Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2018 i Land Rover Monthly

ON THE Monday after the Billing and Kelmarsh shows my inbox contained several emails from people who had been victims of theft at the shows. The police force had a stand at Billing, yet still the thieving bastards struck. And Tom and his incredible team from Live Promotions went beyond the call of duty to prevent similar incidents at Kelmarsh. They even had a special secure parking area for Defenders. Despite all of this, our friends from Duckworth Land Rover were relieved of £7000-worth of bits from their trade stand on the Saturday night. There goes their profit for the weekend. Will we see them at future shows? They would be poorer events without them. Happily, not all the attempts at theft at Kelmarsh were successful. See our happy ending…

LAND ROVER and Terry Grant have smashed the Guinness World Record for the fastest mile in a car on two wheels at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. The 2:24.5 run was set in a 575 bhp Range Rover Sport SVR that topped 60 mph – an improvement of over 30 seconds on the old record, set by Terry Grant himself in 2011. Land Rover’s Goodwood Festival of Speed presence also included the largest single batch of cars to ever take on the hill, as historic and important Land Rovers celebrated the brand’s 70th anniversary.…

Diagnosing engine rattles ONE OF the advantages of being a specialist is that you get to know the common faults and quirks of the vehicles in which you choose to specialise. This saves a huge amount of time in diagnosing faults and in many cases I can be reasonably sure I know what is wrong with the vehicle before the customer has got halfway through describing the symptoms over the telephone. Only yesterday I had a good example of this when a Defender 90 turned up on the back of a recovery truck. The owner had noticed what he described as a rattling, squealing and vibration which rapidly got worse. He was absolutely convinced that the transfer box had disintegrated internally and rang me to ask whether I had any…

Tarting up Defenders has become a pretty big business. Just ask Charlie Fawcett of Twisted in Yorkshire or Simon Dearn of Urban Automotive in Milton Keynes. These chaps count royalty, actors and football premiership stars among their clients. The formula is pretty simple. Buy a good, newish Defender and give it a makeover. Improve engine performance, fit suspension upgrades, retrim the interior and give it a paint job. In fact, you can just about replace or improve anything on a Defender. Finally, charge more than the price of a new big-body Range Rover for your creation, and job done. Yes I know, it is a little more complicated than that, or is it? Even Jaguar Land Rover jumped on this tarting up of Defenders bandwagon a little while ago with…

AS MORE OF us dream of venturing further afield in our Land Rovers we try to improve their storage capacity and capability for our adventures off the beaten track. The trouble is, not all of us have the time or ability to carry out that work ourselves. Thankfully there are now several bespoke vehicle conversion specialists who can offer professional advice, skills and solutions to help us build our dream touring Land Rover. One of them is the family-run Pathfinders company, nestled away in the rolling countryside of north-west Ireland. The Kearns family are all serious Land Rover enthusiasts making a name for themselves in the niche conversion market. Elliot, the eldest of three brothers, heads up the Pathfinders operation. He’s helped by his father, Seamus, as well as his…

“WHICH WAY are you going to Cooma?” Alex Massey squawked from under the bonnet of a 1949 Land Rover he was inspecting for me. His question was in relation to the Australian Land Rover anniversary event that’s been held every decade at Cooma since its inception in 1988 for the vehicle’s 40th birthday bash. That first event was an inspiration to me at 14 years old but sadly I couldn’t attend as my parents had other plans for me. But when it came to the 50th and 60th anniversaries in 1998 and 2008 respectively, I was old enough to do what I wanted and I was in the fortunate position to own a variety of early Series I Land Rovers –all I had to do was pick one. Despite the…

This trip was run by Driven to Extremes and organised and led by the team from Max Adventures. Driven to Extremes is an organisation that supports the recovery of military veterans suffering from PTSD, by taking them on exciting vehicle adventures, first as entrants and support crew, and then ultimately in a leadership role. Thanks to Mac Mackenney, the man behind Driven to Extremes,a for making this trip happen. For more information about the organisation and its other adventure tours go to driventoextremes.org.…

MOROCCO IS the closest faraway place to the UK. Drive off the ferry into North Africa and you know you have left Europe behind as you’re greeted by towering mountain ranges, desert plains and vast open vistas. Our Morocco East camping experience is one of the most stunning and friendly trips we run, so if you have never visited this colourful country before you are in for some excellent off-roading opportunities. And you’re off We’re here from the rendezvous point in Algeciras until we return to Spain. Your first track starts 5 km from the port of Tangiers, as we head over to Chefchaouen, the famous blue city tucked away in the Rif Mountains. From there we head through villages lost in time, and then on to Cedar Forest, where…

AUGUST 27 SKILLS TRAINING DAY UK Landrover Events are running a Skills Training Day at the North Yorkshire Off Road Centre on Monday August 27. Using your own Land Rover as part of a small group you’ll learn the techniques required to allow you to drive safely and effectively on a variety of off-road terrain and obstacles. The training centre is perfectly equipped to help you develop your skills, and their vehicle will be demonstrating each obstacle before you start. There will be instructors on hand to guide you within a small group and there’ll be time for up to two drivers per vehicle to learn how to tackle the various terrain. Details and costs can be found on the company’s website. uklandroverevents.com…

IT WAS only a few months ago on these very same pages that I was waxing lyrical about how great my Defender was. Now it’s a completely different story. Not a month goes by without me spending a pound or two to keep Green Mamba on the road. It’s not all doom and gloom though as not having a Defender to run means my bicycle and canoe are seeing a fair bit of action. The extra exercise is good for me too, as we are in the middle of BBQ season, that wonderful time of the year when beer and meat dominate diets. I can paddle upstream or downstream from where I live in Turvey towards Newton Blossomville or Sharnbrook on the River Ouse. Last weekend I took the family…

AFTER TWO years of applying myself to my Series III rebuild whenever I had spare time, which wasn’t often, the old bus is now almost on the road. It’s an odd build: I’ve fitted a new galvanised chassis, rebuilt the engine and the gearbox, the bulkhead has been restored, and then I’ve fitted the original battered body in its original condition. The plan has been to preserve my favourite old Land Rover from a visual aspect, but to ensure that everything underneath the body is good for the next 40 years – in fact, probably much more because the vehicle is in for an easier life. Its days of getting rolled over in trials events and hauling heavy boats around are now long gone. One of the last jobs was…

How an automatic gearbox works THE PICTURE above shows a generic cutaway view of a ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox. It’s not necessarily the exact layout in the eight-speed Range Rover and Discovery models, but it illustrates the basic internal components that also apply to the six- and four-speed ZF, and other Land Rover auto boxes. It’s obviously a complex piece of engineering, but we can simplify it down a bit. To better understand the illustration, the torque converter, the epicyclic gears and the mainshaft running though the centre, are all as we would see them with the casing cut away. For clarity though, the multiple clutch discs are cut away in the image, so you have to imagine that these clutch discs are actually fully circular discs running concentrically around…

THE FREELANDER 2 is credited as being the most reliable Land Rover ever made, but they do have a few small niggling problems. One which the Freelander 2 has suffered with right from its launch has been more of a cosmetic issue, concerning the finisher shield water splash strips. These are the filler strips that fit on the inner edge of the wheel arches and fill the gap between the metal outer arch and the plastic inner wheel arch; the idea being that the water splash strip will stop water and mud from going up between the two sections. The problem is these plastic strips have a metal spring clip running inside them, that holds the strips into place onto the arch. But water and dirt gets inside the plastic…

WELL-KNOWN EXPLORERS and Land Rover ambassadors Kingsley and Ross Holgate are to embark on their next world-first humanitarian and geographic expedition on Mandela Day, July 18. The Cape Town to Kathmandu Expedition will travel through Southern Africa to the edge of the European world and then through ancient Asia to the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal in two new Discoverys. Covering 19 countries and 17,000 kilometres, including 5000 metre mountain passes and 15 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the vehicles will take in some of the world’s most iconic sights. Kingsley Holgate said: “It will be the first time that Discoverys undertake a transcontinental journey through Africa, the South Caucasus region, Central and Southern Asia. “We will be using our two specially-kitted expedition Discovery models that recently completed a world-first journey to…

1 The lesser spotted Freelander 2 in Botswana’s Chobe National Park. Picture snapped by Andy Hedley. 2 Andy Lea feeling on top of the world while laning in Cumbria. 3 Lech Krugielka was the only one brave enough to climb out of the family Range Rover during what was apparently a freezing cold holiday in Scotland. 4 The only optional extra that Graham Franks has added to Goldy the Disco is the icicle beard. 5 Grandad Darren Snow from Brighton showing off his Defender 90 G4 alongside grandson Roman Ward’s Defender 110. 6 How did Paul Slogrove get his bride Swantje to the church on time? He used his Defender 110, of course. 7 Tim Moser is so excited about the impending winter he sent us an old snow picture…

TENT FOR THREE PRICE: £240 CONTACT: terra-nova.co.uk The quick-to-pitch Wild Country Helm 3 is the perfect tent for a summer show or festival. It is lightweight, can comfortably house three people, and best of all it has two porches so you can safely store your gear outside the inner. GRINDER STAND PRICE: £39.54 CONTACT: sealey.co.uk Need a stand for your Angle Grinder? Sealey have the solution with this bench-mountable offering. The cut-off stand has a solid cast-iron base which will help you achieve precise vertical cutting. Includes vice and suitable for cuts up to 18 mm. Can be used with 100 mm, 115 mm and 125 mm angle grinders. REDBOURNE WHEELS PRICE: FROM £429 CONTACT: http://xs4x4.parts Xtreme Sales have just announced that they will be selling the…

THIS YEAR’S heatwave has turned the legendary Billing off-road course into a passable impersonation of an arid African plain as photographer Craig Dutton and LRM editor Pat take up position by a hairpin bend, which they reckon is the best place to capture the perfect action shot. They’re here to see a very rare wild beast and the gathering dust storm billowing up in the distance means it’s closing in on them – fast! Suddenly the Bad Cat they’re after roars into view, about 100 yards away, sliding wildly as it rounds a gravelly bend, scrabbling for grip and peppering the trunks of the nearby poplar trees with loose gravel. Now it’s coming at them in a blur as it hits the hairpin at high speed, powering round the 30…

WHEN DEDICATED Land Rover enthusiasts James and Sam Boston decided to get married, it was inevitable there would be a green oval theme to the proceedings. After all, they had fallen in love during an off-road trial and had shared their lives with Solihull’s finest ever since. It was also a family tradition. James’ parents, Jonathan and Vivien, were married in September 1973 at Horsham St Faith, Norwich, and they drove from the church in a Series I 107 pick-up. “The Series I was Dad’s pride and joy,” says James, 42. “He was a vicar and Mum had been a member of the congregation. They fell in love and got married and, of course, the Series I was their wedding car. It was part of the family and, when I…

IF YOU ever need proof that Jaguar Land Rover are serious about their heritage then book a tour of their multimillion pound Classic Works facility in Coventry. LRM were honoured to be invited to the first-ever Land Rover club meet to be held at the impressive 14,000 sq m state-of-the-art facility, and we were not alone. There were three clubs in attendance on the day: the Defender 50th Owners Club, the Series II Club and the Range Rover Register. For most this was their first visit to the facility and word on the street is that this will become a regular occurrence for Land Rover clubs. According to Tony O’Keeffe of Classic Works, the reason for the gathering is pretty straightforward: “The idea is to bring clubs together so that…

HILL RALLIES have always been the pinnacle of cross-country motorsport, and like all disciplines in this arena, the vehicles taking part have changed a lot since the first hill rally in 1971. Back then most were almost standard road-legal 4x4s, and the results were dominated by Land Rovers with the then new Range Rover, which at the time was an revolutionary vehicle with coil-sprung suspension and a V8. As have the 4x4s taking part, so too have the hill rallies changed. Sadly, recent hill rallies have lost the multi-venue stages run over wide-open countryside and changed to a single venue event mostly using forest tracks. The vehicles are now purpose-built cross-country motors, with high-revving engines needing computer downloads and tuning between stages, with race-proven suspension. But there are still a…

THE PENNINES monthly trial, set by clerk of the course Mark Barnes, saw competitors heading to Haggate Quarry near Burnley. As expected it was Tim Dilworth and Dave Billings who were in contention for top honours, and it’s a battle that started 17 years ago when they first raced against one other in comp safaris – competition is everything to this pair. Dilworth was determined to beat Billings, after disaster on the last section of the previous trial cost him the win. A betting man on the previous rounds would have put money on Billings or another regular competitor, Phil Rigg, for the win. But this is Pennine Land Rover Club and things don’t always go as you would predict. The club try to make everything as fair as possible…

AUGUST 20 – 26 • Discovery Owners Club, Caravan Rally Weymouth, Dorset discoveryownersclub.org AUGUST 22 – 26 • France – 17th Foire du Tout Terrain, Off-Road Show Valloire, France jacques-besse-organisation.com • Germany – Deutscher Land Rover Club, 70th Jahre Land Rover Albersdorf, Germany dlrc.org AUGUST 23 – 27 • Wye & Welsh LRC, Baskerville Challenge, RTV/CCV/Tyro/ Timed Trial Baskerville Hall, Hay-on-Wye wwlrc.co.uk AUGUST 24 – 27 • North Wales Land Rover Club, Interclub RTV/CCV/Tyro Trial Brynteg, Llanfair nwlrc.co.uk AUGUST 25 – 27 • Leafers At T’ Pit, Series Land Rover Gathering National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield leafersatpit.org.uk facebook.com/groups/327452591096258/ • Australia – Land Rover Owners Club of Brisbane Kingaroy Baconfest, Queensland lrocbrisbane.org.au • Ireland - Club Land Rover Ireland, 2nd Annual CLRI Charity Challenge Tinahely, Co. Wicklow clri.net, facebook.com/landroverireland • Mudmunchers 4x4,…

SEPTEMBER 14 – 16 THE MAJORS TRIAL Regarded by many as the premier Land Rover CCV trial of the year, The Majors Memorial CCV Team Trial run by the Midland Rover Owners Club, takes place over the weekend of September 14 - 15 at the Eastnor Castle Deer Park near Ledbury. The Majors Trial, which is a competition to test the driving skills of the best CCV drivers in the country and not recommended for the inexperienced, is run over both Saturday and Sunday with up to 20 trials sections for the teams to compete for the Majors Rose Bowl Trophy. Full details and how to enter The Majors Trial can be found on the Midland ROC website. mroc.co.uk…

IT’S BEEN a while since I last updated readers on the Freelander and, in the interim, it’s kept me busy, the garage busy and my bank account depleted. On buying AF05 at 85,000 miles with full Land Rover service history, I had checked with the main agent who’d cared for the car about any major work done; there was none except for routine services, so I was fully expecting the clutch to give out at some point. In fact, I’d had an issue with the clutch pedal already, with it (very rarely) getting stuck to the floor. Lifting it back up with my toe resolved this, and it happened perhaps three times in 20,000 miles. When the clutch plates themselves decided they’d had enough, the car simply became very much…

AS OUR Land Rovers age, so our knowledge and experience of them increases and maintenance requirements evolve. We’ve seen this on the older Land Rovers, but it’s happening more quickly with recent models around ten to 15 years old. These are too old to be sold by a Land Rover dealership, and are rarely seen by dealerships for repair and servicing. For younger vehicles, Land Rover is still monitoring problems, producing solutions and modifying maintenance and servicing procedures. But there comes a point in time when only us enthusiast owners and the good independent Land Rover specialists gain ongoing knowledge of the problems that affect Land Rovers older than ten years. My own 12-year-old Range Rover Sport has needed work that isn’t covered in the Land Rover documentation. One involved…

DULL PAINTWORK has its fans in our world of Land Rovers, but slippery, smooth and shiny paintwork helps repel dirt and ultimately corrosion. Getting through to that shine requires plenty of elbow grease unless you choose the best method – with a polisher. With the help of the correct polishing compounds, seemingly lost, tired paintwork can be rejuvenated and still retain a wonderful patina. Older Land Rovers will have been originally painted using cellulose paint. Subsequent resprays or even handrollered paint might have used more resilient paints such as enamels or two-pack. Knowing the type of applied paint before you begin is important because polishers can cut through decades of oxidised layers in seconds but also tear through clear lacquer coats, creating unnecessary repairs. The way to test is to…

Tell us a little about yourself . . . I am married to Richard – who is not a Land Rover fan – and we have an 11-year-old boy called Roman who, just like me, absolutely adores Land Rovers. How did you find Parker, your Series III project? It was actually Richard who found Parker. A chap by the name of Nigel, who is one of his clients, used to own Parker. They were always talking about him and one day Nigel asked Richard if he was interested in Land Rovers. Richard said no – but told Nigel that he was married to someone who most certainly was! How did it go from there? When Nigel decided to sell Parker he asked Richard if I’d be interested in buying it.…

THIS YEAR’S Classic and Supercars Show at Sherborne Castle saw a celebration of 70 years of Land Rover, and fans of the green oval were in for a treat with the main display marquee dedicated to the car maker. Taking pride of place was the 1953 Royal Ceremonial Land Rover as used by her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip during the 1950s and 60s, joined by 20 other special vehicles loaned by museums (including early prototypes) and more than 30 private vehicles. Visitors also enjoyed a wonderful parade of vehicles spanning from 1948 to 2018 in various guises with commentary from Land Rover enthusiast Richard Beddall of the famed Dunsfold Land Rover collection. With some 42 car clubs in attendance, and hundreds of private classic and sports cars, supercars…

Our 107 truck cab Thank you to Dave Barker for being so complimentary about the restoration of our Series I 107 truck cab that he saw at Bolton Abbey Station (LRM, September). But I can’t accept all the responsibility for the restoration as Matt Plowman is co-owner and led the restoration – I was just the apprentice! Also, as we are using it ourselves, it unfortunately means that Dave won’t be able to take it home any time soon. David Leach (via iPad) Is this the future? I concur with the views of LRM readers, regarding future Defender platforms. The main consideration must be size. If the United States market is the priority, then the Defender must be “US-sized” – in other words, too big for European roads. It seems…

• Built on a 1994 Discovery ES • Originally designed for Gumball Rally • Combines on-road comfort with extreme capability • Ideal for off-road rally or comp safari ENGINE 4.2-litre V8 Jaguar supercharged petrol engine, Pectel Engine Management producing 500 bhp (capable of further tune to 600 bhp), with recent factory re-program, ancillaries include twin WRC fans on circuit breakers with separate cooling system, new Bosch 044 racing fuel pump with Aeroquip lines and racing filter, ducted cold air K&N air filter in bespoke aluminium plenum, Glyn Lewis propshafts with long slip joints, custom stainless steel exhaust system. TRANSMISSION ZF auto uprated gearbox complete with override manual option via electronic button change on steering wheel, with upgraded shifts and transfer box, front and rear axles fitted with electronic KAM limited-slip…

MOST OF us dream of quitting the rat race in search of freedom, individualism and minimalism, but sadly the reality of maintaining mortgages, relationships and other life responsibilities stop us. For 26-year-old Matt Cobb however, he was in the fortunate position to do something about his hectic and expensive lifestyle in Shoreditch, London, and with a laptop, a 40 GB 4G data contract and a DIY Land Rover camper he made life on the road work for him. First off, I’m intrigued as to what Matt does to enable him to lead this lifestyle. “I’m Lead UI/UX Designer for a company that I co-founded called Reedsy, which helps authors to publish their books. It all began four years ago while I was studying architecture at university, which is obviously a…

AT LAST year’s Adventure Overland Show in Stratford-upon-Avon, a familiar face popped a leaflet through our window on arrival. We hadn’t seen adventurer Mac MacKenney for quite a few years, and he was promoting his Saxa Vord 2018 charity rally. Around a campfire and a bottle of sloe gin, the interest was piqued, and within a few weeks, we had signed up. Fundraising and vehicle and kit prep began immediately, because although we use our Defender 90 for vehicle adventures and camping, we would be covering more than 2000 miles in two weeks and camping at different sites most nights, so the gear had to be lightweight and efficient, and the vehicle ready for all eventualities. Day one saw us set off for Scotland from North Yorkshire and when we…

How do you celebrate 70 years of Land Rover at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS)? Simple. You slowly drive a convoy of 70 specially selected Land Rovers up the famous Goodwood hill. It’s a hill that’s more accustomed to F1 legends racing up it, but it was overrun by 70 Land Rovers on the Friday afternoon of the FOS. It was the largest parade of vehicles ever to take on the hill, and one of those occasions that will live long in the memory of any serious Land Rover fan. Roger Crathorne (aka Mr Land Rover) was given the almost impossible task of selecting the 70 Land Rovers that best represented seven decades of production. At the front of the parade was a replica Centre Steer and HUE 166,…

In 2017 Pennine Land Rover Club marked its 50th anniversary, making the club one of the oldest in the UK. It was also once one of the largest Land Rover clubs in the country. Today, the club runs a competitive event at least every month, some are two-day events, and with both RTC and CCV vehicles welcome, they attract a big number of competitors. Trials are mostly in and around the Lancashire Pennines with some events crossing into Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Pennine LRC events are run under the MSA rules and the club welcomes members from other MSA and ALRC clubs who wish to come and drive at their trials. The club also indulge in a random variety of club nights over the year. The club has an up-to-date website…

AUGUST 25 – 27 LEAFERS AT T’ PIT Organised by members of the Seriously Series Land Rover Forum, Leafers At T’ Pit is a gathering of Series Land Rovers at the National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield. Taking place over the bank holiday weekend August 25 - 27. To display your leaf-sprung Land Rover simply turn up on the day and pay at the gate, all models are welcome. For further details and to book an autojumble stand or camping check the Leafers At T’ Pit website. leafersatpit.org.uk…

THE SILENCE of the byway through the wood is so profound that the gentle chatter of the Disco’s 300Tdi engine on tickover sounds much too loud as I slowly ease off the track to park up. Another heatwave day is forecast but here now, at sunrise, it is pleasantly comfortable as I quietly close the driver’s door and tiptoe towards a gap in the trees. Behind that gap is a broad, grassy ride through the wood. I’m keeping noise to a minimum because I’m hoping to see the wood’s resident wild deer. They feel secure out in the open early in the morning, only retiring to the safety of the undergrowth later, when the silence is broken by the arrival of humans. Early-risers like me are rare, thankfully. I say…

MY CLASSIC Range Rover has gone to a new home – and a local one at that. Even though I had enquiries and questions from every corner of the British Isles, the ol’ girl lives about an hour away with my friend, Ian Smith. In Ian’s hands the Range Rover has covered more miles in the last few weeks than it had in the last few years. With the arrival – and hopefully imminent registration for the road – of my Defender 2.8i 90 Station Wagon from South Africa, I decided to rest my Discovery 2 for a while and have it parked up in the barn and declared SORN. The D2 won’t be for sale anytime soon and I will probably bring it out again before the winter –…

BACK WHEN my V8 One Ten had been cut down to an 88-inch wheelbase, the mismatch of body panels (modern camouflage colour scheme on the wings, bonnet, bulkhead and doors, plus a blue Series III body tub and a Limestone roof) had all been brush-painted with NATO green paint. And this was fine for a rough and ready off-road Land Rover that would deal with some particularly arduous locations and situations. When planning this current conversion back to One Ten configuration, I initially considered another brush coat of NATO green because the truck would still be used for some off-road driving, especially greenlaning, so an expensive high-end paint job was never on my radar. However, with perfect timing, a friend introduced me to Ian Hendry, a professional vehicle painter who…

OUR SIX-SPEED Range Rover Sport is about to have its automatic gearbox internally cleaned and refilled with fresh fluid by Tektronic, the transmission and 4x4 specialists in Stirling. An advanced Brainbee 8200 gearbox cleaning and filling machine is being used to completely clean the internal components of the gearbox, thoroughly flush out the cleansing treatment and old oil, and finally refill the system with the correct amount and specification of new automatic transmission fluid. A particular advantage of the BrainBee is its ability to ensure no cross-contamination of old and new fluids as they are being exchanged, ensuring the final fluid fill is wholly to the required specification. To achieve this, the machine has two pumps, so that while removing old fluid or cleaning treatment it is also introducing new…

ACHIEVING EXCELLENT results using a high-speed polisher needs to be a comfortable experience for the user because being in control and confident makes all the difference between success and failure on expensive-to-respray paint. Controlling speeds and therefore radiant heat is essential, so low-speed capability must be considered with the materials you intend using. The differences in polisher weights proved negligible under test conditions but for use every day, all day, that could change. Noise is also a factor worth considering but in truth, wear ear defenders even with the quietest here. Sealey’s polisher certainly had the smoothest motor and that critical variable speed range makes it a versatile machine for many uses beyond polishing. It’s let down by the omission of a D-handle, in my opinion, and the continuous running…

A RANGE Rover that was a personal favourite of Prince Charles and Princess Diana has been sold at auction for over £100,000. The 42-year-old three-door, which had been abandoned in a Worcestershire farmyard for 15 years, was treated to full restoration before fetching £101,250 at the Silverstone Classic Car Auction. It had been expected to make £80,000. The 3.5-litre V8 petrol model in Lincoln Green was delivered to the Royal Household on August 13, 1976, but was a 1975 model-year vehicle. Archive photographs show Charles, Diana and Prince Philip driving it over the years. It was particularly popular due to its factory-fitted full-length Webasto sunroof, which allowed the Royals to stand up and wave to crowds. “Whether driven by Prince Charles during his courtship with the late Diana, Prince Philip…