Land Rover Legends

2019 surpassed itself – an event like no other, it celebrated all things good about Land Rover

1 SAS 110-INCH V8 DESERT PATROL VEHICLE

This DPV is one of two SAS vehicles that usually live within the SAS complex at Hereford. Although they are occasionally loaned to other military establishments, they are rarely seen in public and have never attended a Land Rover show before, but we can thank Sue Cummings, Barry Pocock, Wayne Davis, Roger Jones and Philip Bashall for the fact that they came, and for working closely with all the other Pinky owners to create the once-ina-lifetime line up at the show. For fairly obvious reasons, those that know about this vehicle’s in-service history are not in a position to share it with us!

2 1979 110-INCH FEP

This Fully Engineered Prototype is owned by Mark Daniels and was part of the impressive display of early coil-sprung Land Rovers, including the rare 100-inch, organised by Emrys Kirby, David Maingot, Dave Harlow and Philip Bashall. Mark’s vehicle is F6 of 51 built between 1979 and 1982. As an early example, it retains many Series III features including the split windscreen and unvented wing tops. F6 hasn’t been seen in public for many years and it was a real treat to see it alongside the other surviving examples and to be able track the engineering changes as the test and development of Stage 2 progressed.

3 90 SPECIAL

Owner Jonny Welfare bought this 90 seven years ago from a farmer for £1200 and immediately set about creating his dream Land Rover! The rebuild was overseen by Automotive Solutions, and the extent of the impressive modifications carried out is far too long to list here. The original 3.5 V8 bit the dust during one of Jonny’s regular off-roading excursions, and has been replaced with a tuned 3.9 sourced from a Discovery. Jonny’s enthusiasm to display the vehicle at the Land Rover Legends show was in evidence on both show days, when he made a point of turning up early to secure a prime parking spot next to the exhibition hangar!

4 DISCOVERY LIMOUSINE

This unique vehicle sits on a chassis that was stretched to 116 inches by Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations division. It was ordered in late 1993 by Arlington Securities, whose parent company was British Aerospace who at that time also owned Land Rover. Current owner Richard Beddall, who found it on ebay, believes it was intended for one of BAE’S board members and the story goes that this senior executive liked to be chauffeured in it to his villa in the south of France. The Limousine is a full seven-seater and SVO fitted a bespoke TV and VCR console in the rear, and a supplementary air-con system.

5 1950 SERIES I 80-INCH PROTOTYPE

This is the prototype 2.0-litre petrol Series I, and the ultimate in matching numbers with engine number one, gearbox number one, and chassis number one! Owner Andrew Bullas bought it 15 years ago in Shropshire, and before that it had spent a number of years in Scotland. It was originally gifted by Land Rover to The Downs prep school in Malvern. JUE 492 is beautifully patinated, and Andrew plans to keep it exactly the way it is!

6 1991 DEFENDER 90 200Tdi

Ex-land Rover engineer Greg King learned to drive in this Defender 90 and used it to commute to his new job as an engineering apprentice, covering over 50,000 miles in two years. Life moved on and the 90 was sold, but after Greg took a sabbatical from JLR in 2018 he was looking around for a project to keep himself busy. Astonishingly, while he was relaxing on a family holiday in rural France he stumbled across a familiar-looking grey 90 for sale. It was his 90, and he was soon reunited with it. Six months later, the resulting restoration is as good as you’d expect from a Land Rover engineer!

7 1951 SERIES I 80-INCH

In 2016, Phil Lambert found this important Land Rover for sale in a garage in Leicestershire. When he bought it he had no idea that it was a development vehicle for Land Rover’s new 2.0-litre petrol engine and had been allocated initially to Arthur Goddard, the engineer in charge of the development of the very first Land Rover. It was also involved in the military trials in Belgium that led to an order for over 2500 vehicles and the creation of the licensing agreement that allowed Minerva to build Land Rovers in Belgium. Phil has renovated it magnificently, with great respect for its originality and historical importance.

8 SAS SERIES IIA 109-INCH PINK PANTHER

This Pink Panther is owned by French Land Rover enthusiast and collector Sébastien Conte, who brought it across the channel together with another French-owned Pinky, and then collected an additional Uk-owned vehicle on the way to Land Rover Legends. The journey was not without its challenges and Sébastien was presented with the Spirit of the Event Award for true grit and determination, battling on to arrive at the show despite having his trailer (and the Pinky it was carrying) impounded by the authorities en route, and suffering punctures on his car transporter!

9 1953 SERIES I

Owner Pete Stringer has more Land Rovers than you can shake a stick at, but this is one of his favourites. Fitted with a pre-production factory hard-top and delivered new to the Lincolnshire River Authority, it was later owned by Roy ‘Brad’ Leather, before Pete acquired it 23 years ago in a swap that involved a Marshall-bodied ambulance. FDO 635 rarely sees the light of day, but Pete was keen to bring it to the Land Rover Legends show as a mark of respect to Brad, who sadly passed away recently.

10 1984 SERIES III COUNTY STATION WAGON

Alan Rodgers was a steam engineer and always wanted a Series III, but it was a project that had to wait until he retired. Alan bought A276 GDC in 1993 and began a lengthy chassis-up restoration.

Sadly, he was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2016 and passed away in January 2017. His daughter Lorraine and other members of the family were determined to complete the restoration that Alan had started, and commissioned Dave Lindsay to do the work, which was finally finished in November last year. Lorraine was determined to display the vehicle for the first time at Land Rover Legends, and it was driven to the show from Dorset.