Three Centuries – Not Out!
Land Rovers are renowned for covering big miles, but this Freelander with 300,000 miles surprised us all
EVERY FREELANDER 1 enthusiast will tell you that the engines are tough. And none of them tougher than the Td4. For this reason, forums and social media buzz with mileage claims. A Freelander with 200,000 miles under its cam chain is treated with the same respect as your granddad. It’s what they call ‘a good innings.’ So when Glynn Davis matter-of-factly chipped into a Freelander Owners’ Club debate that his had done 300,000 miles, I just had to find out more. I had suspicions that it would be the Landy equivalent of the tale of Trigger’s 20-year-old broom (if you’re not familiar, go to youtube.com/watch?v=bul6pooveje). “It gets serviced twice a year,” Glynn told me. “It’s had a new alternator, propshaft bearings and a clutch kit, but not much else.” The ‘it’ in question is Fred, a 2004 Td4 GS manual three-door, which Glynn bought nine years ago with 107,000 miles on the clock: “I had a discussion with my wife Ann-marie, and told her I wanted a Defender. “She then told me her brother’s girlfriend was selling her Freelander K-series 1.8 petrol. I went to take a look, and thought it was a little revvy. “But then we started looking at Freelander diesels. A fortnight later, I found Fred at an independent Land Rover garage. It had some service history – it was a Motorpoint vehicle with the history under the middle two owners a bit sketchy. I was to be the fourth owner. The only cars I’d had before were a Rover Metro and a Rover 214, so even the Freelander was a big jump. “Ann-marie loved Fred from the start. She likes the high seating position, the torque and that it’s great for towing.” She also had a hand in the name.
“The snow was very deep, but not once did Fred lose traction. It was truly impressive"
At this point, I should point out that Glynn is a petrolhead, with a growing collection of what he calls ‘practical classics’, so a car capable of trailing bodyshells back to his home near Lichfield, Staffordshire, was essential. That said, it’s been much more than just a tow car.
Glynn and Ann-marie are what you might call 'outdoorsy’ so Fred has to do more than just trudge on motorways: “In 2009, we decided to climb to Everest Base Camp, and had to train on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. We’d rented a cottage up a farm track.
“It snowed. We spent most of the journey up the M6 in the middle lane because it was the only one drivable. When we got to Skye, the roads were treacherous. The final track to the cottage wasn’t even visible. The snow was so deep, I could feel it scraping under the footwell but not once did Fred lose traction. It was truly impressive.”
Glynn has a tip for Freelander Td4 owners, born of a small disaster: “I didn’t know about the crankcase breather filter – it isn’t mentioned in early service manuals. Mine eventually blocked, pressurised the crankcase, and Fred spewed oil all over the work's car park. They roped it off as an ‘environmental hazard’! I’ve replaced the foam one with the BMW upgrade and it’s fine now.”
Fred has been with Glynn and Ann-marie throughout Glynn’s car obsession, during which Glynn has taken evening classes in body repair, including lead-loading. “I’ve always had a mechanical aptitude,” says Glynn. Now, the stable includes a Series IIA, an MG ZR, MG Midget and a MKII Triumph Spitfire. Two of them are now roadworthy.
Glynn never intended to keep Fred for so long, and was planning to sell him, especially since he bought a Freelander 2 as his main ride. But then the speedometer clicked round to 300,000 miles, the sale price would be miniscule, and Glynn and Ann-marie couldn’t bring themselves to abandon their faithful friend.