1974 SERIES III 88-INCH

JAMES TAYLOR-DOUGLAS AND CAMILLA SIGNORINI

Tell us a little about yourselves

I work as a procurement director and I grew up in Newcastle in the UK while Camilla is originally from South Africa. We now live in London, the city of congestion charges and big, fancy Land Rovers.

How did you find this project?

It found us really. During a recent visit to Camilla’s parents in South Africa we got the chance to drive her dad’s beautifully-restored Series IIA. He also said to us that it would be very cool to drive something similar in London. We knew right away that he was right. Her Dad now often jokes that his Series IIA is better than our Series III but we know that it is not!

What’s the story so far?

After returning to the UK the hunt was on. We searched for a couple of weeks and found one that we liked the look of. Then after a few too many glasses of red on a cold Thursday evening in January I made the executive decision to purchase her. I probably paid over the odds but whoever said money can’t buy happiness has never owned a Series III called RHU.

What happened next?

So we bought her and picked her up at the end of Feb from a guy in Swanage and have been working on her since then.

How is the 2.25 engine running?

We drove her the 150-mile journey home with no issues except for when I thought I was Stirling Moss and took her up to 65 mph while trying to overtake a lorry. There was a big bang, a large puff of black smoke, a six-foot flame (might have been smaller) and we lost power. Luckily we managed to roll into the next services and after a quick cup of tea and a firm talking to from Camilla we were back on the road. The engine has been very good since and we have no plans to replace it. My racing career however is over for now.

What are your plans with it?

We were originally just going to change the wheels and tidy her up to use in the summer. Once we started with the project we realised that everything except the engine needed restoring. So the new plan is to try and keep it original with a few modern comforts, of course.

What have you done so far?

The paint was a complete mess and the interior was home to some very large spiders. We stripped her right down then sanded the body down to the aluminium. Major dents were removed before priming her. Each panel was then treated to a rattle-can spray job.

As for the interior we removed the seat box and lower dash and followed the same process as the outside. We then fitted a new fuel tank, shocks, wheels, lower dash, leather seats, all rubber parts, lights and oil-sealed the chassis. All nuts and bolts were replaced with stainless steel ones.

What next then?

With summer and warmer weather fast approaching we are going to replace the original roof with a canvas one just so that we can roll the sides up and feel the wind in our hair. We will have to fit a folddown tailgate and tidy up the rear crossmember. We are also going to fit stained oak in the rear tub plus a good Marshall speaker in the dash. Oh and replace the steering wheel with a wooden one.

What has been the hardest part?

There haven’t been any really difficult parts in terms of the build. Everything is online or in the good old Haynes manual. The hardest part is just knowing when to stop and take some time away from the car. You can seriously become obsessed very quickly and it can take over everything in your life. We even had the neighbours complaining about the sanding!

Any other projects on the go?

Negotiating Brexit.

Anything to add? We have an Instagram account the_series_guy if you want to see some more pictures of our project.