Bangernomics
Danny and James pick up two bargain people-movers for peanuts.
Danny Hopkins
What is the best value British-built family classic? I would have to favour a first-generation Land Rover Freelander. It will never be cheaper and if you find a good one, it will repay your investment many times over. The original Freelander was built between 1997 and 2006 and was Land Rover’s first stab at a compact SUV. Having looked for a buddy manufacturer with which to develop the project, codenamed CB40 (after Canley Building 40, where the concept was initially developed), Rover went it alone, Honda deciding to go its own way and develop the CR-V independently.
As with the MGF, Rover raided its own parts bin to put the Freelander together. It sat on a modified Maestro floorpan and used K-series and KV6 engines… and had easily recognizable Rover group trim. It was a hit from day one, being Europe’s biggest selling SUV from 1997 to 2002. Land Rover’s current design director, Gerry Mcgovern, designed it and today, 21 years on from launch, the Freelander still looks fresh. it drives well too – on and off-road. so the decision to hunt one out as transport for the family on local trips and as a winter daily-driver for my wife Oonagh was an easy one to take.
Finding a good one for decent money wasn’t easy. There are many, many ruined examples out there going for between £300 and £600. You can get one and spend that money again replacing head gaskets and viscous coupling units. I looked at two that had VCU issues. The VCU is in the centre of the propshaft and makes up part of the drive train delivering power to the rear wheels. It’s a sealed unit with a lifespan of about 70,000 miles. Damaged VCUS freeze up the whole drivetrain and eventually destroy it, so the IRD (transfer box), rear differential and possibly even the gearbox can go ping prematurely. I saw a £400 car with a K-series that had electrical issues and the
three main warning lights illuminated – the infamous ‘Three Amigos’. These are the hill descent control light, the traction control light and the ABS light. It might have been sensors but I wasn’t going to stick around to find out.
Eventually I found a 1998 Serengeti 1.8 manual for £750. It had history (including recent timing belt and water pump), a multi-layered steel head gasket fitted, recent clutch and all the electrics worked including the rear tailgate window (common fault). It needed a clean and drop links (cheap, common fix). One issue. The rear wheel drive had been isolated by the previous owner after his VCU began to fail. He was completely upfront about this and the rear diff had been isolated correctly. It meant that after a test drive I placed £650 into the vendor’s palm and got a really nice car in return. It won’t be used off-road, so I am not worried about the lack of AWD.
I called Britpart, and my old mate Paul Meyers, for some advice and he simply said ‘go for it’. Parts are still plentiful and cheap and Britpart can virtually build you a Freelander with the stock it holds. I might fit a reconditioned VCU and rear propshaft at some point, but it drives well as it is for now. It’s also easy to work on (apart from the ridiculously difficult to remove engine undertray that I have left off after it took two hours to remove). There is a huge amount of space around the K-series.
So other than a big service I have fitted new droplinks and anti-roll bar bushes… actually I’ve done the droplinks twice after the first pair failed within 1000 miles, with cheap unbranded parts (never again) having failed – I’ll be using Britpart exclusively from now on.