Dunsfold Diaries
Philip is rather excited about a recent addition to the Dunsfold Collection: an early, original County-spec Ninety
Philip Bashall reveals a recent addition to the Dunsfold Collection: an early County-spec 90
F YOU bought the May issue of LRM, you’ll remember that it had a very fetching silver Ninety on the cover, wearing County side stripes. It wasn’t an original County but it did look rather good with those stripes, which have now transcended their previous naff status and can officially be considered cool!
The early County-spec Ninety that has just been loaned to the Dunsfold Collection (pictured above right and on the facing page) doesn’t have those stripes, unfortunately, although I think they would really suit its red paint. In fact, we’re not 100 per cent sure at the moment whether this Ninety was supplied as a County. It has all the upmarket hallmarks of a County – brown fabric seat trim, brown carpets, flocked headlining, side repeater lights – but it’s possible that it was a highly-specced regular Station Wagon. Alternatively, it could be that it was sold as a County, but the supplying dealer removed the side stripes because the customer didn’t like them. In the trade this is described as a delete option and is quite common.
However, the vehicle itself has been known to us since 1991, when it was bought by a local lady who owned it up until about six years ago. It was her shopping car and was only used for trundling around the lanes – it has never missed a service or an MOT. Sadly, when the lady’s husband died, she had to downsize and DLR Ltd sold it on her behalf to another local chap. When he decided he had to give up driving, it was purchased by a supporter of the Collection and is now on loan to us.
While this Ninety is not absolutely mint, it is very nice indeed and all we’ve done is repaint the wheels and fit a new set of tyres. Sadly, you can’t get the originalspec Michelins anymore and so we’ve fitted 205-section Goodyear Wranglers, which I think suit an older vehicle. They’re not too aggressive: BF Goodrich tyres look too knobbly, and military-spec XCLS are only available in a 7.50 size which makes a Ninety look over-tyred.
For me, there’s something very appealing about these early Ninetys and One Tens. This vehicle was made in December 1984, and it’s one of the last to have the old Series two-and-a-quarter petrol engine, before the new 2.5-litre was introduced. I love this engine; I drove the Ninety a couple of miles today and you could hardly hear the motor running, it was so quiet and smooth. It was an absolute joy, and such a change from the contemporary diesel!
That said, if you’re lucky enough to pick up a nice, unmolested ’80s diesel these days, don’t be in a rush to slot in a 200Tdi conversion. That drives me mad – yes, it was the done thing a few years ago, but 1980s Land Rovers in genuinely good, original condition are rare enough now that they should be preserved.
The Ec-suffix on this Ninety’s registration shows that it was sold new in Kendal, in the Lake District, so we don’t know how it ended up down south. We’ve applied for a V888 from the DVLA, which you can use to request information about previous keepers, but haven’t heard back yet. What we do know is that it was bought by its previous lady owner in 1991 from a company in Bath called Dunsford Land Rovers, which used to cause a lot of confusion with Dunsfold Landrovers Ltd! Occasionally we’d get a phone call from someone who’d broken down on the M5, say, and there’d be a bit of talking at cross-purposes until we’d worked out that they’d phoned Dunsfold instead of Dunsford.
Being a late 1984 vehicle, this Ninety has galvanised bumpers and body cappings. In the mid-80s, Land Rover switched to painting the cappings instead of galvanising them, to save a few pennies, which was disastrous because the paint was applied after the cappings had been riveted on, with only primer on the inner surfaces.
Generally, the earlier vehicles were better built, although they did suffer from poor chassis paint, which flaked off and led to chassis rust. But the galvanised cappings are a major plus point, and there are a couple of nice details on the early cars, too – the chromed bonnet lock, for example, or the mud flaps that have a white Land Rover logo.
Otherwise there aren’t major differences between early and late 1980s vehicles, although there’s a particular problem associated with the five-speed gearboxes that were fitted to them. These have a pressed-steel clutch arm that pivots on a ball, which isn’t lubricated, so the arm gradually gets ground away until eventually the ball punches its way through, and you lose your clutch. It wasn’t a problem with the cast-iron arms used on Series vehicles – or the V8s – but it’s very common on Ninetys and One Tens. The history file for our red Ninety shows an invoice from a London dealer for a replacement clutch, and you can bet your boots that it was only the clutch arm that had failed.
By far the most desirable model is a V8. If our red Ninety had been supplied with a V8 instead of a 2.25, it would be a 25-grand car. Ultimate spec would be a Ninety V8 County, in Masai Red or Stratos Blue – good, strong colours. The V8s were only made until 1990, so there weren’t that many of them, and these days the US market is hoovering up a lot of them. We can’t complain: stepside Chevy and Ford pick-ups are imported into the UK because we like ’50s and ’60s Americana, and they like the Olde English appeal of a Land Rover. The strange thing is that, while a Ninety V8 is generally perceived as being more desirable now than a One Ten V8, because it’s nippier and easier to park, prices are broadly comparable. I’ve seen some really nice One Ten V8s for sale in recent years and a good one can fetch up to £30,000.
While petrol Land Rovers sold quite well in the 1980s compared with diesels, the V8 was always something of a niche product. Funnily enough, though, Dunsfold Landrovers Ltd supplied quite a few V8s back in the day, because we’re in horsey country down here and V8s were popular for towing horse boxes. A V8 Land Rover was a lot cheaper than a Range Rover, which would have cost £25,000–30,000 when the Land Rover was 15 grand. Discovery hadn’t been launched then, so people didn’t have much choice.
If you’re looking to buy a Ninety or One Ten, the ones to look out for are vehicles that have been owned by caravanners. Say what you like about them, but caravan people as a breed tend to be fussy and particular, which means they look after their tow vehicles. There are a few ways to spot a Land Rover that’s been owned by a caravanner. Oversize mirrors are an obvious giveaway, but caravanners also have a fetish for adding strips of Dayglo tape to the rear corner cappings, and extra reflectors on the sills below the doors, or on the mudflaps. And they usually have two spare wheel carriers: one on the bonnet, one on the rear door, so they can mount a spare for the caravan as well as for the Land Rover.
All the really nice, genuine Land Rovers that I’ve bought and worked on over the years have been owned by caravanners, from Series IIIS up to modern Defenders. Caravanners – I love ’em!
THE DUNSFOLD Collection’s Land Rover Show, which is held every two years, takes place on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 of June and is your chance to see virtually every vehicle in the Collection. Visit dunsfoldcollection.co.uk to buy advance discount tickets and book camping, club or trade stands. Friends of the Collection qualify for one free day entry ticket, which is included in the annual subscription of £35.