Variety is the spice of life…
IS there any other make or model of car in the history of the automobile that can present as many mind-blowing variations of itself as the utility Land Rover? I very much doubt it. Go to almost any Land Rover show and it’s obvious. And it’s not just the vehicles built by The Rover Company and its descendants, from the first prototypes in 1947 to the end of ‘real’ Defender production in 2016, that have created this astonishing variety.
And before you start bombarding the LRM editorial office with emails, I know the pre-pro 80s were built in 1948. But the fabled Centre Steer was built in late 1947, and although it was based on a Jeep chassis it had a Rover engine and bodywork built by Rover’s craftsmen. So as far as I’m concerned, the story starts in 1947. And you could argue that the Centre Steer is where the tradition of bespoke modification, that is at the heart of the utility Land Rover story, actually began.
Anyway, it isn’t just the multitude of factory-built variants of the Series vehicles, the Ninetys and One Tens, the Stage 1s, the 127s and 130s, and the Defender in all its guises. It’s also the endless special builds and the military models, such as the Lightweight and the 101 Forward Control, and the weird and wonderful, dead-end one-offs such as the amphibious APGP and Australian OTAL (One Ton Amphibious Land Rover).
And, of course, it is also the many thousands of Land Rovers that have been, and continue to be, modified, re-engineered, stretched, shortened and tweaked by enthusiasts and owners over the years. In this issue we feature a unique example of this, the endearingly eccentric but slightly bonkers Lawrence Longnose, a DIY special based on a 1963 Series IIA 109 and inspired by the equally wacky Bell Aurens. And last issue we featured Hercules, the six-wheel drive Broughton Engineering conversion of a 1995 Defender 130 that is now one man’s vision of the perfect, ultimate overland camper.
When I met Mark Evans, the world renowned engineering enthusiast and television presenter, recently to chat with him about the Ineos Grenadier for the article in this issue, we ended up talking at great length about the things we thought had contributed to the utility Land Rover’s enduring success, which of course continues to this day, despite the fact that it has been out of production now for over six years.
Even JLR’S Classic Reborn operation is still buying back used Defenders and rebuilding and modifying them for resale, at eyewatering prices. And every month there seems to be yet another player offering bespoke, restomod or electric conversions of real Defenders. All are taking the notion of the personalised, bespoke utility Land Rover to new heights, but with new heights come stratospheric prices and, I have to say, occasional excesses of bling and crimes against good taste.
Factory-endorsed modifications for commercial or military purposes were common for many years, which is why we can still enjoy oddballs such as the Series IIA 109-inch Roadless Traction Forest Rover, and the 109mm Recoilless Rifle Gunship. Whether the factory was ever approached for its approval of the New Zealand Defence Force’s six-wheel, 300Tdi conversion of a 109-inch Stage 1 to create an electronic warfare vehicle, remains unclear. Probably not, would be my guess, but you can read in this issue about the first example of this very rare vehicle to arrive in the UK.
Mark Evans and I agreed that one of the most important characteristics of the utility Land Rover is that it can be a blank canvas for any private owner to personalise. And many of us do. I certainly enjoyed personalising my first Range Rover, SYD, as my off-roading adventures expanded. Tyres, polybushes, decent shock absorbers and springs, a big-bore stainless exhaust, and a two-inch lift were easy.
A bespoke, galvanised expedition roof rack was a bit more complicated, and a subtle front winch installation that retained the original bumper was two day’s work with David Bowyer down in Devon. The installation turned out to be considerably better than the winch itself. And with hindsight I’m pleased that despite all the drawings and discussions, I didn’t go ahead with the plan to fit a snorkel.
Mark has rather more serious form when it comes to tweaking Land Rovers, having rebuilt and re-engined his Ninety and, of course, created the famous ‘Hillbilly’ 100-inch off-roader in his TV series A 4x4 is Born.
Mark’s inspiration came from Land Rover’s 100-inch coil-spring prototype that survives in the Dunsfold Collection, and that same vehicle inspired Stage 2 Register man, Emrys Kirby, to build his own version.
Dunsfold is home to what is probably the world’s largest collection of weird and wonderful Land Rovers, vehicles that the late Brian Bashall used to refer to as ‘the funnies’. The Freelander development mules are among the most popular, despite the fact that mounted on top of the Freelander prototype running gear are black-painted Maestro van bodies. The overall effect is a bit like a crude Pimp My Ride special with raised suspension that looks like it was created in a back street lock-up on a very small budget. Maybe it was.
Dunsfold took one to the recent Land Rover Legends at the Thruxton Historic event. When it joined the parade of 30 or so Land Rovers to do a couple of laps of the circuit, it stole the show among the racegoing spectators.
“You could argue that the Centre Steer is where the tradition of bespoke modification, that is at the heart of the utility Land Rover story, actually began”