My 1962 Land Rover (and my other Land Rover history)

[wheel nut]

I bought this 9 years ago.

At the time I was looking for any petrol land rover that was pre 1972 as that was the threshold for tax-exempt back then so that meant series I, series II or early series III. Series 1s were already crazy money for anything reasonably solid so realistically that meant series II or III. I was attracted to this one because the previous owner had replaced the chassis and although not a galvanised one it had minimal rust. To be pedantic it’s a Series IIA instead of a Series II but there were more significant changes within the series IIA production than there was from Series II to IIA.

 

Because it’s pre 1965 it still has some of the more vintage style features like a metal spoked steering wheel, dip switch on the floor and separate wiper motors for each wiper on the screen.

 

The next job to do that I am aware of is to replace the door tops as they are getting too far gone for even the structural moss to hold them together much longer.

[wheel nut]

A few months after buying JSY980 I managed to find a ropey series IIA that had spent much of it’s later life as a farm hack and  consequently many non-essential things like indicators door tops and seat were missing and the chassis was close to folding in the middle. I just bought this for spares and this has so far donated it’s radiator, two hubs, plus a few small bits, to help keep JSY going. It was stored outside a garage a long way from my house for a long time but last year I got it transported home and broke it up to stop my driveway to save space.

[wheel nut]

Around 4 years ago I spotted a cheap series III for sale. It was too new to be tax exempt and was really rough but was a cheap way for me to try a long wheelbase which I was curious about at the time.

Verdict:

I quite like the long wheelbase, manoeuvre-ability is not great particularly when parking, but then you don’t buy a landrover for city commuting and the extra load space could be useful occasionally.

I prefer series II to series III, mechanically much the same but the series II has the old fashioned metal dash with more character.

The engine in this was a Perkins 4203. I would be happy having a non-standard engine again but this 4203 was particularly difficult to start. Even with a new very large battery it was reluctant to crank over due to the amount of compression in the engine so it’s put me off diesels a bit.

Whilst my current landrover has a van body on it, this one was a pickup. For my uses I would much prefer a van as most of the time I like my cargo to be secure and out of the weather.

 

I only used it for a few months one Summer. It sat on my driveway for a while after that but an upcoming house move made me realise it was time to move it on. I think the buyer was from just South of Edinburgh. It hasn’t been taxed since I sold it.

 

[Crackers]

Nice to see some more Shite Landies on here. You'll fit right in 😁

[sutty2006]

I R lan rover fan. 
 

big tick ✔️ from me. 

[warch]

Good work OP. I've spent years making do with just the one Land Rover, mine is a 1964 model. I've attached a really interesting* guide to some of the changes associated with the model range through the IIA period.

Land Rover FAQ - Repair & Maintenance - Series - Chassis Numbers - Suffixes (lrfaq.org)

I've always quite fancied a LWB Landy. I quite like the proportions especially with a hardtop or truck cab, although my absolute favourite is the good old 109 1 ton model, with its special gearing, stronger axles and chassis, 900/16 tyres and longer spring shackles. Many an owner of the humble 109 3/4 model upgraded their Landy by the simple expedient of overloading it with another quarter ton of crap, whilst doing absolutely sod all else to compensate for the added weight. Apparently the worst offenders were the British Army who decided that they could tow an artillery piece, stick all the ammo in the load bay and a full gun crew without overloading theirs.