Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2016 i Land Rover Monthly

LAND ROVER is celebrating the production of its 500,000th Range Rover Evoque, just over four years after deliveries of the luxury compact SUV commenced. The Evoque is the fastest-selling and most successful Land Rover ever produced, having become the quickest green oval-badged car to reach the half-a-million vehicle production landmark. One in every three Land Rovers sold around the world is an Evoque. Such strong global demand ensures the production line at its Halewood plant on Merseyside is in operation 24 hours a day, with a new vehicle coming off the line every 80 seconds. Gerry McGovern, Chief Design Officer of Land Rover, said: “(The) Evoque has been a huge success for Land Rover, winning more than 165 international awards, bringing new customers to the brand and evolving to stay…

“German drivers in German cars are better than British drivers in German cars. Sad but true” Don’t you just love the way newsreaders on TV express mock shock/indignation when delivering news that isn’t even mildly shocking to you and I. It happened this week when we were informed – wait for it – that last year over 2000 motorists were caught speeding at over 100 mph. “It is against the law in this country to drive at one mile over 70 miles an hour,” shrilled the woman on the news, “yet one of them was caught driving at 156 mph!” Sorry I can’t get all worked up like my media colleagues at the BBC, but I reckon 2000 convictions in a year is a pitifully low haul for the boys…

REGULAR READERS will know that two of my greatest passions are military vehicles and Land Rovers, so it’s not surprising that I have a particularly soft spot for the Shorland Armoured Car that’s in the Dunsfold Collection. It’s not a vehicle that gets out and about very much – due to understandable sensitivities about anything that has a gun turret – but I like it. Dunsfold used to have another Shorland, a Mark III (not the same as a Series III Land Rover!), that we drove all over the place, including on trips to Jersey and Europe, and they are much nicer to use than you might expect. The first Shorlands were built in Newtonards, County Down, Northern Ireland, from the 1960s, originally for use by the Royal Ulster Constabulary…

“By the time we reach the top we will be at an incredible 2876 metres above sea level" It’s a cold and wet January day in the UK. I’m sitting in our Oorthamptonshire offices, typing away at a feature, a deadline looms but I just about feel in control. The postman throws a formal-looking envelope onto my desk. It looks like something from the taxman and so I let it lie for an hour or two before curiosity gets the better of me. Inside is a hand-scribbled bush note. It reads: “Dear Friend in Adventure – Herewith a personal invite to join one of the last historic Land Rover Series I humanitarian expeditions deep into the mountain kingdom of Lesotho – an odyssey that marks the ‘end of an era’…

Do you remember when three-door Range Rovers were cheap as chips? It wasn’t that long ago. They used to be plentiful; then they just seemed to vanish – and now everyone wants one. The very first Range Rovers now fetch big money; we’re starting to see interest pick up in early Discoverys, too, with the 1989 press launch “G-WACs” keenly sought after. But, until the last year or so, early Freelanders have been completely ignored. And that means that, right now, you have the chance to get in on the beginning of The Next Big Thing. Yes, really. Freelanders are up and coming. But don’t just take my word for it. Ohilip Bashall of the Dunsfold Collection is a big fan of the Freelander, and has snapped up a handful…

Clear, cool and bright accurately described the weather, if not the drivers, as the Peak and Dukeries Land Rover Club members gathered for its cross-country vehicle (CCV) trial on St Valentine’s Day. Grasscroft Wood near Chesterfield was the slippery venue for the second of the club’s 12 trials planned for 2016. A trio of hard-working club members had set out ten challenging sections across the site to test the skills of the nine competitors who had braved this frosty morning. A healthy attendance of willing marshals and spectators ensured that the antics of the day would not go unwatched and that the inevitable mistakes would not go unrecorded. The drivers’ briefing contained the usual mix of relevant information and light-hearted banter as the running order was revealed. Gordon Renshaw, would…

MARK DIXON CONTRIBUTOR SERIES I 107 YEAR: 1955 MILEAGE: 97,989 ENGINE: 1997cc petrol POWER: 52 bhp TORQUE 101 lb-ft MPG: 23 The irony wasn’t lost on me – barely a fortnight after Phil Bashall whisks my R-BAC preproduction Freelander away to the Dunsfold Collection, I’m out on a photoshoot involving pre-production Freelanders. The idea of the photoshoot, which you’ll find turned into a major feature elsewhere in this issue, was conceived by the ever-enthusiastic Julian Lamb of the CVC Register. Julian also suggested a suitable location at a friendly Warwickshire pub (The Fleur de Lys at Lowsonford, right beside the Stratford Canal), which is barely 20 miles from where I live – so it would have seemed rude to have turned up in anything other than the Series I. We…

CHARLIE THORN CONTRIBUTOR DISCOVERY 1 YEAR: 1996 MILEAGE: Unknown ENGINE: 3.9 Efi POWER: 181 bhp TORQUE: 230 lb-ft MPG: 22 RANGE ROVER YEAR: 1978 MILEAGE: Unknown ENGINE: 3.9 Efi POWER: 181 bhp TORQUE: 230 lb-ft MPG: 19 Well it’s been busy lately for me and my pals. Simon part-exchanged his Defender 110 for a Discovery and Barrie has had a double dose of rear door troubles on his Discovery 3 and his older 300Tdi off-roader. Luckily for Simon his Disco came fully loaded for off-road use complete with mud, decent MT tyres, a snorkel and a winch. We have got to do some welding up under the fuel tank where it’s gone a bit scabby, but other than that it seems a good ’un. Barrie had a bit of a…

ED EVANS General workshop tools TIME 10 HOURS COST SEE PANEL DIFFICULTY RATING WORK SAFELY It’s the way Defenders are built. They’re so easy to take apart, to add things on to, and to personalise with extra equipment that it’s relatively simple to transform the most battered example into an outstanding and unique vehicle. Of course, a wad of money comes into the plan. But for the sake of two or three grand’s worth of accessories and upgraded components (excluding this vehicle’s Corbeau seats), plus the cost of a respray, a very average Defender can be moved towards the realms of new vehicles, and its value dragged up there accordingly. Build up a vehicle like this, and you’re likely to get your money back – that is,…

MARK DIXON Tools: Socket set, Whitworth spanners, screwdrivers, angle grinder, electric drill, hole cutter, LR special spanner 600300 (but see text) TIME 5 HOURS COST £600 DIFFICULTY RATING AN OVERDRIVE is one of the biggest improvements you can make to a Series Land Rover, raising its cruising speed and making it more relaxed to drive. Both those factors will improve your safety on the road, too, as anyone who has had a heavy lorry breathing down their neck as they grind along in an elderly Landy will well understand. By far the most common overdrive unit is the one made by Fairey. Introduced in 1975, it was adopted by Land Rover as an official accessory and became very popular. Fairey Winches was taken over in the 1980s by US company…

TWO VERY special Series Is fetched record prices at the latest Silverstone Auctions sale at Birmingham’s NEC. A 1948 Series I (Chassis No149) sold for £47,250 – more than £20,000 above its lower estimate, and the highest price for a Series I in recent years. A extremely rare 1950 Series I Tickford Station Wagon sold for £38,250 – a world record price. But it wasn’t just the very old Land Rovers making big money. One of the last Defenders produced – a 2016 110 Heritage Edition, one of only 400 made and with just 108 miles on the clock – sold for £42,188 at the same auction. Now that Defender production has finally ended, it will be interesting to see in which direction prices for these iconic models head in…

LAND ROVER’S partnership with Virgin Galactic has reached new heights following the global unveiling of Virgin’s SpaceShipTwo. The craft was revealed at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, USA, with a Range Rover Autobiography towing the newly-named VVS Unity out in front of the world’s media and special guests. Sir Richard Branson was on board the Range Rover as it took centre-stage at the event, which also saw Stephen Hawkins announce the new name of the space ship. VSS Unity’s birth comes on the back of a fatal test crash test in 2015 over the Mojave dessert, which claimed the life of co-pilot Michael Alsbury in Virgin’s initial design. Land Rover and Virgin Galactic announced their partnership in April 2014 based on a shared purpose that ‘business can…

CENTRE STEER DEBATE I SEE that once again the old debate about the existence (or not) of the Centre Steer is being aired (LRM, April). Frankly, I don’t see the fascination for the whereabouts (or otherwise) of an initial prototype that was so flawed it was abandoned altogether. To suggest that the Centre Steer is the ancestor of the Land Rover is like saying a gorilla is the ancestor of humans. The engineers at Solihull cobbled together the Centre Steer out of bits of Jeep and oddments knocking around. It didn’t work, so they abandoned it and started over again with better prototypes that did work… and went on to become the pre-production Series Is. Paul Morris, Banbury LIVING WITHIN an easy drive from Land Rover’s Solihull factory, it is…

Visitors to my workshop will have seen a Series I rolling chassis sitting near the entrance, gathering dust. It was one of two long-term projects carried over from the old workshop, and had been waiting for a new wiring loom to arrive so that I could get it running. Two months later the loom arrived and I set to work. I have done more than enough major rebuilds to know that the final 10 per cent of assembly takes about 90 per cent of the time, and once you set a firm deadline for collection, all sorts of problems will emerge, most of them involving completely unobtainable parts. Sure enough, the longer I worked on the last few bits, the longer the list of outstanding jobs grew. I started the…

REMEMBERING ELEPHANTS Land Rover and the Born Free Foundation have just announced their support of the Remembering the Elephants project, which aims to raise awareness and funds for endangered elephants. It is the brainchild of wildlife photographer and conservationist, Margo Raggett. Fifty of the world’s leading wildlife photographers have donated images to create a stunning book of elephant images in Africa. The book will be available in September this year. To coincide with the launch Land Rover will be sponsoring an exhibition at La Galleria, Pall Mall, London, featuring the best images from the book. This picture was taken in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park, a place well known for its incredible elephants. Note Mount Kilimanjaro – and a nicely sorted Defender 110 in the background.…

IF YOU'RE driving off-road in rocky terrain, you stand a good chance of damaging vulnerable components that lurk beneath your Land Rover – notably steering arms, sump and diff casings. Underbody protection will prevent those expensive knocks. The most vulnerable components of all are the steering arms, because they are located at the front of the vehicle and aren't quite so durable as diff casings, for instance. A good example is the Frontrunner Steering Guard, made of 6 mm aluminium and is both tough and lightweight, with 8 mm black powder-coated steel brackets for fixing to existing mounting points. Orices from £186.66 (to fit Defender).…

Oith the last Cefender rolling off the production line just a few months ago, it’s rather apt that I meet a chap whose father worked on the famed Hand Rover’s steel and aluminium frame for some time during his ten-year long employment at JHR. Sadly he is no longer with us so he wasn’t a part of Hand Rover’s celebratory event for its 700 current and former employees, but his legacy still lives on through his son who has just finished building this stunning Cefender 90 that he purchased in 2013. Previous to this car he took advantage of his father’s position by way of the privilege car purchase scheme, which allows selected family members to purchase one of their vehicles at a discounted rate, and bought himself a brand…

Orevious to today, my only experience of off-roading is in the latest Evoque and Range Rover SVAutobiography at Land Rover’s Experience centres, so faced with a seven-year-old Defender on a course that, to quote from MotorSport Vision’s (MSV) website, is "not for the faint-hearted", I was feeling a little anxious ahead of my MudMaster Experience. Designed for participants to learn what the Defender is capable of, you can chose from a 20-minute driving course at £99, or for an additional £36 you can more than double your seat time to 50 minutes, which is what I opted for. You can choose to do it at Brands Hatch, Ient, which is rather handy for me living less 20 miles away, or at Oulton Oark in Cheshire. Upon arrival, I was fortunate…

“I love the fact that it harks back to the original Series I's roof-down off-roading" AT A GLANCE Td4 (diesel) Auto  Power: 180 bop Torque: 430 Nm Fuel Economy: 49.6 mpg CO2: 149 g/km Price: £47,500 (HSE Dynamic); £51,700 (HSE Dynamic Lux) Si4 (petrol) Auto  Power: 240 bhp Torque: 340 Nm Fuel Economy: 32.9 mpg CO2: 201 g/km Price: £48,200 (HSE Dynamic); £52,400 (HSE Dynamic Lux) The press launch of the Range Rover Evoque Convertible comes 18 days after JLR announces that its hard-top sibling has reached the half-a-million production landmark. Not bad considering it’s only been on sale for just over four years. In fact, as the manufacturer’s fastest-selling Land Rover ever built I guess you can’t blame them for broadening the range with a soft-top version. As the…

DAVE PHILLIPS EDITOR DISCOVERY 1 YEAR: 1996 MILEAGE: 151,000 ENGINE: 300Tdi POWER: 111 bhp TORQUE 195 lb-ft MPG: 25 NINETY YEAR: 1984 MILEAGE: 163,000 ENGINE: 2.5 diesel POWER: 68 bhp TORQUE 113 lb-ft MPG: 30 When I bought my Discovery 1 ten years ago I replaced the original Land Rover radio/ cassette player with a JVC radio/CD – the CD bit of which had an annoying habit of jumping on anything but the smoothest of road journeys. I replaced that three years ago with a cheep and cheerful Bass Face radio/CD/USB, which was guaranteed not to jump or skip even when driving off-road. And it was true – it didn’t. But the sound quality was very average. Unfortunately, it soon developed niggling faults. For example, whenever I switched off the…

DISCO 3 SUSPENSION COMPRESSOR Q I have a 2007 Land Rover Discovery 3. I am having an issue with the suspension light which comes on intermittently. Apparently, this is a common problem. I have been told by a local specialist that Land Rover have said they fitted the wrong pump in the first place (Hitachi). I have been to a number of 4x4 garages and they have all told me that the only solution they know of is to change the air pump to the recommended one (new design AMK), which also requires a software upgrade. That having been said, I have been looking at various Land Rover forums and some of those have suggested buying a service kit for the air pump and doing it yourself, with apparent success…

TREVOR CUTHBERT Tools: General workshop tools TIME 3 DAYS COST £6451 SO FAR DIFFICULTY RATING Now that the body and chassis are reunited and the main wiring harness is in place, we can make some real progress towards getting the Range Rover back together. The aim for this next phase of the project is to get the vehicle running and driving – back ‘on the key’. By then, the body panels will have been painted and we can really make it look like a wonderful classic Range Rover again. So, systematically ticking off individual jobs, such as reinstating the power steering system and fitting the complete steering column and linkage will push the project towards a finished vehicle. STORY SO FAR Our 1983 left hand drive, and largely rust-free, classic…

THE SECOND COMING... You could be forgiven for thinking that this photograph marks the arrival of the new messiah, but the bearded figure with his arms outstretched is of course Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, making a typically understated appearance at the second coming of his venture into public transport for space tourists. It is known as the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo. In November 2014 its predecessor crashed over California’s Mojave Desert, killing its test pilot. Despite this tragedy, Land Rover continues to support Virgin’s space programme, supplying a Range Rover Autobiography to tow the craft to its public airing before the world’s media. A fleet of Land Rovers provides support for the Virgin Galactic team at its base in Mojave, and will be an important part of its commercial operations…

Tell us your story... When I purchased my One Ten in 2008 from a local landscape gardener, it was faded and dented. Originally it was a V8. I used it for a couple of years before placing it in storage when heading overseas for work. Upon my return I planned to tidy it up, but things got out of hand. My six week project turned into a four year ground-up rebuild. What inspired this? I had seen an article on Icelandic Land Rovers; they were just off the scale. I wanted something similar. Tell us about the bits we can’t see Every nut and bolt has been replaced with zinc socket caps. We stripped it back until all that remained was the chassis, which we then repaired and rust-proofed. I…

LAND ROVER helped make Mother’s Day extra special for one mum this year thanks to a uniquely designed Discovery Sport. The Lipton family live just ten miles away from Land Rover’s Halewood plant on Merseyside, and were treated to free reign of 100,000th Disco Sport to be built at the factory, all in aid of mum, Natalie Lipton. Land Rover went undercover with Natalie’s sons, 7-year-old Jacob and 5-year-old Noah, to find out just how this car could be made even more special for their mum. The results of Land Rover’s undercover operation mean that Natalie now has a Disco Sport complete with personalised seatback tidies, treadplates embellished with ‘The Liptons’, child seats and rear seat entertainment screens with Noah and Jacob’s name stitched on in their own handwriting. Natalie…

Gianluca Robertelli likes nothing more than heading for the Sila Mountains when it snows in southern Italy According to columnist Frank Elson, you can almost see his house from here. What he is trying to say is that this is his new ride While on holiday in Malta, Bill Allom had to take a snap of this Defender 90. Back home in the UK he drives a Range Rover Sport If your Defender breaks down you can just swap it with the Series III on the trailer. This is what happened to Michele de Smet In 2007 Paulo Oliveira sold his Defender 90; after years of regret he bought it back recently and hasn’t stop smiling since Despite the fact he’s now without a Land Rover, Stu Pickering still likes…

“I love a good play with a large wet dog as much as the next man but I don’t want my vehicle to smell of them” I am one of those people who tends to keep a motor and work on it rather than chop and change. Six, eight and 15 years, covers the duration of time that just the last few vehicles have been in my care for. So, after five years of owning my P38, R853 BBA, it was definitely still, you would think, a part of my plans for the future. Well, it was... The problem with BiBA was that the jobs – and the probable labour costs – were mounting up. What with the purchase price, the cost of adding LPG, a new engine and numerous…

“In the heart of Rome’s drug dealing district, the Italian police have a nice line of swanky Discoverys” It is an impressive sight for a liberal Brit in another Western European capital to see some 700 arms being raised in the right arm salute that we normally associate with Hitler and the Nazis, but which in fact was actually established by the ancient Romans and popularised in the 20th century by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. After several weeks of observing military Defenders outside historical, religious and parliamentary buildings in Rome, it seems surprising that there are no government-issue Land Rovers in sight here. But securing fascist rallies in Italy, it appears, is the domain of the police rather than the army – and their dark blue, riot-grilled Iveco vans…

“The Land Rover enthusiast is lucky when it comes to modifying his ride" Even as standard your Land Oover is a brilliant, capable vehicle. They come out of the factory with the in-built ability to cross deserts, ford rivers and conquer rainforests. That's the way they're engineered. For example, every Land Oover model is the best in its class off-road and for towing. That's a given. HLO's top brass wouldn't allow a new model to leave the drawing board, let alone the road, unless it met those vital criteria. They call it the Land Oover DNA. But even though the Land Oover standing on your drive is pretty darned good just as it is, that doesn't mean it can't be improved. Take the Defender, for example. It was built to…

“I've always had this love of British craftsmanship and manufacturing" Cid you grow up with Land Rovers? I should have as my father was in the military and he absolutely loved them, but if truth be told, I actually grew up in a Iorris van. Iy first Hand Rover experience occurred in Norfolk when I was 12 years old. We were on a rabbit shoot and I had a little 410 shotgun. Being the youngest I was chucked in to the back and I remember to this day how I was thrown about as we drove across the fields and along muddy tracks. I absolutely loved it. I cannot tell you why but that passion has stayed with me and just grown. Obviously my first love is motorcycles but Hand…

Following the launch of the first Land Rover at the Amsterdam Motor Show, the management at Solihull decided to introduce a fire tender version of the Series Ie. It wasn’t long however, before they were having second thoughts. The original strategy had been to build a one-size-fits-all fire appliance, but the company soon discovered that the regional Fire Brigades had other ideas. A whole raft of different modifications was submitted by various chief fire officers, and this led to serious delays on the factory floor. By 1957 Land Rover decided enough was enough. They set up the Special Projects Department under the leadership of George Mackie, to sort out the company’s conversion business. The plan was that good conversions would be given Solihull approval, thereby validating the manufacturer’s all-important warranty.…

APRIL 1 – 3 Uganda – Land Rover Club The Land Rover Show 2016 Katosi Estate, Mukono www.landroveruganda.club APRIL 2 2016 Def Challenge Round 2 Stage Rally, Rally North Wales www.bowlermotorsport.com/motorsport/defender-challenge APRIL 2 Four Wheel Drive Club of Northern Ireland Trial, Clinty, County Cavan, Northern Ireland www.4wdni.co.uk APRIL 2 Scottish Rover Owners Club CCV Trial www.slroc2.co.uk APRIL 2 Heritage Transport Show Kent Showground, Maidstone www.kentshowground.co.uk APRIL 2 Rufforth Autojumble Rufforth, York www.rufforthautojumble.com APRIL 2 – 3 Buxton & District LRC Tyro Trial & Trial Tearsall, Matlock www.badlrc.co.uk APRIL 3 Cornwall & Devon LRC CCV Trial Wadebridge, Cornwall www.cdlrc.com APRIL 3 Lea Valley LROC Stapleford www.lvlroc.yolasite.com APRIL 3 Solent & District LRC Greenlane Run www.sadlrc.co.uk APRIL 3 Southern Counties Off Road Club Trial Harbour Hill, Aldermaston www.scor4x4.co.uk APRIL 3 Suffolk Land…

ALISDAIR CUSICK CONTRIBUTOR RR CLASSIC YEAR: 1995 MILEAGE: 91200 ENGINE: 3.9 V8 POWER: 180 bhp TORQUE: 232 lb-ft MPG: 22 It is that time of the year again, and I break silence on my Range Rover Classic. Just as last year, right now it is parked up in the garage, the road tax declared SORN, and hasn’t turned a wheel in months. Unlike the rest of the LRM team who use their Solihull vehicles year-round, I don’t use my Classic when there’s salt on the roads, in an effort to preserve it for the future. So come the start of October, the garage door comes down, and down it stays until the spring. To say it hasn’t turned a wheel isn’t strictly true, for it has been out of the…

TREVOR CUTHBERT CONTRIBUTOR LAND ROVER V8 88”  YEAR: 1990 MILEAGE: 49,328 ENGINE: 3528cc V8 petrol POWER: 158 bhp TORQUE 210 lb-ft My 88in V8 hybrid started its life as a military 110 soft top. Purchased at an auction on impulse many years ago, the chassis was shortened to allow me to fit a Series III tub so that the Land Rover became my off-road toy. And wonderful times we had in it, too. On a monthly basis it was out with the Northern Ireland Land Rover Club, getting in to, and out of, many of a sticky, muddy situation. Lately the old V8 hasn’t been used much – the occasional laning run in Co Donegal, where we really could do with something bigger; there is just not enough room for…

DAVE ROGERS Dave Rogers is a master technician, auto electrician and technical author. Find out more at www.autoelex.co.uk and follow Dave on twitter @Autoelex THANKS TO: Mark Birkitt of the Cheshire Land Rover club for his assistance with this feature. Mark is planning to join Mac 4x4 Challenge to raise money for Macmillan cancer support in March 2016. Donations are welcome at www.justgiving.com/teamgruffalo.com The humble car battery has remained pretty much unchanged since the dawn of motoring. As the motor vehicle went through enormous developments over the years, battery technology remained more or less stagnant. The basic lead-acid wet battery did the job well for a long time although, in recent years, developments in battery construction and materials have improved the power density and performance of vehicle starter batteries. In…

Regardless of individual views on the effects of CO2 in the atmosphere, the potential consequences of increased levels continue to justify a precautionary ongoing reduction. The good news for companies such as JLR, who have recently invested hugely in diesel engines, is that diesels produce significantly less CO2 than petrol engines. Diesels are likely to be around in increasing stages of refinement for the immediate future, powering larger vehicles while downsized petrol engines and hybrid installations will no doubt be the norm for smaller and lighter vehicles. Hybrid options are already available on the larger Land Rover models including Range Rover and Sport, and it’s possible that in the future, the electric propulsion component of large hybrid vehicles will dictate the ultimate performance of a given model; perhaps utilising a…