ALISDAIR CUSICK
Alisdair Cusick looks at one survivor that blends the elements of three decades' worth of Land Rover modifications.
Our demon snapper goes to Wales to find not one, but two Carmichael Commandos
There's a vogue of late in turning up 'Survivor' cars. The term loosely means vehicles that have survived each decade's fads of modification and tinkering, instead remaining totally standard, original, but perhaps with a little worn patina here and there. Mostly it equates to Series Ones or Twos, and there's a strong following for turning those cars up.
However, when LRM got the tip-off about an altogether different 'Survivor', it was such an oddball, we just couldn't refuse. Regular readers may remember the Saul family from 2013, when we featured their early Range Rover with a rare capstan winch. Ian, Margaret, and their son James are petrol heads, but it is fair to say they also have 'Land Rover' running through them like words in seaside rock. As well as the Capstan-equipped two-door, they have another 1976 Range Rover, two or three Efi-era four-doors, an early One Ten V8 and a 1978 Carmichael Commando. QED.
Anyway, the new addition is a second 1978 Carmichael Commando but, unlike most other 1978 cars still around today, this recent addition is a real snapshot into another era. As if the extra length and axle wasn't enough, in place of the Rover V8, the car still sports a period 1980s/90s Perkins diesel conversion. That's right, in the current era of cheap-as-chips 300Tdi from scrapped Discoverys, this car still retains a non-turbo, aftermarket engine transplant from another vehicle altogether.
James and Ian fill me in on the details, after buying the car in February 2016: “We're terrible for impulse purchases,” admits father Ian, coyly, “but given we had one Carmichael already, then why not two!” he jokes. So James found himself en route to South Wales, with Dad Ian, a trailer, the cash, and their local Land Rover mechanic of choice, James Davis.
Apparently, the car had been owned by a bit of a collector in recent years, who had sold off off his cars due to old age, of which one was the Carmichael. That buyer was now selling it on to the Sauls, and confirmed the car has been in storage since the last MOT ran out in 2005, explaining the car's good condition.
Surprised at the good condition of the chassis and body, the car was bought, though a suspected fuel pump issue meant it didn't run. In Wolverhampton, Mechanic James Davis sorted the parts via JCB and diesel specialists and, after a good fettle, it was moving under its own steam again. An MOT pass was obtained by the 27 May after some minor welding and wiring work, and the Saul's put the car to use, racking up around a thousand miles since.
So the key question is, what is it like? James and Ian are
he first to admit it isn't a show pony. It is, however a real time capsule of a few eras all wrapped up together. The added axle shows what was possible with the Range Rover in the 1970s, but the engine, from the '80s and '90s, references a time when some lateral thinking brought alternative power plants to the table.
Carmichael still trade today, and specialise in fire tenders. In 1978 they offered the 'Commando' as their base six-wheel chassis cab, usually then fitted with fire tender body, but they also offered an estate car version and ambulance. Both the Saul's cars are that estate car configuration, where the extra, undriven axle helped increase the carrying capacity. They built plenty of fire tenders, but the estate cars seem much rarer – possibly only five, according to Ian who has spoken to someone who was an apprentice there at the time, and remembers working on their type of conversion. That apprentice mentioned that most went to the Middle East. The roof was two Range Rover roofs joined together, and he's told the brake system has a bias of 50/50, compared to the 60/40 of production cars.
The wheelbase from the front wheels to the first axle is the standard 100”, but behind that an extension is added to the chassis (basically a repeat of the rear axle/fuel tank chassis area) on which a second axle at 135” wheelbase is fitted. It is undriven, so a neat blanking plate is fitted to the front face of the rearmost diff. Body-wise, the extra length is a pair of rear wings added on, (which Carmichael made up themselves in alloy or GRP to suit) a solid side window each side, and roof and wheelarch extensions to take up the extra length. Otherwise, the car is indentical to production spec. The interior, to this day, is still factory cloth, though now sporting timeshift gaudy 1980s seat covers.
The Perkins 4.236 was a non-turbo engine originally used in boats, plant and tractors. The 4.236 name breaks down to 4 being the 4 cylinders, and the 236 the capacity in cubic inches (3.8 litres in 'new money'). The astute may read the character of the engine from those usual applications, but for the '80s and '90s, the 4.236 was a credible transplant option for the thirsty V8. More economical, torquey, but not high revving, for some it did the job better than the V8.
Driving out to the scenery for photography was a real eye opener. The 300Tdi has become the benchmark of a practical diesel engine for transplants across the Land Rover range, but this Perkins definitely shows how far diesel technology has come. Agricultural is a common term, but a non-car lineage has never been more apparent. The idle seems almost too low; low enough to virtually count the revolutions of the
“It will comfortably cruise at 55mph, is flat out at 65mph and does mid-20s mpg"
engine, and resultant body shake at tickover like a vintage lorry. Add on some revs and that shake disappears, and a mass of torque gets you making progress, with almost as much noise as fury. “Starting with the premise an LT95 'box is agricultural anyway, adding a dumper truck engine doesn't help things” says Ian. It isn't bad, necessarily, and doesn't smoke but is definitely the polar opposite of the original Rover V8. It will comfortably cruise at 55mph, is flat out at 65mph and Ian reckons it does mid-20's to the gallon.
You have to wonder what the car's history is, and the short answer is that the Sauls are still trying to find out. There's no doubt it has been stored for a while, which explains how it has avoided a 200/300Tdi transplant in the late 1990s. The logbook shows five keepers. I'm going to stick my neck out and guess at a rough timeline...
Owner One orders the car new, with a particular need in mind. It gets used for a good few years, moving on to Owners Two or Three in the early-mid 1980s. Around this time or just later, the carb-ed V8 either has a problem or the cost of fuel is simply too much to bear, so they fit the Perkins. It's the '90s, and the car has been used, tidied up, possibly with cheap, early '80s Vogue seats and the white paint job, then sees more use, until it gets parked up, or sold on. There, around the last tax disc of 2005, it is simply stored. The lack of use means the fuel pump fails, so it stays put.
Who knows, but what we're left with is a fabulously retro vision of the past, and definitely a Range Rover curio worth keeping. That is exactly what the Sauls intend to do, and they've enjoyed taking it to various shows around the country this year already.
Who could blame them? It definitely attracts attention. If you see a vision of the 1970s roaring down the road at a show soon, you'll know who it is. I can personally vouch for the fact that you'll hear the engine before you see it….