versions making huge sums of money.

Twisted has absolutely nailed its market, with an all-electric version due any time soon and the most expen-

sive model in its range coming in at a cool £350,000 plus VAT. The company has branches in Austin, Texas and at Silverstone, as well as a brilliant HQ in its hometown of Thirsk.

All of which means that Twisted is resolutely a success story. Charlie and his team saw the way the 4x4 sector was going way back in 2000 and built a company that was more than ready to capitalise on it. Turns out hairy-arsed off-roaders aren’t where the money’s at. It’s with city types who want a Land Rover to demonstrate their wealth, taste and status.

Even Land Rover took a while to warm up to that realisation, at least

when it comes to the positioning of the Defender as a product. To begin with, it left the Range Rover to do the heavy lifting with society’s elite. But as Twisted’s success shows, it’s the Defender that has the real might in that market.

So, 20 years on from my journey to Thirsk, I want to congratulate Charlie on a job well done. He has helped secure the status of the Defender as a genuinely iconic vehicle and his products are second to none. And in stark contrast to my younger self, I would absolutely give my right arm to visit Kensington and see the Twisted line-up for myself – even if there’s no off-road course to sample on the way home.

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The balm to soothe your troubled soul…

The UK’s largest range of Land Rover chassis find it intriguing that Land Rover has launched a campaign encouraging people to get back outdoors and start enjoying nature again. It’s a sales tactic, obviously, but casting the company is absolutely right when it says that the great outdoors is a precious resource with almost limitless potential to aid the nation’s well-being and mental health, Of course, some of us will grind our teeth when we browse the #Outspiration page in Land Rover’s website and read that Sarn Helen is a long-distance cycle ride and Stanage Edge is a place to go climbing. If you remember what these names used to mean, you’ll be forgiven for wondering whose side they’re on.

But look beyond that, if you can. The outdoors is indeed a place to soothe our troubled souls, however we choose to enjoy it. But the Outspiration campaign makes me think of something else, too.

The new Land Rovers it’s trying to sell are mainly pacy, powerful SUVs. But we all know that a proper, old-school Landy is your key to life in the slow lane.

Driving is among the most stressful things we do. Driving in a Land Rover is great that way, because you can sit up high, unwind and rise above all the hurrying and scurrying.

There’s nothing new in that, of course. Ever since I started in this trade, I’ve had people telling me that they used to do fast cars or fast bikes, but they moved over to Land Rovers because they were either going to kill themselves or lose their licence. What they all have in common is that they’re a lot calmer than they were in their fast days.

I can empathise with that. I’ve driven enough fast cars to know that fun though they are, the experience always comes with a side order of stress. If nothing else, you know everyone else is looking at you and thinking you’re a bit of a w----r.

Land Rovers (proper ones) don’t have that effect. Even SUV-haters tend to make an exception. What they see is a good old boy minding his own business and doing no-one any harm.

Which is of course largely correct. Old Land Rovers are great for your mental health – and for everyone else’s too.

Alan Kidd, Group Editor alan.kidd@assignment-media.co.uk

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and Rovers and the great outdoors go hand in hand. So to help encourage everyone to get back into the countryside, Solihull has launched Outspiration – an online campaign to ‘encourage the British public to get outdoors to improve mental health and well-being.’

The platform, which is correctly titled #Outspiration (the hashtag is all-important), hit the ground running with a week-long digital treasure hunt.

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Once the user made their way to each location on the map, a content card would pop up with information on the area and why it was selected. Users were then taken to an AR screen, allowing them to move their camera in search a ‘pin’ at their location.

That’s not all. Each pin came with an associated badge, of which there were five types to collect, dependant on the location and area type: Peak, Water, Scenic, Landmark and Cultural. More than 200 of these were selected across England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week was based around Nature as its theme, and Land Rover says #Outspiration was developed to continue the

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‘After spending over a year in and out of lockdown, and the current uncertainty around foreign travel, Land Rover hopes that this campaign will encourage people to get out and explore the great outdoors,’ said Solihull’s UK marketing boss Anthony Bradbury.

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Charity worker wins Range Rover Evoque A CHARITY VOLUNTEER from Middlesex has won a new Evoque in a competition run by leasing specialist Vanarama. Juliette Morrison, whose 12 month Unlimited serviced apartment business fell

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Home from home… The literal inside story of this amazing 101 overlander

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Issue 91: Sept 2021

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In Gear

The latest and best products you need for your Land Rover

ARB expands roof-top tent range with easy-to-use new Flinders model ARB’S RANGE OF CAMPING EQUIPMENT has just grown bigger than ever with the addition of the new Flinders Rooftop Tent. Measuring 2200mm x 1400mm and weighing 56kg, this is an all-weather affair promising easy set-up and the ability to comfortably sleep two adults.

Made from 300gsm poly-cotton rip-stop canvas, with 420D Oxford polyester fly for the sunroof and window awnings, the tent comes with a zipped outer cover in 600gsm PVC whose design means it doesn’t need to be removed when pitching camp.

It has four windows, including a large skylight, each of them boasting midgeproof insect screens and zip gutters to protect against rain. In addition, the

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Light is Adventure OSRAM LEDriving® Working and Driving Lights The new range of intense LED lights are built to step up to the challenge when the going gets tough. Leave the tarmac behind and see clearly what lies ahead of you off the beat track.

The new range of robust and stylish spotlights, reversing lights and lightbars can improve near- and far-field vision whilst enhancing driving performance, even under the most extreme conditions. Don’t let the darkness spoil your next adventure.

For more information visit: www.osram.co.uk/ledriving-lights or email: automotive@osram.co.uk

Light is OSRAM

doorway and an all-weather ventilation port can be left open for further air flow.

Inside, you sleep on a 50mm highdensity foam mattress which ARB says was ‘designed with comfort in mind.’

As any mattress should be, you’d think.

The sleeping area measures 2400mm x 1400mm, with a clearance height of 1200mm at the centre of the tent.

There’s also an in-built 12-volt, 300-lumen light and a pair of USB connection inside. Because when you’re camping in the wilderness, what you really need is to have your devices fully charged. You also get four storage pockets, shoe pockets, pack down bungee cords and a five-metre lighting cable extension.

The tent comes with a telescopic ladder, which connects to the top of the PVC outer cover for access. When you’re breaking camp, you can choose to leave it in place or remove it for transport inside your vehicle; the latter allows the tent to be packed down with a lower profile of just 200mm, meaning less noise from buffeting and fuel wasted on fighting against the wind as you drive.

Built on a 25mm diameter frame with internal metal camlocks and an ABS laminated, insulated aluminium internal frame, the Flinders tent is as stout as you’d expect from an outfit like ARB. ‘Compact without compromising on camping comfort,’ as the company puts it. ‘With a quick set-up and pack-up as well as the added practicality of storing all your bedding inside, with the ARB Flinders rooftop tent you’re one fold away from a good night’s sleep in a comfortable space that’ll go wherever you and your 4WD take it!’

Now, there’s a challenge. ARB is brought to the UK by Britpart, so you can check it out at www.britpart.com.

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Ring MAGflex continues to illuminate the UK’s garages WHATEVER KIND OF LAND ROVER YOU OWN (unless it’s the kind that costs so much, you’ve got people to do everything for you), two things are guaranteed. One, you’ll need to work on it. Two, you’ll need to be able to see what you’re doing. And three, you won’t be able to.

Told you it was two things.

The reason you won’t be able to see what you’re doing is that Land Rovers are very good at needing work done to them in places that light can’t reach.

Neither can the human hand, in many cases, unless it has a universal joint in its wrist.

The Ring MAGflex can’t help put a UJ in your wrist. But it can help you see the thing you can’t reach, which is half the battle. It first came out last year, and since then it has been lighting up the lives of technicians everywhere thanks to the extreme flexibility designed into its body.

This rotates through 360 degrees, meaning you can point it wherever it’s needed. Working hand-held, this lets you figure out all the details of how you’re about to bark your knuckles, then you can mount it in place using your choice from two hanging hooks and two adjustable magnetic bases while you get in there with the tools.

The lamp provides up to 1000 lumens of white light, in a wide-angled beam which can illuminate a large area or focus in on where the action’s happening. Whether under the bonnet or the chassis, or plonked on to a set of ramps, it’s at home.

You can even use it remotely from your workshop, as it comes with a 12v charging cable as well as the usual mains unit. With the battery fully juiced, it operates cordlessly for a total of up to two and a half hours.

‘The MAGflex Utility Lamp offers more flexibility when it comes to inspection lighting,’ says Ring’s Roisin Gaughan.

It has a wide-angle illumination source and is portable, powerful and hands-free, making it a technician’s best friend.’

The MAGflex costs £44.99 and Ring says it’s available from all good motor factors. You can find out more at www. ringautomotive.com.

Issue 91: Sept 2021

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Issue 91: Sept 2021

News

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Vehicles

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MACHINOR

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PB Customs becomes a Raptor Approved Application Centre PB CUSTOMS, which was founded in 2015 and is based near Peterborough, is a 4x4 conversion and off-road modification specialist with a great reputation for customer satisfaction. Its owner, Paul Brown, is a pioneer in the creative use of the well known Raptor heavy-duty paint – and earlier this year, the company became an approved Raptor Applicator Centre.

Made by U-Pol, Raptor is a tough, tintable urethane coating which provides surfaces with a protective skin that can withstand the most extreme situations. It was originally created as a product for protecting areas in a vehicle

which experience the hardest wear, such as pick-up beds, but it has also come to be used as an alternative to traditional paint for whole-body finishes – which can be tinted to any colour and, with expert application, can incorporate all manner of special finishes.

‘In order to achieve the best results from Raptor, preparation and application of the product is key,’ explains Paul. ‘Aware of the demand in the market for vehicles to be Raptored but understanding that many customers may not be trained or have the facilities to spray their vehicles themselves, U-Pol saw an opportunity to launch

Raptor Approved Applications Centres.

This enabled U-Pol to drive business towards their centres while having their customers assured that the work is carried out to a standard they expect.

‘In order to become an approved centre, candidates have to follow strict criteria in both product knowledge and application. As well as this, workshops and bodyshops are reviewed to make sure Health and Safety standards are being met, as are the best practices for applying Raptor.’

Over the years, Paul has built up a close working relationship with Jason Morse, Raptor Technical Sales

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Manager for U-Pol. This has enabled PB Customs to flourish and succeed in becoming a Raptor Approved Application Centre – currently one of only two in the UK. ‘It’s been a pleasure working with Paul and the team at PB Customs,’ says Jason. ‘From day one, Paul has always pushed the boundaries on the product and continues to produce truly superb pieces of work. It was an absolute no-brainer developing a professional relationship with PB Customs and we are delighted that they fly the flag as one of our Raptor Approved Application Centres.’

Paul has a unique technique for applying Raptor, with stencilling skills which allow him to create a variety of high-end finishes including flawless graphics which really bring a vehicle to life. We don’t say that lightly, either – we’ve seen several of his creations up close, and the results are extraordinary.

PB Customs says it’s ‘dedicated to achieving a perfect finish’ – a particular trademark is its use of luminescent paint, which blends with the Raptor to create amazing glow-in-the-dark effects.

With more than two decades’ professional experience, Paul launched PB Customs to bring his passion for Land Rovers and other 4x4s to a new audience. The company has gone from strength to strength over the last six years, offering everything from servicing and general maintenance to high-end modification work. Most recently, the company expanded into a new 1600 square foot paint shop dedicated to Raptor applications – and people from all over the world now come to Paul for his expert opinion.

No wonder U-Pol was so happy to appoint PB Customs as a Raptor Approved Applications Centre, then.

You can find out more about the company, and see examples of the knockout work it produces, at www.pbcustoms.co.uk.

PB PBCUSTOMS CUSTOMS4x4 4x4 PB CUSTOMS 4x4

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PB PBCUSTOMS CUSTOMS4x4 4x4 PB CUSTOMS 4x4 PB PBCUSTOMS CUSTOMS4x4 4x4 PB CUSTOMS 4x4

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Upwardly mobile

The Defender has moved up in the world; of that there’s no doubt. Land Rover insists that it’s still the real thing, though – and what better way to find out than to throw it at some of the green lanes we’ve been enjoying in traditional 90s and 110s since time immemorial?

W

hen the new Defender was launched, Land Rover promised that it would be the most capable off-roader the company had ever made. The most capable, and the most high-tech.

There’s certainly no denying the fact that in terms of the way the Defender deals with the business of tackling terrain, never before has so much technology been thrown at the problem. But

does this alone make it more capable than a simpler, more basic solution?

Here’s where we find out. Sort of, at least. We have the entry-level Defender 90 – still a high-tech off-roader, to be sure, but equipped with straightforward coils rather than the height-adjustable air springs that hold up the rest of the range. It rides on steel wheels, and wrapped around them are 265/70R18 tyres – the highest profile you can get on a new Defender.

And we’re going to take it laning.

We’ve previously driven several different versions of the Defender at Eastnor, including the Hard-Top version of this same vehicle. Our conclusion then was that it was probably our favourite out of all the various Defenders we’ve experienced. But launches can be deceptive, and that’s why we’ve travelled up to North Yorkshire to pit the 90 against a set of lanes we know well.

Of course, however well you might think you know a lane, you’ll only know what it was like last time you drove it. We had that brought home to us a couple of years ago on the Cam Steps, a lane south-west of Hawes, when we got to the eponymous steps and they weren’t there any more. Now it’s just the Cam Gates. So we knew it wasn’t going to ask the Defender any searching questions.

North of Askrigg, however, is Hogg Gill. This isn’t technical as such either, but in the direction we’re going it’s a long, steep descent towards a place called, we kid you not, Crackpot. Long, steep and on very loose pebbles which

in places are almost like scree. A place where control is essential.

Here, a Land Rover Experience instructor would immediately start telling you about Hill Descent Control.

What the Defender has is a very clever system which let you govern the vehicle’s maximum speed using the cruise control buttons. Cruise control is standard on all Defenders, in case you were wondering, even our base-speccer (which, we’d add, is very generously

equipped as standard, even if the one we drove was carrying £7670’s worth of options).

It’s a brilliant set-up and it’s very, very effective. But we’re always saying that a vehicle with low range should be able to go down hills without needing electronic aids to keep a lid on its speed, so we’re going to do this the proper way.

Just shifting the transfer case is a bit of a culture shock, because instead

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of wrestling with a little stubby lever, more often than not having to put it in gear then ease off the clutch until the cogs finally line up and the whole thing comes in with a clang, you just need to drop the auto shifter into neutral and turn one of two multi-function electronic dials and bingo.

We start off in low first, to be on the safe side. It’s far too deep, so we flick it up a gear into low second and suddenly it’s trying to run away. Back into first, ho hum, what do you fancy for dinner… let’s try second again, crikey we’re off.

There’s a big gap between first and second. It’s not evident at all in everyday driving, but off-road it becomes apparent very quickly. And so now we’ve got a reason for using hill descent control. Set it to sensible miles per hour and flob the box into Drive, and it takes you down a treat. You can adjust the speed up or down with a finger and, unlike on older vehicles you might have driven with earlier versions of HDC, the peace isn’t wrecked by constant chattering noises as the system jumps on and off the brakes like your granny playing Grand Theft Auto.

Normally, what goes up must come down. But this is the Yorkshire Dales, so what goes down must come back up again. And further north, just to the far side of Reeth, is Fremington Edge.

This isn’t quite as technical as you expect on the way up. But it’s a hell of a climb and the views are immense – glorious, expansive and, when the sun is in the mood, just spectacularly lit.

Best of all, the floor of the valley below is so distant, it’s like being in a plane.

But first we’ve got to get up it. Now our 90 is a D200, so it has the least powerful diesel in the range.

With 200bhp, however, it’s still packing more output than people used to get by wringing their Td5s into a great big cloud of smoke. So it’s no slug. It has already shown us that on the motorway as we travelled up to Yorkshire, and again as we bowled along the A and B-roads leading towards Fremington. It grips, it steers, it handles and it takes off out of corners – yet it also has that gung-ho feeling of body movement and pivot-about-a-point cornering that

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Above left: This is the sort of terrain over which the old Defender would never struggle to keep its wheels on the ground – though its beam axles would be jolting you from side to side on the way.

The new vehicle’s independent wishbones are better at soaking up the bumps, but they don’t allow anything like as much articulation. Note the coil springs on this particular vehicle, which is an entry level model – most have air springs, but we think its at its best in this most basic of forms Above right: All Defenders come powerfully equipped with high-tech aids for on and off-road use. These include a suite of cameras linked to a multi-angle display which can help you place the vehicle more precisely in tight situations. This particular example has a locking rear diff, as shown on the display; operating automatically, this appeared to be engaged almost the whole of the way up Fremington Edge

puts you in mind of the great days, when a 90 was a 90 and anti-roll bars were for people who needed to be driving things that didn’t roll instead.

In short, it drives like a 90. Which we didn’t think we’d ever be able to say about a truck with an eight-speed auto, but it really does. If anything, it feels more authentic, more liberated than the old Defender used to after they started having to pin it down with the anti rollbars it both desperately needed and really, really didn’t.

That authenticity comes riding into town on a set of independent wishbones, too. It might be coil-sprung, but there’s not an axle in sight.

There is something else here, though – which is the latest version of Terrain Response. But what are we going to choose, rock crawl? It’s a rough, stony trail, for sure, but we’d feel a bit silly using a mode named after the sort of stuff people do in America that makes Fremington look like Pall Mall. Grass, Gravel, Snow? It’s hardly that, either.

So in the end, we didn’t select any Terrain Response mode and elected just to drive the thing. And it started

easing its way up the hill very confidently indeed. It always feels a bit like cheating, but this is an area where automatic transmission gives you so much confidence – not that you’d expect to be stalling a vehicle with low range and lots of torque, of course, but the ever-present worry of a frightening failed hillclimb is happily absent and you can just concentrate on picking a line and enjoying the view. Even if, in this case, the view is behind you (if you’re going to drive Fremington Edge, and it’s highly recommended, north-tosouth is better).

Things got rougher as we got higher, with some quite sharply erratic rocks and axle-twisters to test the 90’s tractability as it picked its way over them. Note we didn’t say articulation – it has some, but it’s limited by the independent suspension layout. That classic image of a Land Rover with a wheel hanging down by a seemingly impossible distance is one you’ll never associate with the new model – even if, to be honest, it’s one that was created largely by modified examples of the old one. The difference being, of course,

that people won’t be able to modify the new one in the same way.

As it is, ours has been ‘modified’ to the extent that it was fitted with an optional locking diff in the rear axle.

There’s a screen that comes up where you’re in low range which monitors the drivetrain, and this showed us that the rear locker was in almost the whole way up the climb. We’d have expected an old 90 to chug its way up without any dramas with just its centre diff engaged, which may say something about the difference betwee te two vehicles; either way, for sure there wasn’t a hint of wheelspin, not even a chirrup on the way off a rock, for the whole of the ascent.

The next lane on our route isn’t quite a continuation of Fremington Edge, but it feels like it. After passing through the other-worldly landscape of abandoned mine workings surrounding the village of Hurst, you carry on east on a road which becomes ever more open before simply running out of tarmac and there you are, descending towards a river crossing via a valley side which ends in the sort of axle twister even a modified

old-school 90 would struggle to cross without waving a wheel.

You can see from the pictures how the new one reacted. But dramatic though it looks, with low range taking the strain and a bit of judicious work on the anchors at the right time, it simply eased its way off the step and carried on. A little bit of driving technique, we’d say, but mainly just a very good vehicle.

That could be a verdict on the new Defender as a whole, actually. It does the job for you – but doesn’t leave you unengaged by the experience. In that way, it’s similar to the old one – which was very engaging indeed but actually did still do a fair bit of the work for you when all’s said and done.

To read some of what’s been said about it, you might think that driving the

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new Defender off-road is basically like being a passenger. It’s not. The rawness of the old one isn’t there, but the sense of involvement is. And though it shares so much technology with the Discovery and Range Rover, you feel closer to the action than in either of those vehicles.

These are reasons why, for us, the most basic 90 is the best. We understand what air suspension brings to

the party, both on and off-road, and we know most of the Defenders Land Rover sells will be models that have it as standard. But to us, the coil springs on this base-speccer add a dimension to its character which makes it the one we’d have.

We’ve been round Eastnor several times in 90s and 110s over the last year, and some of them have been worth a lot more money. But the truck

Issue 91: Sept 2021

17

we took up Fremington and beyond feels like the real deal. It’s the closest you can get to an old-shape one now – and, far-fatched though it may sound, it’s close enough to feel like they’re two vehicles from the same bloodline.

We’re traditionalists when it comes to the way a 4x4 should be – but we’ve got to hold our hands up and say that in this form in particular, the Defender is a completely convincing Land Rover.

Earby Autos Ltd, Lane Ends Garage, Skipton Road, Earby, Lancashire, BB18 6PX

enquiries@earbyautos.co.uk 01282 843 986

Independent Specialist Land Rover Technicians Specialising in all Series Land Rovers through to modern day Land Rovers

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So you can have your

It’s quite normal to have two Land Rovers – one for everyday family duties and one to take out at the weekend for off-road fun. But here’s a better idea. Have one to take out at the weekend for off-road fun and one to… take out at the weekend for off-road fun

L

ots of people would like a Defender 90 as an off-road toy.

But there are lots of reasons not to have one.

There’s the reliability thing, compounded by the fact that you can’t buy one any more without having to worry about the competence / sanity of whoever might have worked on it in the past. There’s the lack of practicality, cramped cabin and woeful equipment levels. And of course there’s the everpresent worry that if you look the other way for five minutes, it’ll be gone.

Oh, and Defenders are worth so much now that off-roading one is pretty much like using a ten pound note to light a barbecue.

That’s why we’re firm believers in the virtues of the Mk1 Discovery. If you can find one, of course, that hasn’t already been destroyed and/or rusted itself into nothing.

Words: Gary Noskill Pictures: Steve Taylor if you’ve got the golden ticket, you might have one of each. But which would you keep standard and which would you modify? There was a time when the answer to that would have been clear-cut – and it probably still is now. It’s just that it’s the other answer.

Or maybe you say nah, cos Land Rovers, I’m going to modify both. Then I’m going to get another 90 and modify that, too.

Now, this story goes back more than a decade and a half. It’s the story of a family, and a love of off-roading that was first kindled very early in life.

Meet Alastair Read. ‘He lives and breathes Land Rovers,’ his wife Sue told us. ‘He’s totally consumed by them.’ She didn’t seem to mind, though – perhaps because she had one too.

Hers was a very fit looking soft-top (we were going to ask if there was any other kind, but as we all know there

certainly is). His, meanwhile, was a full-on challenge truck – and one which, though it doesn’t look like much in comparison to the Ultra4 buggies of today, more than held its own in the early days of winch competition.

‘I’ve been interested in Land Rovers as long as I can remember,’ Alastair explained to us. ‘My father had always been a devotee and I bought one at the first opportunity.’

That vehicle was a Series III, and by the time we showed up he reckoned he had owned around a dozen or so different Land Rovers. These included Range Rovers, a Discovery, a hybrid, a Freelander and, of course, a whole host of 90s.

We’ll get on to the Disco in a bit.

First, though, comes his favourite of all the trucks he’s owned. His challengespec 90 represented the culmination of many years’ experience in the fine arts

of driving, modifying and even buying Land Rovers.

Lesson one, of course, is that there’s no such thing as a finished project.

‘There’s always something you want to do to a 4x4, isn’t there?’ he said.

‘Manufacturers are always developing new tricks that improve articulation or give you more traction, and any enthusiast will be tempted.’

The development of the challenge world since he uttered those words bear them out entirely. Alastair strove to compete with the big guns of the day – people like Tony Baskill and Simon Buck, who were regulars on the top step at much-loved events like the Ras Y Dafftodil – yet the 90’s ran ‘only’ 35x10.50R16 Simexes, a standard Warn 8274 and a single ARB Air-Locker.

These days, people would see that as green laner spec. And Alastair loved

his laning, but he wasn’t about to inflict his 90 on Britain’s precious rights of way. ‘The combination of hardcore mud tyres and serious traction aids would destroy most green lanes in a matter of minutes,’ he told us. ‘The 90 belongs in extreme conditions and nowhere else.’

Say such a thing at a pub meet and you’ll kick off a heated debate. But let’s stick with the 90 for now. That Warn 8274 sat on a David Bowyer front bumper and was fitted with Plasma rope. ‘When you’re fighting the clock, it’s great to be able to throw the winch rope around between you: it saves wasting time carrying it. With a steel rope, it’s both unsafe and awkward to do this.’ Yes, there was a time when people still even talked about steel.

There was also a time when they used to talk about things other than LEDs. The 90 ran a set of 130-watt KC spotlights for night-time events

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19

cake and eat it, then…

and sealed-beam headlamps for, well, a sealed beam. ‘They give

off an appallingly small amount of illumination,’ said Alastair, ‘but because

they have a sealed beam they are completely waterproof.’ Sometimes a

little of what you need is better than none at all.

When it comes to underbody protection, though, you need as much as possible. Hence the Southdown front steering guard and fuel tank protector and Qt diff guards, Servicetune rock sliders and bespoke roll cage, which is external at the front and internal at the rear.

The rear, let’s talk about that. The spare wheel was shifted from the back door and remounted inside to prevent it blocking the driver’s view and the co-driver’s access to the Husky winch mounted into the rear crossmember.

This was chosen because it was waterproof, and the mount was created to prevent adding to the 90’s departure angle – and to leave easy access to the winch’s motor so it could be whipped out and used in emergencies as a spare for the front one.

‘All in all, I’m pretty pleased with the winch set-up,’ Alastair told us.

‘Even moving the spare wheel has its advantages. The distribution of weight is a lot better, and it’s easier to balance the truck nowadays.’

The wheel shared the 90’s rear cabin with a diver’s air tank, which Alastair used to power air tools and to reinflate his tyres after events.

‘I can pump up the tyres wherever I am and the tank only costs a few quid to fill up,’ he explained. ‘I tend to deflate the Simexes to 12psi on really tough terrain, using Storm tyre deflators I bought from Australia. They automatically shut off once the desired pressure is reached, leaving me free to have a brew!’ Good thinking.

Also from Australia were the 90’s Maxidrive halfshafts, and when we met Alastair he was looking at the same company’s rock-crawling gears. ‘Every time the car leaves my drive, it goes

Above left: If there’s one picture that ages this 90 more than any other, here it is. Any modern challenge motor, let alone one built to joust with giants, would be running an LED bar here Above centre: Some mods never go out of fashion. The Defender’s exhaust pipe is positioned perfectly sensibly for everyday off-road use, but challenge events are about as everyday as a total eclipse. Bending up a new final section that exits through the rear wing is an excellent way of not putting your vehicle out of action by bending it in the other sense of the phrase Above right: No, we’re not just showing you a picture of the Defender’s stereo (though the fact that it actually had one is worthy of note in itself). Alastair installed the centre dash section from a later model to give him somewhere to mount the switches for his winch, rear locker and so on

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Above left: A front bumper from Gooodwinch with a standard Warn 8274 bolted to it – back in the day, that’s all it took to make a vehicle that could compete in winch challenges. The big Warn unit was wound with Plasma rope – again, this 90 dates from a time when there were still people using steel in competitive events Above centre. Very neatly mounted into a custom rear crossmember, a Superwinch Husky got the nod by virtue of being waterproof. Its motor doubled up as a spare for the Warn up front – and as you can see, it proves our point about people still using steel back then Above right: A diver’s air tank is a novel alternative to running an on-board generator. Alastair used it for powering air tools and reinflating his tyres after an event

off-road in extreme conditions. I think the rock-crawling gears will make a significant improvement to its ability, enabling it to clamber over obstacles at a dead slow pace.’

The crawling is enabled by the 90’s original 200Tdi engine and LT77 gearbox, which Alastair opted to stick with rather than going for a 300Tdi because the later unit is ‘too nice to abuse.’ A low-revving, torque-heavy

diesel turning a set of extremely aggressive tyres with locked rear and centre diffs is always going to find the weak point, however, and this turned out to be the clutch – which was needing to be replaced every couple of thousand miles. It says something that at the time, when we asked if there was a solution, the answer was ‘not that I can readily think of –it’s just one of those things.’

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We’re on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thelandyuk With the 90 waiting patiently between events, anyway, Alastair had a vacancy for an everyday Land Rover. And this is where the Disco comes in. He bought it with 240,000 miles on the clock – but seeing as he only wanted it for the occasional laning trip and to tow his 90, this wasn’t a problem. Besides, it came fitted with a rebuilt 200Tdi engine and a new gearbox and transfer case, so

in many of the most expensive areas it was as good as new.

It also came with all its modifications already in place. These included an ARB front bumper fitted with a Warn M9500 winch, Twin Optima Red-Tops batteries and a split-charge system featuring a battery cut-off switch.

Underneath, Southdown guards looked after the steering, axle and fuel

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tank, while the other kind of protection came from a Safari snorkel – which also housed extended breathers for the axles, injector pump and crankcase cover. Also underneath, a +1” Old Man Emu lift kit made room for a set of 235/70R16 BFGoodrich All-Terrains, while a stowage box in the rear provided a home for all Alastair’s recovery gear.

Thus we have a man with two very different kinds of off-road vehicle. One was a hardcore truck built for a very specific purpose, the other a do-it-all wagon with just enough mods to make sure it could do it all really well. About the only thing they had in common was that they were Land Rovers – but when push comes to shove, ain’t that the most important thing of all?

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Down below, the 90 rode on +2” Old Man Emu spring and shocks. These ran with dislocation cones, drop shock mounts and cranked radius arms from Scorpion Racing, possibly the biggest name in extreme off-roading at the time. ‘With this set-up,’ said Alastair, ‘I get the strength of the Old Man Emu kit as well as the flex of dislocation. I’m really chuffed with it!’ Moral: don’t be scared to mix and match.

We mentioned the rear Air-Locker earlier on, but there’s a little more to it than that. It’s mounted in the back axle from a Td5 90 – which brings a 24-spline diff and disc brakes to the party. Alastair decided against using a front locker, however, because of the strain it puts on the CV joints: ‘I’ve never been in a situation where someone with an ARB in the front has got significantly further than me, so I’d sooner protect the CVs and start winching fifty yards earlier!’

Further mods include twin Optima Yellow-Top batteries with the alternator from Land Rover’s 4.0-litre V8 engine, a hybrid snorkel using a Mantec main pipe and a Southdown chimney and a standard Td5 90 ladder allowing easy access to the waffle boards on the roof. Inside, Alastair has gone to the effort of fitting a 2002 Defender centre dash, because it provides a useful mounting point for the winch controls and ARB switches.

As you read through all this, once again you might well reflect that now, a generation later, it all sounds very much like a good green laner. Quite a hardcore one – and we’d absolutely endorse the views Alastair expressed earlier about what big tyres with a hardcore off-road tread pattern can do to the ground surface – but the winching game has certainly moved on since then. Exactly as he said it would.

21

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As cool as they come

In the eye-candy stakes, 110s are normally fit for purpose while 90s are, well, just fit. But here’s a 110 which proves that a long wheelbase is no impediment to looking like the coolest truck on the beach Words: Dan Fenn

I

f you look in My Big Book of Land Rovers, here’s what it says on page one. If you want a Defender to do a job, get a 110. If you want a Defender to look cool, get a 90.

Of course, 90s can do a job too.

Making a 110 look as cool takes a bit of doing, though.

But it’s not impossible. And here’s the proof. Built by a chap called Paul who has the very good fortune to live in the neck of the woods where the New Forest meets the sea, it’s got a kind of military chic to it. But there’s a lot more going on with it besides that – in fact, if this isn’t the funkiest

summertime pose motor you can think of, you probably design funky summertime pose motors for a living.

It first saw the light of day in 1989, making it one of the last 110s built before the Defender name was introduced. We don’t know what it started off with, but these days it mimics Land Rovers from just a few months later by running a 200 Tdi. This breathes in through a beast of a snorkel and out through a custom side-exit exhaust, and in between its efforts are aided by an upgraded aluminium radiator and intercooler.

Paul also renewed the clutch and PAS box, so this project was about more than just the fun stuff.

Similarly, the body cappings have been re-galvanised – matching a sturdy set of rock and tree sliders and a front bumper which, though it doesn’t currently contain a winch, certainly has the capacity for one. In fact, we’d say a big, old-fashioned upright job would finish the truck off

perfectly – though it might end up jostling for space with the Heritage grille, which looks like a late-model unit for vehicles with air-conditioning.

Another fabulous nod to the 110’s heritage (small ‘h’, this time) is that there’s a spare wheel on the bonnet.

Yes, ‘a’ spare wheel, not ‘the’. There’s another one at the back, this time mounted on a swing-away carrier.

You know the way car manufacturers started off not knowing what to do with DRLs and used to stick them on in all sorts of ugly, clumsy places, but then after a while started realising that they could be incorporated as a design feature?

Well, here’s proof that you can do the same thing with spare wheels. No way does a 110 need two (its 235/85R16 BFGoodrich All-Terrains are among the more rugged tyres you’ll ever see, so it could go decades without copping a puncture) but how groovy does it look with one sat there in front of its windscreen?

As for the one at the back, that looks if anything even groovier. Yes, we’re using the word ‘groovy’ about a 110, but just check it out. This is unlikely to be the first time you’ve seen a Land Rover with one of Exmoor Trim’s canvas storage bags in place, but has it ever looked as much like an integral part of a four-wheeled work of craftsmanship before? With the hood sides and back rolled up, the overall image is just wonderfully alfresco – but, unlike so many sort-top vehicles, without even a hint of the up-yours. You look at it and smile, and it’s smiling back.

Gleaming alloys would look totally unsuitable on such a chunky bit of kit, but Paul didn’t just lob on a set of eight-spokes and be done with it. He used Wolf rims all round, giving it a stance that looks at once mean yet also modest. Up top, meanwhile, who knew a pair of waffle boards could ever be used as a styling cue?

Inevitably, perhaps, the wing tops and bonnet are covered in chequer plate. There’s none along the door bottoms, though, which we see as a good thing. Frontrunner’s light guards are a good thing, too, and they’re fitted all round – while a particularly interesting touch is a custom sun visor over the top of the windscreen.

It does all go together to create a look that’s perfectly in keeping with the beachfront location in which Paul took the photos you see here. In America, people build epic, chrome-laden Jeeps and Landcruisers for posing on the sand; in Dorset, on the other hand, what could be better than this?

It’s not just a looker, either. Paul says the chassis has never needed a repair and is in rock-solid condition, and the same goes for the bulkhead too. It’s on heavy-duty springs and shocks, too, and the suspension is fully polybushed. What it smacks of is a truck whose owner has spent his time and money on making sure it’s totally sorted, rather than going down the age-old path of lashing out on lots of toys and bolting them to a shed.

And yet it looks better than the vast majority of loadsamoney trucks. Which just goes to show that less is more when you’re smart about how you style it up. This is a 110 that proves long-wheelbase Land Rovers can be cool too – but also that it’s not just about how big it is. It’s what you do with it that counts…

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Discovering America Part 2: Arkansas to Oregon

Having made it through the Deep South amid a combination of downpours and heatwave conditions, the team from Expedition America prepared for an even tougher challenge.

Next up, the Rocky Mountains – followed by the deserts of Nevada. And as the convoy of Discovery 4s pressed on towards the Pacific Coast, the weather conditions were set to get more savage then ever…

Words: Kaziyoshi Sasazaki Pictures: Land Rover North America

T

hat was a taste of what is to come. Just wait and see…’

Those were Sam Correro’s parting words to the Land Rover Expedition America team as he bade them farewell near the Oklahoma state line on their epic 5000-mile off-road journey across the USA. Correro is the man behind the Trans America Trail, a network of unpaved

public roads and tracks from eastern Tennessee to the Pacific coast in Oregon. Researched over the course of more than a decade, it has grown to include various spurs allowing 4x4 drivers and trail bike riders to follow it from coast to coast, south to north up the spine of the Rockies or in a clockwise loop, from the Deep South to the Great Lakes via the deserts of the Wild West.

Led by Camel Trophy veteran Tom Collins, Expedition America was organised by Land Rover’s US arm as a way of demonstrating the capabilities of a standard Discovery 4 (known as the LR4 ever there). It didn’t follow the whole of Correro’s route, but was based on the portion of the Trail running through the Deep South, across the Rockies and on to the Pacific.

Scheduled to take a month, the expedition was clearly done for publicity.

But it was the real thing, too, with no pre-scouting – and on a route created with motorbikes in mind, Land Rover said it was the first known attempt to tackle the journey on four wheels.

Correro joined the convoy as its honourary leader for a few days as it passed his hometown of Corinth,

Mississippi, and rode with the trio of Discoverys as they climbed through the Ozark Mountains and on towards the border town of Alma, Arkansas. This was where he turned back for home, leaving Collins and his team to face the prospect of tackling the southern Midwest, the towering Rockies and the Utah desert – all the while facing ever-changing and often extreme

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At the Trail’s intersection with Route 66, two distinct epochs in America’s history come together. Ironically, the Mother Road was created to replace the sort of ad hoc tracks that the Discoverys were using, but here they are still working for their living today – while Route 66 itself has long since been decomissioned in favour of the newer network of multi-lane interstates

weather. The mercury had climbed above 100 degrees as they crossed the Mississippi: now they were pressing on amid tornado warnings and the threat of lingering snow on the highest trails.

First, they had to polish off another challenge – that of getting past the unending flatness of the Great Plains. A landscape that seems to go on forever, even when you’re zipping across it on the interstate, this takes even longer when you’re doing all of it on gravel trails like the one following the Kansas-Oklahoma border.

‘If it’s not clear already,’ said Collins as they set off from Alma, ‘the next week will show the sheer enormity of this undertaking. The US is a big place – never more so than when you are crossing it on dirt!’

In a landscape with few highlights, a notable moment while following the Kansas-Oklahoma border was the Trail’s intersection with Route 66. The famed Mother Road is less than half the length of the Trans America Trail but as they crossed it in White Oak, near Tulsa, the crews could reflect on the history beneath their wheels.

In many ways, the dirt tracks the Discoverys were following resembled the sort of roads the original pioneers took during the Gold Rush; Route 66, on the other hand, was a symbol of westward migration during more recent times.

Now, ironically, Route 66 no longer exists. For much of its length, it has been upgraded and renamed as part of the interstate system, while in other areas the course it once took is gone forever. In between these extremes, sections do remain, sometimes signposted as ‘Historic Route 66’, and every so often you’ll strike gold and find a faded old marker painted on the roadway itself, but there’s no denying that these days, it’s incomplete. The tracks that came before it, however, remain much as they were in the days when those Gold Rush pioneers raced west in their covered wagons – the difference being that a couple of horses have now been replaced by, in the Discoverys’ case, a 375bhp, 5.0-litre V8 engine.

Literally the only modifications to the Discoverys were factory-fit winches, roof racks and skid plates. ‘Doing this in stock vehicles is important,’ said Collins, ‘as it clearly demonstrates the capability of the LR4 that anyone can buy at their local dealership.’ Obviously the LR4 has given way to the Discovery 5 since then (it’s now known as the Discovery in North America too) but the point remains the same – it’s a premium family SUV, but it’s a real Land Rover too and it comes with serious off-road ability built in.

And this was about to be tested, too.

The miles rolled by, and by, and by, as

the convoy made its way through the flat, featureless landscapes of northern Oklahoma, southern Kansas and north-eastern New Mexico, crossing the famous Santa Fe Trail then finally entering Colorado – which is where everything changed. In front of them, the eastern flank of the Rocky Mountains rose like a wall, the 14,000-foot summit of Pikes Peak looming in the distance as they headed towards what was set to be the biggest challenge of the month’s driving.

And that’s how it turned out. After a badly needed rest day in Colorado Springs, the convoy set out again into the mountains – and four days later, no-on could remember how many different high-level passes they had negotiated. At times, these climbed to more than 12,000 feet – that’s similar in height to the Eiger, or three Ben Nevises on top of each other.

At these altitudes, the passes are normally only free of snow during August. Even then, however, it’s not guaranteed – and with the Rockies having been buffeted by storms during the previous weeks, there was a real danger that the Discoverys would get so far only to find the way ahead blocked. Having already encountered extreme heat, flooding and massive thunderstorms, it would have been entirely in keeping…

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Sure enough, some snow did fall as the vehicles were picking their way over Black Bear Pass. Thankfully, though, the way ahead was still clear – though that didn’t make it easy. Black Bear is a well kept trail with a surface composed of loose stone, but as you descend from the summit you need to take it very, very steadily to avoid building up momentum. The switchbacks come thick and fast, and going over the edge would be a one-way trip into oblivion – something that’s thrown sharply into focus by the fact that you’re relying on your vehicle to maintain its

poise on what is essentially scree. This is where the Discoverys’ Terrain Response and Hill Descent Control came into their own, allowing the drivers to remain in control and concentrate on placing the vehicles safely away from the lip of the track.

After a nerve-wracking challenge like this, it can be nice to put your wheels back on to tarmac for a while. But there was no such luxury in store here, as the goal of crossing America on unmade roads remained very much intact.

Thus, having reached the midway point in the expedition as they passed

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through Colorado, the vehicles’ next challenge was to negotiate the track into Utah. In contrast to the epic mountain trails of the Rockies, this runs parallel to the interstate, so close that you can hear the rumble of traffic from within the cabins of their Discoverys.

That was easy enough, but while I-70 continues in the same vein the Trans America Trail suddenly becomes less placid. Black Dragon Canyon was one of the most technical parts of the entire route, requiring the vehicles to edge along cautiously with Terrain Response set to Rock Crawl mode. Rarely getting above walking pace, they continued this for some 14 hours.

In some parts, this section of the trail is overlooked by 1000 year-old cave paintings under the lip of a canyon wall.

The crews probably weren’t paying much attention to that, though, because the driving was so intense. They were looking out for rattlesnakes, too, which is always guaranteed to focus the mind.

As this suggests, the expedition had moved into a new kind of landscape with an arid climate. The route of the Trail took the vehicles from Utah into Nevada – where Collins’ team learned that unbeknown to them, they had just had an incredibly lucky escape.

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Close to the town of Salina, the crews had watched in awe as an intense storm brewed up. Moving on, what they didn’t know was that this had gone on to cause a flash flood, turning the trail they were following at the time into a deep, fast-flowing river. Literally two hours after they had passed through, their route had become completely impassable.

A pair of motorcyclists riding the Trail caught up with the Discoverys further along the route and showed the team some pictures they had taken of the flooding. ‘That would have been

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impossible to cross and we would have lost at least a day, maybe more, waiting it out,’ remarked Collins. Fortune favours the brave…

Fortune also favours the careful, and as always on an expedition everyday maintenance is critical. In the fine white dust of the Nevada desert, this means cleaning out air filters almost every time you stop. The stuff is like talcum powder, its tiny particles getting everywhere.

Now, too, the climate was once again searingly hot, with the temperature back up over 100 degrees.

Previously, the teams had had to cope

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with temperatures like these combined with the crippling humidity of the Mississippi floodplain; this time round, the air was dry as the land beneath the Discoverys’ wheels – a land of sagebrush, rattlesnakes and desert tarantulas, so jumping out of your vehicle to get under the bonnet and clean its air filter was not something to be done without caution.

Having stopped along the way back in Mississippi to hob-nob with Morgan Freeman, the team were treated to another distinctly unusual overlanding experience as they passed through the Nevada town of Eureka. Some five hours north of Las Vegas, this was once a Gold Rush boom town with a population of 10,000. It ha declined to more like 600 now, leaving a strange urban landscape in which modern buildings sit alongside classic Wild West architecture – all surrounded by the harsh, parched landscape of the desert which crowds in around the very centre of the town.

One of the most notable buildings here is the old Opera House, which has been restored but, with no real prospect of drawing an audience, is rarely used. Not that the opera-going experience in a Gold Rush boom town would have been the genteel pastime it is today, but that’s probably just as well. In any case, Land Rover’s event organisers arranged to bring Nicolette, an opera singer from Los Angeles, to Eureka for the day to put on an intimate off-off concert for the town. Unlike quite a lot of performances in the 19th Century, it didn’t end in a riot and no-one got shot.

From here, the convoy passed through the Black Rock Desert, close to where Andy Green piloted Thrust SSC to the first ever supersonic Land Speed Record in 1997. The route nibbled off the north-east corner of California

before heading into Oregon, the final state in the itinerary – but here, things were to get more dramatic than ever.

Literally two days from the conclusion of its month-long quest, Expedition America faced a totally unexpected challenge courtesy of wildfires in the forests of Oregon which made this section of the Trans America Trail completely impassable. Completing an off-tarmac crossing of the USA on tarmac doesn’t really sound like the right way to sign off, but it seemed unavoidable – or at least, it would have to lesser men than Tom Collins.

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Showing the resourcefulness and determination of a Camel Trophy veteran, Collins set about mapping a new route – with some expert help. ‘We give our thanks to the firefighters in Oregon who provided us with detailed advice on how to drive around the fire zone safely,’ he said. ‘Without their assistance, we would have not been able to reach our goal.’

With that, the convoy of Discoverys – dusty, muddy and very nearly singed at the edges, but very much unbowed – rolled out of the woods and arrived at their destination of Port Orford. The

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westernmost point on the American mainland, this was a very fitting spot at which to finish the expedition – and the Discos got there with no mechanical issues and no repairs needed, save for a few flat tyres.

In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, Expedition America was able to claim the honour of having been the first to complete an unpaved crossing of America by 4x4. It certainly demonstrated the Discovery’s overland abilities, bringing both they and the Trans America Trail to a whole new audience.

If the thought of a 5000-mile expedition across the whole of the USA on almost

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nothing but unpaved roads, via forests, deserts and mountain ranges, sounds like your idea of heaven – well, you’re certainly not alone. Time to start prepping your Land Rover and checking out the cost of shipping, perhaps. It won’t be cheap, but it’ll be the trip of a lifetime – in every sense. And you, like Expedition America itself, will have a lone motorcyclist called Sam Correro to thank for it.

KDL GROUP (UK) LIMITED

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GREEN LANE GUIDE

Mid-Wales

Of all the counties in Britain, Powys is the number one destination for green laning. Much of this is down to classic rights of way such as Strata Florida, but there’s a wealth of trails here that go below the radar too. This route ties a number of them together with some much loved classics to create a long, varied and challenging adventure for your Land Rover ROUTE NOTES START FINISH DISTANCE TIME TERRAIN HAZARDS OS MAPS TYRES WEATHER LOW BOX DRIVING DAMAGE

Newbridge on Wye (SO 016 582) Llandrindod Wells (SO 062 607) 62.3 miles 7-8 hours Exposed mountains and wooded hills Isolation; Flooded trails; Other users; Farm traffic; Some ruts and rock steps Landranger 147 (Elan Valley) Landranger 148 (Presteigne) Mud-terrains required in places Could be dangerous in fog Essential Some technical sections; Groundreading skills necessary in places; Care required at road junctions Moderate risk of scratching; Water can get very deep here and there

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SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE GREEN LANE USE The trails on our green lane guides

are their victim. If it’s safe to do so,

are all public rights of way – either

film them in the act and pass it to

Byways Open to All Traffic or

the police.

Unclassified County Roads. The

Elsewhere, let common sense

latter are also sometimes known

and courtesy prevail. Keep your

as Other Routes With Public

speed down, be ready to pull over

Access. Many green lane users

for others and show the world we

avoid referring to their hobby as

are decent people just like them.

‘off-roading,’ because these rights of way are roads – and also to

ANTIS

distance themselves from the illegal

By and large, anti-4x4 bigotry is

activities of vandals who give 4x4

limited to individual troublemakers

drivers a bad name..

and organisations who want the

NAVIGATION

countryside to themselves. being reasoned with, but it’s rare

possible to follow the route. We

to encounter real hostility even

normally only include junctions

from their rank-and-file members.

at which you have to make a

If you’re friendly towards the

turning or don’t have right of

people with whom you share the

way, so stay on the main road or

countryside, the vast majority will

continue straight ahead unless the

respond in kind. There are always

instructions tell you otherwise.

bad apples, but no more so than

You’ll find a guide to using grid

will accept your presence if you’re driving sensibly. What suspicion

but you should certainly have them

you do encounter is likely to

with you.

be from farmers worried that you’re there to steal from them, reassurance. Once satisfied that

judge how suitable the route is for

you’re not after their quad bikes,

your Land Rover. These are just

their mood will lighten.

of any hazards or difficult sections,

DO…

but the nature of any green lane can change quickly. Wet weather

• Keep your speed right down • Pull over to let walkers, bikers and

can make a huge difference to the

horse riders pass

conditions underfoot, and what’s wide open in winter can be tightly

• Leave gates as you found them • Scrupulously obey all closure and

enclosed and scratchy in summer.

voluntary restraint notices

The responsibility is yours!

• Ensure you have a right to be there. We research the routes on

be safe to drive in a solo vehicle.

our roadbooks very carefully, but

We do recommend travelling

the status of any route can change

in tandem wherever possible,

without notice

however. The risk of getting stuck

• Be prepared to turn back if the route is blocked, even illegally

can be greater than it appears – and even the most capable of Land Rovers is capable of breaking down miles from anywhere.

RESPONSIBILITY Irresponsible driving is a big issue on green lanes. In particular, you must always stay on the right of way. Never drive off it to ‘play’ on the verges or surrounding land, even if you can see that someone else has; doing so is illegal and can be tremendously damaging.

This kind of illegal off-roading is a key reason why green lanes get closed. Drivers who do this may be fellow Land Rover owners

8

2

3.3

0.25

There are two gates next to each other in front of you. Both look similar at first, but the one on the right is just a field entrance

Beulah B4358

9

3

4.85

0.55 Llysdinam

1

2

10

4

6.35

1.9

Elan Village 412

5

2.15

SN 998 599

11 6.7

so be ready to offer a word of

The notes on this page help you

Our roadbooks are designed to

3.0

Likewise, most local residents

able to do the route without maps,

guidelines, however. We’ll warn you

7

Ignore what your trip says – this is immediately after step 6

anywhere else.

OS map. Our aim is for you to be

SAFETY

0.0

Start at the New Inn in Newbridge.

With the pub on the right, pull forward to the T-junction with the A470; zero your trip here and turn right for Rhayader on the A470 to start the route

These organisations are beyond

The idea is for it to be as easy as

references on the legend of any

1

SO 016 582

33

• If you find an illegal obstruction, notify the local authority • Stick scrupulously to the right of way • Always remember that you are an ambassador for all 4x4 drivers

DON’T… • Go in large convoys: instead, split into smaller groups • Drop litter. Why not carry a bin bag pick up other people’s instead?

• Go back to drive the fun bits, such as mud or fords, again • Cause a noise nuisance, especially not after dark

(actually, chances are their vehicles

• Get riled up if someone challenges you. Be firm but polite,

are stolen), but they are NOT your

stay calm and don’t let them turn it

friends. They’re criminals, and you

into a fight

Elan Village 4

6

3.0

12 10.0

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Issue 91: Sept 2021

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16

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21

13.15

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Follow the main track

16.1

Dyffryn Claerwen Valley

17

SN 901 616

15.3

13 10.6

Take care at the junction just after the cattle grid – it might well be your right of way, but it’s not obvious

15

20

11.1

11.4

23

15.4

19 15.85

15.9

Prepare yourself for a series of rock steps to climb

16.65

18

14

22

More rock steps

17.05

Dead slow through the farm buildings, then look for the track to the right which goes to the left of the black corrugated iron shed

Through the gate then follow the track straight ahead

24

Another sharp rock step, this time going down

17.2

25 17.3

There are several water troughs coming up. Don’t panic – they’re firm-based and no problem to a suitable 4x4

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33

26

Follow the red waymarker

11.65

17.9

39

35

0.75

Rhayader

27

34

Stay to the left when the track splits in two

11.75

18.0

40

This is in the centre of Rhayader

1.1

Aberystwyth A470 Newtown A470

28

35

Follow the red waymarker – the tracks ahead are not rights of way

11.9

22.5

41 1.2

Sant Harmon

29

36

ZERO TRIP

42

12.2

22.6

5.1

Aberystwyth Via mountain road

30

Caution over the narrow bridge at the hairpin

3.55

12.2

31

38

7.8

0.15

Rhayader

51 32 10.1 9.05

37

SD 921 830 709 834 SN

5

trackisiseasy quitetoeasy most ofto This lane spot,forbut hard its length,asand supremely scenic. describe there are no landmarks Butallone section is not for the faint at at the junction hearted – and being part of the Pennine Way, it’s very popular with walkers. Which you may or may not be…

ZERO TRIP

43

SN 990 738

5.35

44 5.55

Head through the gate then join the track ahead

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Issue 91: Sept 2021

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51

5.65

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It’s not obvious who has right of way here

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57 3.05

2.5

Knighton 14

58

52

46

6.0

3.25

7.55

SO 160 673

Your turning isn’t signed, but it’s immediately after a sign to the left for Llanbister Road railway station

Abbey-cwm-hir

47

ZERO TRIP

7.65

48

53 5.75

SO 029 745

54

60

ZERO TRIP

Immediately after the gate, follow the main track up the hill

7.5

55

61

1.2

8.25

Leominster Hereford A44

50 2.4

The main track goes left up the hill

Llandrindod Wells A483

Glyndwr’s Way

1.4

7.4

10.6

0.5

49

59

56 1.35

There’s a fuel station on the left – as well as a good cafe!

It’s a big sloppy underfoot here.

You’ll see the barn ahead of you – follow the red waymarker round to the left of it

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62

67

8.45

63

This one’s quite enclosed and scratchy

68 4.25

72

Be prepared as you start descending – it gets quite steep

8.35

3.9

8.95

64

SO 147 605

37

The right of way beyond here is currently closed for repair work between 7am every Monday and 1pm every Saturday. It may have reopened by the time this issue of The Landy is published; if it’s still closed, turn back and navigate by road to Step 71

73 8.6

69

74

65

70

75

This is immediately after the 30mph signs

66

71

76

Arrive at the Lake Cafe in Llandrindod Wells for the end of the route

9.45

0.6

2.25

ZERO TRIP

4.7

9.2

9.95

6.25

6.45

SO 110 596

10.4

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Issue 91: Sep 2021

Products

Vehicles

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Workshop

Buyers

The Landy Buyer

All the information you need – in one place – to buy your perfect Landy

The Ministry’s Defender

A

sk anyone who knows their Defenders, and they’ll tell you the Wolf is a cut above.

Built for the Army, the Defender XD was designed with a much stronger chassis and back axle than the standard Defender. It came with a

roll cage of sorts and, best of all in an era where civvy trucks had gone over to the Td5, it was powered by the older, simpler 300Tdi engine.

The Wolf is famed for being much stronger and more reliable than a standard model. It’s also undeniably

Series I (1948-1958)

The Series I, particularly in its 80” guise, is the most sought-after of

all Land Rovers. Its engineering and design give it real charisma, but parts aren’t readily available.

Restoration projects require deep pockets, but see it through and the result will be worth mega bucks.

Gone are the days where you could use a Series I as an actual Land Rover. Because with restored examples changing hands

Series III (1971-1985)

The Series III wasn’t too dissimilar to the Series IIA in mechanical

terms, keeping the same 2.25-litre engines throughout the length of its production run.

In 1980, the engines switched to a more durable five-bearing crank rather than the old threebearing setup. The transmission also received syncromesh on all forward gears to make it easier to live with.

Lightweight (1968-1984)

These military vehicles can easily be distinguished from regular

Land Rovers. To mimic the civvy Series machines, the Series III model built from 1972 onwards, also had its headlights switched out to the wings.

Lightweights add an extra dimension to owning a Land Rover.

Their military history and details mean you get a truck with more stories to tell – and that stands

90/110 (1983-1990)

This is Land Rover at its best: a no nonsense workhorse that can

also take you just about anywhere in the world.

Early 90s and 110s are starting to be a real collector’s item. But you’ll likely be searching far and wide for a pristine example.

These Land Rovers had coilsprung suspension, new engines and a world-beating level of rugged off-road capability.

cool, in its khaki Army garb – especially in soft-top form, though the distinctive GRP roof has its own appeal too.

Then there are special models like the 130 Ambulance and, of course, the 110 WMIK – a fighting truck with a machine gun mount as standard. It’s

£5000-£75,000 for millionaire money, preservation is the aim of the game.

The earlier the vehicle, the more it will be worth. The sky’s the limit – but can you really put a price on such an icon?

Pros: Heritage, charm, a true classic, the original Land Rover Cons: Availability of parts, price tag on early 80s

£2500-£30,000 They still carry the simplicity of earlier Land Rovers, but can be obtained for a fraction of the price... for now.

Pros: Most affordable way into Series ownership. Still has the Series pedigree. Parts still widely available Cons: Not yetas desirable as the earlier Series models

£3500-£22,000 out from the crowd. They’re a rare breed, though – so if you find one, it could be worth keeping hold of.

Pros: Not like all the other Land Rovers out there. Military background. Lovely 2.25 petrol Cons: Appearance isn’t to everyone’s taste. Exclusivity over regular models means they command a price premium

£2500-£19,000 A very early 2.25 petrol 90 is a rare thing, and a beautiful one too. But perhaps try for a 2.5 natasp diesel: they’re robust and as simple as they come.

Pros: Excellent parts availability. Easy to work on. Unlimited potential for mods and restos Cons: Puny engines (V8 apart) Not many left in good condition

Insure your WMIK with Adrian Flux from £300 definitely not for shrinking violets, but it’s one of the most head-turning vehicles Land Rover has ever made.

• Based on a 2005 Defender 110 XD Wolf WMIK. Value £17,500, no modifications, limited to 3000 miles a year.

50 year old driver, fully comp, excess of £300

Series II/IIA (1958-1971)

£2500-£40,000

much of that early charm. Prices are on the increase, however, as these vehicles start to come into their own as collector’s items.

A 2.25 petrol 88” would be our pick, as the diesel engines were underpowered and rather noisy.

The Series II/IIA has a wider stance than its predecessor and adds an extra (thin) layer of

refinement. While the engines have excellent longevity, they need to have been maintained properly. Be thorough in your checks, both under the bonnet and underneath the body.

Pros: A sound investment to restore. Some now MOT exempt Cons: Bulkheads and chassis rot, springs prone to seizing

Series IIA/IIB FC (1962-1971)

£2500-£15,000

rarity – with all the cachet, pride and immense awkwardness that comes with this status.

By ‘rare’, we’re talking about less than 2500 Series IIA FCs in total. And they tended to have a very hard life, so not many have survived to tell the tale.

Forward-Control models differed from everyday Series IIs by

having heavy-duty ENV axles, but engine-wise they had the familiar 2.25 petrol and diesel lumps. So, don’t expect performance – but do expect to be given an ‘interesting’ time in the workshop…

Pros: A Land Rover like no other, if that’s what you want Cons: Especially brutal to drive, and to find parts

The Series II/IIA is more affordable than a Series I, yet it still carries

Forward Control Land Rovers are a cult within a cult. They’re a real

101 (1972-1978)

Only ever sold to the Army, the 101 became a cult vehicle when

£7500-£26,000 the time came for demob. They were flogged off at very low prices and turned into off-road toys – not something you’d do with one today, given the rarity and classic value they’ve taken on.

Compared to the IIA/IIB FC, the 101 is more fun thanks to its V8 engine. It’s still a military tool, though – some still have fixtures

127 (1985-1990)

The 127 was built on a special production line in Solihull which

and fittings from their Army life, which adds interest. This is a vehicle for enthusiasts, though, with costs that are sky-high even

by Land Rover standards.

Pros: Master of the road. Lovely V8 soundtrack. Everybody who sees one loves it Cons: Monumental running costs. Expensive to buy, too

£7500-£25,000 took 110 chassis and stretched them. It was designed for military and commercial users and came as a high-capacity double-cab.

These days, it’s very rare to find a 127 that hasn’t been hammered, restored and/or converted, or all three. People looking for a work truck tend to go for a later 130, so the 127 is more of an enthusiast’s

motor. It’s popular for homebrewed overland conversions, too.

Almost all 127s have had an engine conversion by now, too.

Lots to be wary of, then – but it’s a hell of a lot for your money.

Pros: Enormous size means limitless potential and character Cons: Unwieldy. Sure to have had a colourful life

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Defender 200 Tdi (1990-1994) £4000-£29,000 Defender 130 (1990-2016)

The Tdi engine, which arrived with the Defender name, can last for

decades if it’s looked after. Find one that’s had all its oil changes (a tall order) and it’ll go round (and round) the clock.

The good thing about the earlier 200Tdi is that it’s simpler than the later 300. What you gain here you lose in refinement, but this is seen by many experts as the best Defender of them all.

Defender 300 Tdi (1994-1998)

The 300 Tdi engine is very different to the 200 unit it replaced, though

the two are related. It’s much more refined and smoother to drive, though there are more electronics involved so later versions in particular are less of a DIY fix.

The arrival of the 300 Tdi also brought with it the R380 gearbox.

This used to have a terrible reputation for relability, but most have been put right by now and they’ve

Defender TDCi (2007-2016)

The last Defenders gained modern 2.4 and 2.2 TDCi engines and

smooth six-speed gearboxes, They still had phenomenal off-road ability and were even okay to sit in. Famously, this was the Defender that actually had a dashboard Many people dislike the TDCi, especially the earlier 2.4, but they still change hands for huge money – especially when the likes of Kahn or Twisted have been

The LT77 gearbox in the 200 Tdi is more truck-like than the later R380, and these vehicles didn’t come with bling. Just be sure it’s an original Tdi you’re getting, not an old Discovery conversion.

Pros: The perfect combination of tradition and modernity Cons: Lots of horrible and/or deceptive ones around

£4500-£30,000

When Land Rover introduced the Defender name, it was actually the

Defender Td5 (1998-2007)

The Td5 engine is arguably Land Rover’s most reliable unit and it’s

£9500-£195,000

Defender (2020-on)

involed. You will always pay a premium for a Puma, and a Tdi or Td5 may turn out to be a better purchase. Even then, though, look after it and you may well never see depreciation.

Pros: Efficiency, creature comforts, off-road prowess Cons: Price, electronics, TDCi engine is unloved

£12,500-£30,000

130 that changed the most. That’s because unlike the old 127, it was built on a proper chassis of its own rather than a stretched 110 frame.

The advent of the Tdi engine was the making of the 130, too. At last, Land Rover could make them pull properly without returning single-figure fuel economy by using a hard-worked V8.

become sought after for their light clutch and better shift action.

It was during the Tdi era that Defenders started getting things like alloys, too. You might even find one that’s not been off-road…

Pros: Strength and simplicity.

Perhaps the definitive Defender Cons: Sure to be very different to when it left the factory

If the subject of the new Defender comes up in enthusiast circles, try

39

As a result, you’ll find many more original(ish) 130s than 127s.

Some are even still in service with the utility companies they were built for. If you want a Defender for overlanding, look no further.

Pros: A proper truck with huge capabilities in every area Cons: It’s a big lump if you don’t actually need that much size

£6000-£30,000

a strong performer. It does lend itself to being tuned though, so watch out for abused ones and knackered examples that have been pushed beyond the limit.

As with all Defenders, you’ll need a rear crossmember sooner or later – or even a new chassis.

Despite having more electronics than the Tdi, a Td5 Defender can

still be a DIY machine. Parts are in plentiful supply, as is specialist knowledge – and it’s one of the best Land Rovers ever.

Pros: Off-road capability, power, overall reliability. Very well suited to being modified Cons: Rear chassis, premium prices, monstrous road tax on later vehicles

£45,000-£105,000

to steer it away on to something safer. Like Brexit, for example.

Much as it may infuriate purists, however, the Defender is actually a very wonderful thing. It’s kind of like an old one, only with space, comfort and equipment.

The big difference is that you can’t work on it yourself. This goes for maintenance and, crucially,

making modifications – a market Land Rover wants to take back and have for itself. It won’t hold its value the way an original-shaper does, either. Be in no doubt, though – this is a superb vehicle.

Pros: Comfort, capability, rugged fitness for purpose Cons: Not cheap to buy. Lacks the old one’s basic charm

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Issue 91: Sep 2021

Freelander 1 (1997-2006)

The Freelander 1 is a cheap gateway into Land Rover ownership.

It’s also a notable classic in its own way, as it heralded the start of the company’s modern era.

It has its issues, though. The viscous coupling is expensive to replace and can be upset simply by running mismatched tyres.

The 1.8 petrol used to be notorious for head gasket failures.

Today’s replacements are much

£400-£5500 more robust, but a late diesel is your best bet. Even these can go calamitously wrong, though. This was a more complex car than it needed to be, and buying one for sweeties now doesn’t change that.

Pros: Cheap to buy, no big rust issues, surprisingly able off-road Cons: All sorts of things can go wrong, some very expensively

Products

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Freelander 2 (2006-2015)

The Freelander 2 was a massive improvement on the model

Buyers

£2000-£19,500

it replaced. It’s a refined and affordable SUV with a strong engine, good equipment and a decent level of practicality.

It’s become one of the most reliable Land Rovers out there, too.

But do be aware of the rear diff and Haldex unit for costly outlays.

The 2.2-litre diesel engine is a strong performer, though for a

bargain search out one with the unpopular 3.2 petrol unit. Either way, it’s a fine SUV to drive.

Prices have fallen since the production ended, too – £10,000 now gets you one worth having.

Pros: Reliability, refinement, economy of diesel engine Cons: Transmissions can wear quickly if used for towing

Range Rover Classic (1970-96) £5000-£85,000 Range Rover P38A (1994-2002) £1500-£25,000

The original Rangey is a classic you can use everyday – and there

are people who do just that, preferring to invest new-car money in a restoration than spending it on a current model.

It’s a smart policy, too. An early two-door can cost mega money, but any Classic will appreciate in value if kept in good condition – and sought-after rarities like the CSK and LSE can be a gold mine.

Range Rover L322 (2002-12)

The Mk3 Range Rover hit new heights of luxury and was more re-

liable than the P38. It’ll still cost a lot to run, however, and drivetrain faults and underbody corrosion are not unknown.

The TDV8 engine is sublime, but you’ll pay more to get one – especially the 4.4, though the 3.6 has all the power you need. The V8 petrol, on the other hand, is temptingly cheap. Guess why…

RR Sport Mk1 (2005-2013)

The Sport is mechanically similar to the Discovery 3 – meaning it’s

a supreme off-roader as well as being a funky road ride. It doesn’t handle like a sports car, but is agile enough for an SUV. A Discovery of the same era is far more practical, however, while a full-fat Rangey has more class.

The Sport is still a massively able tow barge, though, in addition to all its other virtues.

RR Evoque Mk1 (2011-19)

When the Evoque was launched, it signalled JLR’s intent on hitting

the masses. Given that it was the company’s fastest-selling vehicle, they clearly hit the brief, even if it wasn’t for the traditional Land Rover owner.

It’s actually still a capable thing off-tarmac – but it’s definitely more at home on the road.

Nevertheless, it is economical

by Land Rover standards and

An awful lot of Rangeys have been neglected and/or abused, and you can still buy they cheap.

But if you’ve got the skills, and access to parts, restoring one would be the ultimate hobby that pays.

Pros: Most usable classic Land Rover, V8 power, ride quality Cons: Rust, availability of parts for early models

£2250-£28,000

A Mk2 Rangey in good working order is still a sensational car to

own, even today. The problem is that they’re very complex and very, very good at going wrong.

Air suspension failure is the norm. Head gaskets can let go.

Electronics are laughably flaky.

And parts can cost the earth – as will the labour bills. Perhaps worst of all, nowadays it’s very hard to find one you can be sure hasn’t

Range Rover L405 (2012-on) £27,000-£220,000

This isn’t a DIY motor, but it certainly is a Range Rover, with brilliant off-road and towing skills.

It relies a lot on electronics, but they work wonders – and the deepdown engineering is very robust.

Pros: Great off-road, luxury, image, TDV8 powerplants Cons: Very complex. Huge running costs

The current Range Rover is a majestic 4x4. All the engines in the

£32500-£25,000

RR Sport Mk2 (2013-on)

You’re looking at a car which many people associate with rich chavs and criminals, however. And being based on the Discovery 3, it can’t help but share that vehicle’s reputation as a money pit.

Pros: Decent performance and all-round dynamics Cons: A Disco 3 is more usable.

Expect horrific running costs

£9500-£47,000 because there are so many out there, used prices are tempting.

There’s a Convertible model, too, as well as three and five-door tin-tops. We say stick to the latter, and be sure to get one with 4WD. Pros: Economy, handling, iconic concept-car image Cons: Cramped rear seats, not as practical as a Disco Sport

The second-generation Range Rover Sport is 400kg lighter than

range supply copious amounts of power, and its road manners are absolutely impeccable.

It’s startlingly capable off-road, too, even if getting one muddy would feel like bad form. Most that leave the tarmac probably do so only when their owners are in the mood to blow some grouse out of the sky.

the original, meaning it’s almost economical to run. It feels really nimble and agile on the road, too, and it comes with a range of engines giving it a brisk turn of pace.

Some won’t like the flamboyant posture, while others will love it.

Either way, inside the cabin it’s very nearly as luxurious as the full-fat Range Rover.

RR Evoque Mk2 (2019-on)

Most Range Rovers all look the same at the front now, but the new

The Velar a competent cruiser and has received numerous accolades

other models expected to follow the Velar in due course.

But is there a whiff of style over substance? Well, it’s a very good SUV. But you don’t half pay a premium for those suave looks...

Pros: Stylish design, chic cabin, excellent tech features Cons: Feels like an indulgence, especially at such a high price

The original Discovery was based on the Defender of the time, but

Inside, the Range Rover’s cabin is superb, with sumptuous trim and cutting-edge equipment.

Prices are, of course, as immense as the vehicle itself. But if you can afford it, so too is the presence a Rangey will give you.

Pros: Class, luxury, engines, vast all-round capability Cons: Price

£22,500-£190,000

Evoque has adopted a similiar back end to the larger Velar. It’s not just the exterior that mimics the looks of the larger vehicle, however, as the Evoque has gained the latest Touch Pro Duo tech and a hike in quality.

The main highlight of the new Evoque is the fact the majority of the range is made up of mild

Range Rover Velar (2017-on) £31,500-£95,000 Discovery 1 (1989-1998) because of its particularly handsome exterior. It’s based upon the same architecture as the Jaguar F-Pace but has greater off-road ability and is available with a wide choice of engines, most of which combine good economy with usable everyday performance.

The interior is Land Rover’s most advanced cabin to date, with

spent at least part of its life being worked on by idiots Still, you’ll get a classy motor with proper off-road and towing skills. It’s becoming a classic, too, and prices are still tiny considering everything you get.

Pros: Luxury, price, a Land Rover that doesn’t rust Cons: Electrics. Be very afraid

with a 100” wheelbase and a slick body containing a spacious, flexible cabin. It was well equipped and refined to drive, and it came with the wonderful Tdi engine.

Over time, the Discovery’s epic off-road ability meant almost all of them were hammered at playdays.

Lower body rust is a big killer, too.

So it’s rare to find a good one now,

The only stumbling block with such a fine motor is going to be how to pay for it. Depreciation has started to bring down the purchase price – though you’ll never run one on a shoestring.

Pros: Performance, refinement, glorious interior Cons: Marmite image. Pricey to buy and run

£31,600-£55,000 hybrids, available with diesel and petrol engines combining to an electric motor. Only the base D150 Evoque escapes the electrification, and we’d avoid it as it doesn’t have four-wheel drive.

Pros: Feels like a proper Range Rover inside Cons: Petrol engine is poor on fuel economy, even as a hybrid

£1000-£18,000 and when you do they tend to be priced with a lot of optimism.

Very early ones in tip-top condition are full-on classics, too. For a sound one to own, we’d look for a tidy 300Tdi. Pros: Price, practicality, parts availability. Epic off-road ability Cons: The body rusts like it’s been doused in sea water

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Discovery 2 (1998-2004)

The Disco 2 is powered by the Td5 engine, one of Land Rover’s most

£1100-£9000

most reliable units ever. It drives well, too – mated to a manual box it has more guts even than the V8 option, which is surprisingly bland but predictably thirsty.

Whereas the Disco 1 was prone to body rust, the D2 is fine here.

Instead, its chassis rots like a carrot, especially towards the back end. Also at the back, seven-seat

Discovery 5 (2017-on)

The Discovery 5 is a versatility monster. As an all-rounder, at

£25,600-£80,000

launch it was the most capable Land Rover on sale – the new Defender will be going some to wrest that crown from it.

All the engines in the range are refined and flexible, and its chassis is remarkably supple for such a big vehicle. There’s no end of electronics working away in the background, but the effect is very

Discovery Sport (2019-on)

The second-generation Disco Sport came along only four years

models had air-suspension, with all the horrors that brings.

Mainly, D2 owners will tell you about rogue electronics. And leaky sunroofs. They still love their trucks, though, which says a lot.

Pros: Td5 power and reliability, great all-rounder, lots of choice Cons: Chassis rust, electronics, leaky sunroofs, air suspension

convincing – as is an interior that might make you wonder why you’d bother paying more for a Range Rover. Just be careful not to go wild with the options and end up paying more for a Discovery…

Pros: Immense blend of comfort and practicality Cons: Feels more like a softroader than a proper Discovery

The Disco 3 is an astonishing allround vehicle. It’s good on the road

and capable off-road, genuinely luxurious and a giant of a tow truck, and as well as being able to seat seven adults it can be turned into a van with a totally flat rear load area.

The Disco 4 was basically the same vehicle evolved; in the used market, it all comes down to your budget. The problem will always

Discovery Sport (2015-19)

The Discovery Sport packs seven seats into a Freelander-sized

body and dishes up an appealing all-round blend of comfort, kit and general driving manners.The third row of seats is only suitable for little ‘uns, though, and off-road it’s a Discovery in name only.

It’s a more practical proposition than the closely related Evoque, and you won’t need to live with the fear of Posh Spice jokes. You

£2950-£38,000 be maintenance costs – infamously, the timing belt is a body-off job, and rust is becoming more and more of an issue with these vehicles, too.

Pros: All-round ability, stunning practicality, luxury and kit on high-speccers Cons: Cam belts, handbrakes air suspension… the list goes on

£15,000-£35,000 might shudder at the price if you’re buying new, though – but on the used market, there are some tidy looking deals to be had, even on high-spec examples.

Pros: More practical than an Evoque, and less vulgar. Seven seats. Capable enough off-road Cons: Back seats only for small mammals. Price of top models

£21,000-£52,000

after the first. That’s because once again, it’s related to the Evoque, which was ready for a full new model in 2019.

The Sport is a premium midsized SUV with seven seats and a decent level of off-road ability. It’s a massively popular choice for the school run – and, with the arrival of a plug-in hybrid option last

year, as a company car. Quality has taken a step up from the first model – it’s now a convincing premium vehicle, and the range offers enough choices to suit anybody with the means to buy one.

Pros: Classy and practical cabin, all-round good to drive Cons: You can get a Defender for the price of some models

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41

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42

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Products

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Buyers

CLASSIC

USED LAND ROVERS FOR SALE • • • • •

Series I Series II/IIA Series III Stage 1 V8 Series IIA/IIB Forward Control • Lightweight • 101 Forward Control

Series IIA 88” (1970). Features in the film Peter Rabbit 2. Prepped by a well known specialist, fully certified for authenticity. 61,966 miles.

2.5 DI engine. Absolutely solid, fully serviced. £24,995. Wakefield.

07463 959007 08/21/005

Series I 80” (1949). Ex-military.

Only 3 former keepers. Nut and bolt rebuild last year inc full 1.6 engine resto, using as many new parts as possible. New canvas.

Drives and stops superb. £47,000.

Sleaford. 07788 441245 09/21/009

Series I Minerva 80” (1952).

22,000 miles. 2.0 engine. Weber carb. New fuel pump, bulkhead, rear crossmember, swivels, brakes, steering, shocks. Full pro rewire and new loom. £8250. Sandbach.

07415 135095 09/21/013

Series IIA 109” Marshalls Ambulance (1972). Original 2.25 petrol and running gear. All welding done, axles rebuilt, new brakes, suspension, wiring loom. Military history card. £5500. Shipston-onStour. 07712 675584 09/21/003

101 FC Overland Camper (1977).

17,000 miles. 3.5 V8 with LPG, original LT95, RR transfer gears.

Front discs. Solar panel, cooker, insulation. No rot. Just serviced, many new parts. £20,000. Truro.

07518 391325 09/21/004

Series III 109” FFR. Ex-military, 24-volt. Very original. New water pump, rad and shock bushes. New Exmoor 3/4 tilt. Just been fully serviced. Price includes rot-free Sankey trailer. £7995. Haverfordwest. 07484 118141 09/21/015

Series 1 (1958). Perkins engin with only 98 kilometres. Garaged for 20 years, recently refurbished and put back on road. Owned by same family since 1960. All in good working order. £14,975.

07808 353849 08/21/003

Series II 88” (1958). 2.25 petrol.

New carb, ignition, HT leads, battery, hoses, stainless exhaust, clutch and canvas. Recon box. FWH. All good tyres on powder coated wheels. Drives perfectly. £21,995.

Corby. 07765 232322 08/21/037

Series IIB FC (1968). Overland camper. Perkins 4236, Series IIA box with overdrive. Custom body with sink, cooker, worktop, 4 berths, chemical toilet. 4 seats. £9750. Carmarthenshire. 07910 748847 07/21/010

XAB 580

List your Landy for FREE!

Series III 88” HT (1977). 47,000 miles. Professionally restored in 2015. Original spec with correct spot welds visible. In regular use.

MOT/tax exempt but will be sold with full MOT. £13,750.00. Bury.

07971 845395 07/21/011

Series II 88” (1961). 2.25 petrol.

Extensive chassis work. Later bulkhead. Drives well, good brakes and gearbox. Electronic ignition. Recent new tank, seats, canvas, shocks and rear exhaust. £13,650. Gillingham.

07740 242867 08/21/004

Series I 80” (1948). Number 5168.

Rebuilt chassis and bulkhead, new brakes, fully rewired on period loom, 1.6 engine rebuilt 10k miles ago. Stainless tank and exhaust. £35,995. Bude. 07549 527500

Defender 90 Td5 (2005). 89,211 miles. New PAS box, CVs, swivels, wheel bearings, 6-pot brakes.

LEDs, Momo wheel, front-facing rear seats. Drives true. Undersealed. MOT Oct 21. £20,000.

Chester. 07368 349741 08/21/031

Defender 90 300Tdi (1996).

69,000 miles. Original throughout.

Recent MOT and cam belt. Boost alloys, General Grabbers, Ifor Williams top. Excellent chassis and bulkhead. £16,450. Peasmarsh.

07956 570794 08/21/017

Series II 88” (1961). 2.25 petrol.

Extensive chassis work, all waxed.

Later bulkhead. Good brakes and gearbox. Electronic ignition. Recent new tank, seats, canvas, shocks and rear exhaust. £13,650. Gillingham.

07740 242867 08/21/004

DEFENDER

Series III (1971). Original 2.25 petrol engine and box. Good running order. Unfortunately due to ill health has not been used.

TLC required to bodywork. Tax and MOT exempt. £6000. Liverpool.

07940 719224 08/21/032

• Pre-Defender 90, 110, 127 • Defender 90 • Defender 110 • Defender 130 • New Defender • Defender-style hybrids

09/21/019

Series IIA Lightweight (1969).

Full ground-up rebuild in 2016.

Series III wings. 2.8-litre Daihatsu turbo-diesel engine. Series III overdrive gear box. Many new parts. £10,000 ono. North Yorkshire 07870 937634. 07/21/017

Has anyone seen XAB 580? She’s a 109” Series II Station Wagon.

Bought by my father in June 1959; I’m attempting to track her down.

Contact Cedric Quayle, email Quayle@phonecoop.coop or tel 01299 403585 08/21/034

Defender 110 TDCi (2007).

114,000 miles. Khan grille, LED lights, 18” wheels, roof bars.

Tracker. Many new parts. Solid underneath, drives fantastic. A real head-turner! £21,000. Anglesey.

07971 276079 09/21/021

Defender 90 200 Tdi (1990).

180,000 miles. Fully stripped and resprayed. Lifted, rock sliders, rear locker, diff guards. New bulkhead.

Same family for 15 years, serviced annually. £13,000. Stockport.

07505 900272 09/21/023

Defender 90 Td5 (2000). 128,000 miles. Winch, snorkel, Terrafirma suspension, Mach 5s, Recaros LEDs, Puma/SVX styling. Recent service, turbo, tyres and full clutch kit. MOT Oct 21. £14,995. Stocksfield.

07957589222 09/21/024

110 CSW 300Tdi (1987). 157,849 miles. R380 box. EGR blank. PAS. BFG MTs. Ally sump guard. New rear chassis, fuel tank, brakes and steering overhauled, good door bottoms.

MOT Dec. £11,495. Shrewsbury.

07722 687742 07/21/006

Email one picture and details to alan.kidd@assignment-media.co.uk Include your postcode if you would like your listing to go on our online classifieds (postcode for internal use only) *Free offer applies to private sellers only

Defender 90 2.2 TDCi (2015).

47,000 miles. Professionally waxed chassis. Snorkel, rear-view camera, smoked lenses, rock sliders, Uproar grille, Momo wheel, JVC stereo.

Mint. MOT May 22. £35,000. Romford. 07990 508888 08/21/026

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Defender 90 2.2 TDCi Bowler S66 (2014). 28,000 miles. Stage 2 engine, fast road suspension, quick-ratio steering. LEDs, bucket seats, soundproofing, body and cabin upgrades. £56,000. Canterbury. 07780 017315 09/21/025

Defender 300 Tdi 6x4 (1990).

96,878 miles. 2.3-ton payload, 7.5-ton GTW. Warn winch, 22kva generator on PTO (both untested).

New alternator. Kenlowe fans. Dry stored. Needs some work. £15,000.

Bedford 07711 614402 09/21/026

Defender 110 (1986). 151,141 miles. 200 Tdi. Camper conversion.

Lift, sump guard, rock sliders. Audi seats, Bluetooth, soundproofing, diesel air heater. MOT Dec 21. £10,950. Wrexham. ramblingtractor@yahoo.co.uk 09/21/030

Defender 110 200 Tdi (1988).

Galv chassis and bulkhead. Sweet engine, rebuilt gearbox, transfer case and axles. Alloys, snorkel, winch, roof rack, +2” suspension.

Many new parts. £17,995. Wirral.

07900 182086 09/21/022

110 2.5 n/a diesel (1988).

63,000km. Soft-top. Non-PAS. Chassis and bulkhead like new, straight bodywork. Starts, runs and drives well. Direct from MOD, with CAST release form. £6950. Moira, Armagh. 07594 108427 09/21/020

Defender 90 hybrid with 5.0-litre TVR V8 engine. LPG conversion.

5-speed box. Almost everything fitted new. Diamond trim, 2 sets of wheels. Years in the making. Call for full spec. £19,995. Worcestershire. 07815 460939 08/21/035

Defender 90 2.4 TDCi Truck-Cab (2008). 68,000 miles. Stunning condition, very well looked after, all good tyres (inc spare), tows superbly. Some history. MOT Feb. £19,500. Crediton. 07710 473965 08/21/036

Defender Wolf 110 7xd FFR (1997). 166,000km. RHD. Remus upgrade. Served with 101st Engineers. New cam belt in 2017, less than 1000 miles since then.

MOT Apr 22. £13,500. Cossington.

07801 632793 08/21/014

Defender 110 300 Tdi Camper (1996). 184,000 miles. Solid chassis, new galv bulkhead. Bed, fridge, stove, solar panels, insulation, awnings. Performance head, uprated turbo. MOT April. £13,750.

Devon. 07951 396528 08/21/038

Defender 110 300 Tdi Tipper (1995). 134,000 miles. Good engine and box, clean interior.

Roof rack, tipping box body. Recent tailpipe and bulkhead outriggers.

MOT Feb. £13,995. Chippenham.

07785 350304 08/21/039

Defender 90 Wolf (1998). 50,000 miles. Remus upgrade. No rust.

Good, straight panels. Drives in A1 condition. LHD but UK registered and based in this country. £17,995.

0034 711 001 585 (telephone or WhatsApp). 08/21/033

Defender 90 300Tdi (1997).

277,000 miles. Alloy wheels, DAB digital radio. Original engine and chassis, therefore USA exportable from the end of this year. MOT Apr. £11,000. Boston. 07838 373954 08/21/019

Defender 90 Tdi (1994). 114,000 miles. Pro bespoke restoration.

Alloys, leather, snorkel, 8000lb winch, bash guards, upgraded stereo. Freshly MOT’d, garaged ready for sale. FSH. £15,995. Orpington.

07494 051107. 08/21/020

Defender 90 Td5 (2003).

130,000 miles. Recent service, new flywheel. CD stereo, BFGoodrich tyres, rear bench seats. Never used for towing. Fully valeted. MOT June 22. £19,995. Sherborne. 07824 444903 08/21/021

Defender 90 200Tdi (1990).

166,500 miles. Solid chassis and bulkhead. Exmoor seats, cubby and canvas. New tank, battery, tyres, rear shocks. Winch. MOT Oct 21. £7750. Bury St Edmunds. 07969 619647 08/21/022

Defender 110 Wolf 300Tdi (1998). 78,000 miles. Remus upgrade. All as original. 24v, internal cage, acoustic matting, PAS, chassis waxed and undersealed. MOT Oct 21. £14,300. St Austell. 07702 887413 08/21/023

Defender 90 300Tdi (1991).

160,000 miles. Ex-MOD, 12/24v, R380 box. Chassis and bulkhead in superb condition. HD axles. New Exmoor canvas. Drives perfectly.

MOT Nov 21. £7495. Petersfield.

07825 915347 08/21/024

Defender 90 2.2 TDCi Pick-up (2013). 49,000 miles. 16” Sawtooth alloys, KBX gloss black grille and vents, LED lights, electric windows. Great condition. MOT Oct 21. £24,750. Gravesend. 07511 053525 08/21/027

Defender 110 TD5 Van (1999).

140,000 miles. Leather seats, snorkel, rock sliders, LED lights, 30w solar panel, Bluetooth, Cooper ATs. Lots of work done in last year or so. MOT Sept 21. £7999. Ely. 07828 288697 09/21/029

Defender 90 XS SW (2008).

114,000 miles. Air-con, heated seats. Totally original but for a new set of tyres. Four owners, very few miles in last few years. FSH. MOT May 22. £23,450. Chelmsford.

07801 802802 08/21/029

Defender 110 2.4 TDCi XS Double-Cab. 90,000 miles. New turbo.

LEDs, uprated anti-roll bars, disc handbrake, snorkel, wheel spacers, HD spare wheel mount, ally load liner. Fresh MOT. £24,995. Colyton. 07773 210720 07/21/004

90 Hard-Top (1990). 166,157 miles. Isuzu 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine. New PAS box. Well maintained, very reliable. Many extras.

MOT March 2022 (no advisories). £8500 ovno. Hereford. 07786 781421 07/21/015

Defender 90 200Tdi Hard-Top (1990). 140,000 miles. Discovery engine. Snorkel, roof rack, mud-terrains on Tornado alloys.

Chequer plated sills. 5-seater. MOT November. £6750. Falmouth.

07531 020474 07/21/018

Defender 110 Wolf XD (1997).

Almost £40k build cost. Allisport rad, intercooler header tank and more. Stainless fixings. Excellent chassis, watertight hood, LEDs, Raptor paint, Exmoor seats. £22,000.

Bungay. 07775 563902 07/21/001

110 200Tdi SW (1983). 180,000 miles. Professionally fitted engine.

Very sold chassis, bulkhead and floors. Ideal everyday motor or to fully restore into mint condition.

MOT Feb. £7995. Northampton.

07500 800267 07/21/009

Defender 110 2.4 TDCi (2008).

101,000 miles. Winch, air-con, roof rack, heated seats, LED spots, Sawtooth alloys, sports exhaust, Momo wheel, Stage 2 remap, upgraded brakes. £25,000. Malton. 07879 427260 08/21/025

Defender 90 2.5 (1987). 107,710 miles. Converted from 2.5 petrol (original engine available if needed). Original chassis and bulkhead.

Straight, honest condition. MOT Jan. £6995. Redruth. 07787 522674 08/21/018

Discovery 4 3.0 SDV6 XS (2013).

73,506 miles. Superb condition.

Leather, nav, cruise, Bluetooth, DAB, heated memory seats, reverse camera. Everything works. FSH. MOT Oct 21. £19,495. Newark.

07932 543324 09/21/002

Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 HSE (2006).

97,000 miles. Beige leather. Disco 4 grille and rear lights, expedition rack, rear ladder, LED bar, grille LEDs. New tyres, turbo, prop, MAF sensor. MOT Feb. £8500. Feltham.

07903 732642 09/21/019

Discovery TD5 (2004). 52,151 miles. Totally original. One owner since new. dry stored in garage since four years old. Alloys, air-con.

Started regularly, runs sweet every time. £10,000. Fort William.

07786 340107 08/21/040

Discovery 3 2.7 TdV6 (2009).

71,630 miles. Manual. Black leather, air-con, 7 seats. Good tyres.

Never had a towbar. New cambelt 50 miles ago. FSH. MOT May. Very tidy. £9995. Market Rasen. 07919 811809 09/21/001

DISCOVERY

Defender 110 Td5 XS (2006).

66,950 miles. 9-seater. Roof rack, LEDs, £5000 of Croytec alloy trim, dash cams, grille and headlamp surrounds, much more. Full MOT, just serviced. £31,000. Beaulieu.

07836 230359 09/21/028

• Discovery 1 (200/300 Tdi) • Discovery 2 (TD5) • Discovery 3 • Discovery 4 • Discovery 5 • Discovery Commercial • Discovery conversions

Discovery 200Tdi 3dr Compass (1994). 136,000 miles. Manual.

Recent cam belt and water pump.

Solid, tidy example in daily use.

Sunroofs don’t leak, central locking works! MOT Jan. £4995. Macclesfield. 07901 971563 08/21/008

Discovery 2 TD5 GS Auto (1999).

129,000 miles. 7-seater. New battery and fuel pump, 2 new keys.

Cruise, climate. Sunroofs sealed.

Drives well, good paintwork, all works. MOT May. £2400. Evercreech. 07976 363719 09/21/012

Discovery 3.9 V8. 102,000 miles.

Auto. Cruise, air-con. Solid chassis and lower body. Many new parts inc tyres, coil, bushes, ball joints, HT leads, Koni shocks, but not pretty.

MOT Feb 22. £2999. Alfreton.

07541 572925 08/21/015

43

Disco 2 with presence

THERE’S NO SHORTAGE of Discovery 2s on the market, but this Td5 stands out in a crowd. An ES Premium from 2003, it’s kind of a halfway house between standard and full-on modded, with enough about it to be interesting but not so much as to scare you off.

It’s on a 2” lift and has had its potentially irritating ACE removed (by a Land Rover specialist rather than a ham-fisted DIY artist).

The EGR, which is more than just potentially irritating, has been got rid of too, and the engine breathes in through a fully plumbed snorkel.

The real story under the bonnet, however, is a Mastaz remap – which, in the seller’s words, transforms the vehicle. So too does the straight-through exhaust that’s been installed.

No cat, no silencers, side-exit and, mainly, loud.

Make that LOUD. The MOT is due in June 22.

Inside, being an ES Premium the Disco has all the toys. That’s ‘has’, not ‘had’ – the seller says the electric stuff all still works. The leather is in ‘good condition for age,’ with some wear on the driver’s seat base. The Harmon Kardon speaker system now pumps out sounds from a Pioneer stereo with Bluetooth and a USB input, so you won’t have to go digging for that old box of cassette tapes in the attic.

There’s the typical Discovery stuff to contend with if you buy this one. The reversing sensors operate ‘when they want’, the central locking works but not properly and the bodywork has copped a scratch or two. One of the wheel bearings is getting tired, too, and it has sunroofs – however these have been sealed.

The seller says the Disco starts on the key and that its engine and gearbox are right on the money. And talking of money, the asking price for this 107,000-mile range-topper is £4495. It’s located in Stockport, and the advert is located directly below these words.

Discovery 2 TD5 ES Premium (2003). 107,000 miles. Mastaz remap, +2” lift, snorkel, Pioneer stereo, straight-through exhaust. ACE removed. Sunroofs sealed. Electrics work. MOT June 22. £4495. Stockport. 07306 295770 09/21/005

Discovery 2 Camper (2000).

193,000 miles. Remap, +4” lift, 33” BFGs, roof rack, snorkel. Straightthrough exhaust. New brakes, intercooler, injector harness and more. £3995. Sunderland. 07933 637090 09/21/017

News

Issue 91: Sep 2021 SERVICING, REPAIRS, MODIFICATIONS S PARTS & ACCESSORIES ES ES ROAD & OFFROAD D

Adventure

Workshop

Buyers

Include your postcode if you would like your listing to go on our online classifieds (postcode for internal use only) *Free offer applies to private sellers only

QUADZILLA UTV & ATV Dealers

Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 SE Auto (2007). 122,000 miles. Cruise, climate, sat-nav, leather, heated seats, reversing sensors, CD changer. EGR. Just remapped. Recent cambelts.

FSH. £7500. Lifton. 07702 814438 09/21/010

Discovery 2 TD5 ES Premium (2000). 52,000 miles. Manual.

Cruise, air-con, leather, electric seats, parking sensors. Amazing chassis, drives very well. MOT Aug 21. £5000. Chesterfield. 07710 997784 08/21/009

Discovery 300 Tdi XS (1997).

122,000 miles. All welding done.

New clutch, timing belt and head gasket 12,000 miles ago. Good tyres. Excellent engine, smooth gearbox. MOT March. £1795.

Cheadle. 07703 486396 09/21/011

RANGE ROVER

Unit 6 Westmead, Hedingham Road, Gosfield, Nr Halstead, Essex CO9 1UP 01787 469553

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Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6 SE (2008).

193,000 miles. Disco 4 facelift.

Climate, cruise, leather, sat-nav.

Black styling accessories. EGR blanked. FSH, cambelts done. Lots of new parts. MOT Dec. £5995.

Selby. 07896 561924 09/21/018

Discovery TD5 (2002). 172,618 miles. 5-seater. No sunroof. EGR delete, new bushes. No welding needed, no warning lights, all works. Well maintained, never off-roaded. MOT Jan. £3750. Chesterfield. 07792 420190 09/21/008

Discovery 3 2.7 HSE (2006).

206,000 miles. Top-spec, twin sunroofs, climate, cruise, leather, electric seats, sat-nav etc. Stunning vehicle, drives like a 50k example.

MOT Mar. £3950. Bournemouth.

07767 761701 08/21/010

Range Rover 4.2 LSE (1994).

124,000 miles. Final production model with Brooklands kit. Air suspension works. New boot floor, inner wings, sills, upper and lower tailgate. £29,995. Northampton.

01604 372502 08/21/006

Range Rover Classic (1994). Only 60,000 miles. 300Tdi (was originally a 3.9 V8). Very solid. Cloth seats, coils, air-con, no sunroof. Recent service and head skim. Body needs some work. £7950. Walton.

07958 258770 09/21/006

Range Rover Sport 4.2 V8 Supercharged HST (2006). 133,000 miles. Genuine HST, rare sunroof.

Unmolested engine runs very well.

All electronics work. MOT Sep 21. £6995. Accrington. 07717 515226 08/21/011

Range Rover 2.5 TD Westminster (2002). 107,000 miles. Rare diesel Westminster (only 50 made). Enormous spec list, lots of recent new parts. Good chassis. Air suspension works. £9995. Northampton.

01604 372502 08/21/007

Range Rover Sport 3.6 TDV8 (2010). 122,000 miles. Rare Nara Bronze with cream leather interior.

Harmon Kardon stereo. 22” limited-edition wheels. Unique styling.

MOT 2022. £8500. Bilston, West Mids. 07751 531691 08/21/013

Range Rover 3.6 TDV8 Vogue SE (2007). 132,000 miles. Great condition. Very high spec and everything works. Recent new EGR valves, brakes, battery, air-con and gearbox serviced. £5950. Todmorden. 07412 005672 08/21/016

Range Rover Classic 200Tdi Vogue (1993). Manual. 137,300 miles. 14-year rolling resto, all new inner panels replaced and 100% rot-free. +2” suspension, cranked rear arms. £12,900. Petersfield.

07919 566544 07/21/003

Range Rover Vogue 3.5 EFI Auto (1986). 81,000 miles. Last of the steel-grille models. Totally original and unmolested. 4-spoke steering wheel. Rare Balmoral Green. VGC, drives impeccably. FSH. £18,000.

Lincoln. 07748 993380 07/21/012

Range Rover 3.0 Td6 (2003).

131,000 miles. 2 owners! Very smooth gearbox. Bodywork good for age, interior very good. Honest example. Service history. MOT Mar. £3550. Cromhall. 07538 499582 07/21/005

Range Rover 4.0 V8 (1996).

139,000 miles. Rare P38 manual.

Climate, sunroof, leather, electric seats, A/T tyres. Uprated stainless exhaust. Pro coil conversion. 11 Months MOT. £2500. Crawley Down. 07738 305901 07/21/013

Range Rover Sport 3.6 TDV8 HSE (2010). 165,000 miles. Climate, cruise, leather, heated electric seats, fridge, parking sensors. Very good interior. Detachable tow bar.

FSH. £9495. Hinckley. 07938 202383 07/21/014

Range Rover Overfinch 570CI (1987). 61,900 miles. Light project. Good chassis and body, outstanding interior. In use to 2018, needs outer sills and light resto. £14,950. Middlesbrough.

07962 376666 08/21/001

Range Rover 2.5 DHSE (2001).

137,000 miles. Auto. Cruise, climate, CD, heated leather seats etc. Factory towbar. Hurricane alloys. Service and MOT history. £2250. Southampton. 07979 498442 08/21/012

Freelander Td4 SE Estate (2004).

145,000 miles. Air-con, half-leather, CD changer, towbar with twin electrics. Windows and locks work.

Decent service record. MOT Dec. £2250. Haverfordwest. 07484 118141 09/21/016

Freelander 2 SD4 XS (2012).

88,160 miles. Auto. Climate, cruise, leather, sat-nav, parking sensors.

Plastic boot liner and roll cover.

Proper spare wheel. Recent full service. £11,750. Sudbury. 07970 037386 09/21/007

Range Rover Evoque SD4 Dynamic Auto 3dr (2012). 85,000 miles. Climate, cruise, leather, electric seats, sat-nav, parking sensors.

Paddle shifts. Dynamic mode. DAB, Bluetooth. £14,750. Armitage.

07967 310212 07/21/008

Range Rover 3.5 EFI (1986).

Only 43,000 miles. Manual. Never suffered from rust. Major rebuild with subtle upgrades to engine, drivetrain, suspension and steering. MOT Feb. £45,000. Exeter.

07522 618509 08/21/002

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The Independent Land Rover citygbcov@yahoo.co.uk Specialist

Unit 3, Reaymer Close, Leamore, Walsall, WS2 7QZ www.marrion4x4.co.uk thomas@marrion4x4.co.uk • 07825 433314

Advertise your business on this page – from as little as £15. Call 01283 553244

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

46

w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k

News

Issue 90: Aug 2021

Products

Adventure

Workshop

Buyers

Calendar Off-Road Playdays

22 August

Essex, Rochford and District 4x4

Frickley 4x4

Hill’n’Ditch

Frickley 4x4

Muddy Bottom

Slindon Safari

Minstead, Hampshire

Picadilly Wood TV4x4

Cowm Leisure

4x4 Without a Club Aldermaston, Berks

Essex, Rochford and District 4x4

Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs

Frickley, South Yorkshire

Slindon Safari

Slindon, West Sussex

19 September Explore Off Road

Silverdale, Stoke-on-Trent

Muddy Bottom

Minstead, Hampshire

Mud Monsters

East Grinstead, West Sussex

Protrax

Tixover, Northamptonshire

25 September

5 September

Kirton Off Road Centre

Muddy Bottom

Minstead, Hampshire

Parkwood 4x4

Silverdale, Stoke-on-Trent

Tong, Bradford

Frickley 4x4

Picadilly Wood

Muddy Bottom

Rayleigh, Essex

Mouldsworth, Cheshire

Explore Off Road

Frickley, South Yorkshire

Bolney, West Sussex

Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs

26 September Cowm Leisure

Whitworth, Lancashire

Frickley 4x4

Frickley, South Yorkshire

Minstead, Hampshire

12 September

Kirton Off Road Centre

Protrax

4x4 Without a Club

Slindon Safari

Tixover, Northamptonshire

Aldermaston, Berkshire

Kirton Lindsey, North Lincs Slindon, West Sussex

Green Lane Convoy Events 31 July – 1 August

20 August

28-29 August

4x4 Adventure Tours

UK Landrover Events

Protrax

7-8 August

21-22 August

29 August

UK Landrover Events

Protrax

UK Landrover Events

North Devon

Wiltshire

Tynedale

Wiltshire

Wales

Northumberland

14 August

21-25 August

4-5 September

UK Landrover Events

Off-Road Adventure Travel

Roam Free Adventures

Eden District

7-8 August Protrax Wales

UK Landrover Events Wiltshire

14 August Green Adventure Tours Shropshire / Herefordshire

ALL VEHICLES SERVICED + NEW MOT EXPORT SHIPPING ARRANGED - CALL FOR DETAILS OPEN 7 DAYS - Please call first 1/2 mile off the A6097 - East of Nottingham

Kirton Off Road Centre

Hill’n’Ditch

15 August

200-300 TDI engines, ex-Discovery, ideal for conversions, comes with radiator and intercooler....£450

Frickley, South Yorkshire

Hill’n’Ditch

Slindon, West Sussex

Toyota Hilux Invincible 07 3 litre, auto, leather, 191K, alloys, cheap Toyota £5995

Frickley 4x4

30 August

Slindon Safari

Discovery 2 TD5 2000W 127K 5 seat, Good runner. £1750

Whitworth, Lancashire

Rayleigh, Essex

Mouldsworth, Cheshire

Discovery 300TDI 3 door 95H 125K miles.

2 owners. New sills.

Long MOT. £1600.

Slindon, West Sussex

29 August

8 August

Telephone: 07973 139 483 Telephone/Fax Home: 0115 965 2204

Mouldsworth, Cheshire

Bolney, West Sussex Alton, Hampshire

SHELT HILL FARM, SHELT HILL, WOODBOROUGH, NOTTS NG14 6DG

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

1 August Frickley, South Yorkshire

Discovery 200-300 TDI, breaking for spares, most parts available.....POA

Vehicles

15 August Atlas Overland Yorkshire Dales

Wales

Devon

25 August

11-12 September

UK Landrover Events

Protrax

Lake District

Wales

26 August

16-19 September

UK Landrover Events

4x4 Adventure Tours

Tyne and Wear

Coast to Coast

27-30 August

23-24 September

4x4 Adventure Tours

UK Landrover Events

Mid-Wales

Eden and Tynedale

28 August

25-26 September

UK Landrover Events

Protrax

North York Moors

Wiltshire

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OEM Spec Springs Leaf Springs These springs are manufactured to the original OEM specification and constructed from the correct grade alloy steel - 60SiCr8.

Each leaf is heat treated consisting of hardening & tempering as the Land Rover engineers specified. Fitted with OEM bushes, these leaf springs will therefore give you years of service with the correct ride comfort for your Series vehicle.

241283G 242863G 265627G 264563G 517588G 517589G 276034G 265627G 279678G 279679G 272967G 272968G 535173G 562631G 562632G

SWB Petrol SWB Petrol SWB Diesel SWB & LWB Diesel SWB SWB LWB LWB Diesel & Petrol LWB LWB LWB Heavy-duty LWB Heavy-duty LWB - 1 Ton Lightweight Lightweight

Front Front Front Front Rear Rear Front Front Rear Rear Rear Rear Rear Rear Rear

9 Leaf 9 Leaf 11 Leaf 11 Leaf 11 Leaf 11 Leaf 11 Leaf 11 Leaf 10 Leaf 10 Leaf 8 Leaf 8 Leaf 9 Leaf 7 Leaf 7 Leaf

RHS LHS RHS LHS RHS LHS RHS RHS RHS LHS RHS LHS RHS & LHS RHS LHS

279678G

241283G

517588G

“Years of service with the correct ride comfort...”

272967G

562631G

Parabolic Springs The Britpart range of high quality parabolic springs are made to the exacting specifications as fitted to Santana specification vehicles. Manufactured to an OEM standard and quality by using the correct grade alloy steel - 60SiCr8. Heat treated consisting of hardening & tempering and springs are shot peened before painting. These parabolic springs will bring a comfortable ride and improved handling to your Series vehicle. Note - Includes ‘U’ bolts and nuts.

DA4106 Series - SWB/LWB 2 Leaf Front kit pair DA4107 Series - SWB 3 Leaf Rear kit pair DA2003 Series - LWB 4 Leaf Rear kit pair

DA4107

www.britpart.com Find your nearest stockist - www.britpart.com/stockist