OLDEST SURVIVING LAND ROVER SERIES II FOR SALE
Ex-works car up for auction as market surges for early Landies
The second Land Rover Series II built is to go under Classic Car Auctions’ hammer on 26 March. Believed to be the oldest surviving Series II, it is estimated at £18,000-22,000.
Built on 24 March 1958 and registered on 4 June 1959, chassis number 142-8-00002, originally a Bronze Green soft-top, was despatched to Land Rover’s Engineering Department. Today, it has a few unique features dating from that time, including an early-type brake servo that wasn’t standard on SWB Land Rovers until the Series III.
It still has its original Birmingham registration and is powered by a prototype 2.25-litre OHV petrol engine, fitted at a time when other 88ins used 2.0-litre engines.
It was restored on a galvanised chassis in 2011 and converted to a Station Wagon body style. This work and its mileage since are described in the car’s history file, which also contains a Heritage Certificate.
Land Rover Owner International magazine editor, Neil Watterson, said that rising Series II residuals may have prompted the car’s sale: ‘Series II prices have been on the up for a while, with big jumps seen in recent years. This very early model last went under the hammer for £13k in November 2018 – so the current estimate seems realistic.
‘It’s had a replacement chassis, so that will lose it points on originality, but it does mean that you won’t need to worry about chasing rot and it should be a good, usable classic, with a bit of history attached.’
Theo Ford-Sagers
] classiccarauctions.co.uk