I’ve wanted a Series Land Rover for some months now, having gotten into green laning last year. Initially I would lane in my 2013 Range Rover L405, and whilst it’s no pavement princess and I don’t worry about knocking or scratching it, the parts are prohibitively expensive to be replacing because I broke something laning.
The L405 was no slouch off-road. Naturally I didn’t plow it into waist deep mud but it was plenty comfortable on the vast majority of Salisbury Plain.
I had a chance to pick up a 1999 Discovery II cheaply as an MOT failure and had it back on the road with relative ease – this was to be my off roading / green laning build as the parts were simpler and far cheaper should I break something. I modified it in various ways including a raised air intake, axle and gearbox breathers, a suspension lift, fitted a winch etc… but sadly it was not to last and the Disco began being plagued by a raft of electrical issues which, despite my best efforts, ultimately sent it to the scrap yard.
The Discovery 2 I modified as an off-roader. Sadly it wasn’t to last. This went into a lot of (quite literally) sticky situations and came out the other side. Sometimes on the end of a winch rope…
Some months passed and I’ve been itching to get back out on the lanes (Salisbury Plain is local to me so I have some of the best lanes in the country on my doorstep). I’d decided my next ‘laner’ would be a Series Land Rover for a number of reasons:
- I love the simplicity of them to work on / maintain.
- Vehicles over 40 years old are exempt from British MOT and taxation legislation. In real terms this means it’s cheaper to have on the road as there is no duty to pay (my L405 conversely is over £700 a year to tax). Whilst I strive to maintain my vehicles to a standard that should easily pass an MOT (statutory vehicle roadworthiness test, for those outside the UK), it’s a lot easier to pass judgement on its roadworthiness myself than have the hassle of someone else doing it.
- Insurance is cheap on heritage vehicles, and I’ve already got my trousers round my ankles for the L405’s insurance.
- Aesthetically, I think they’re beautiful cars that exude British heritage.
Perhaps most importantly, I loved the idea of taking on a restoration project. I enjoy working on cars and learning about they operate. The Series 3 had a number of quality of life improvements over the 2A, 2 and 1, are more abundant and generally a bit cheaper, so a Series 3 it was to be. It took a while for one to come up reasonably locally in the right condition (a project requiring a lot of work, but no basket case) and at the right price, but sure enough, on Friday 13th September 2024, I brought one home on a trailer.
The car looks rather sorry for itself in its present state and I inherit a whole host of issues with it. That said, it’s a great restoration candidate for a number of reasons I’ll detail in a later post.