Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i Land Rover Monthly

Brits will remember the summer of 2018 as the one that just kept on giving us great weather. According to our very accurate Met Office it was the hottest-ever summer for England and the joint-hottest-ever for the entire UK. Maybe Canadian rocker and former Defender owner Bryan Adams should do a remake of his Too Hot to Handle hit and call it ‘The Summer of 2018’? Call it what you like – it was a great time to be alive in Britain. The hot days just went on and on and on. I had to look at my GPS several times to confirm that I was still in England. While all my mates were jetting off on their exotic summer holidays to Greece, Cyprus and the beaches of Spain, I…

THE PEAK District is without a doubt one of the jewels in the natural beauty crown of the United Kingdom. The fact that it lies slap-bang in the centre of England means that tourists flock from all over the UK and the world to take in the views, hikes, cycling trails, greenlanes and wildlife. If you’re only coming for the day or the weekend you will leave wishing you had stayed for a week or a fortnight. Well, that’s what happened to me, and this is my story of a day spent laning in one of the most breathtaking parts of this island I have seen. Our journey begins at the Ilam Hall youth hostel near Ashbourne, where some of our group are overnighting before our day of laning. To…

AUSTRALIA TRULY is the Lucky Country. Why? Two reasons really. In the late 1970s Rover Australia saw fit to mount the mighty Isuzu 4BD1 in Land Rovers and history was created. Secondly, we now get a second bite of the cherry with the public sale of approximately 4000 ex-military One Tens. Project Perentie commenced in 1981. When tenders were called by the Australian Department of Defence in June 1982, seven companies submitted bids. Three were selected to provide test vehicles for trials, Jaguar (Land) Rover, Jeep and Mercedes-Benz with Jaguar Rover Australia being selected as the successful bidder. Their original test vehicle (LU3) can still be seen in the Australian Army Museum, Bandiana, NSW. Now, there’s a good excuse to visit the Land Down Under!…

THEY CALL Kelmarsh, now in its second year, the original Land Rover Show. Remember for 25 years it was held at the Billing Aquadrome? Though now Kelmarsh definitely feels like its home, even more so on the Friday and first day of the show when temperatures reached a whopping 35°C! The non-stop rain from last year was quickly forgotten as showgoers downed bottles of water and kids begged parents for another ice cream. Unlike last year, the extraordinary compere Diana Tigwell was nowhere to be seen. She retired sadly. It still feels a little weird without her. It took two men to fill her boots, the knowledgeable Emrys Kirby and the dashing (according to the LRM promo girls) Kyle Cooper took on the arena duties. My now five-year-old son Isaac…

Series III & 90-110 Owners Club – Yorkshire Central THE MISSION statement of the Series III, 90 & 110 Owners Club is to: Enjoy all Land Rovers and the countryside, go off-roading, be safe, follow the countryside code, act responsibly, pass on knowledge and help other owners. The club is for everyone that owns, drives or just is interested in Land Rover Series III models and the 90 and 110 range, but owners of other Land Rover models are just as welcome. The club is a very much a family-orientated club. The Yorkshire Central group is just one of a number of local groups within the club and they welcome anyone who is a Land Rover owner or enthusiast to come along and join them. They hold various events throughout…

The 12th Land Rover Party takes place between the 28 and 30 September at Les Comes de Sererols, Spain, and you are invited to come to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of Land Rover and enjoy a unique weekend with those that want more. The event features three full days of activities with a welcome party and magic show, 70 km of 4x4 tracks, plus a Land Rover classic exhibition, commercial fair and more. For full details on this 70th anniversary celebration festival, and prices for day passes or a full weekend pass, see the event's website: landroverparty.com…

IT SEEMED like a good idea at the time. It was also a simple one: set off to find England’s lowest point. I had the necessary technology: my 1984 Ninety to get me there, plus a new app on my phone that promised to give me accurate altitude readings. I also knew roughly where to find it – the dried-up bed of what used to be the largest lake in lowland England. Whittlesey Mere, situated a few miles south of the Cambridgeshire town of the same name, was once a huge watery wilderness much loved by fishermen, wildfowlers and naturalists. Rare birds like the bittern lurked in its vast reedbeds, while even rarer butterflies like the large copper flitted above them. In summer this vast lake was the scene of…

THE LAST couple of simple jobs have made it a struggle to get the old Series III back on the road after its rebuild. But the job is finished at last and wife Jules and I have been to the pub in the old girl, so that’s a result. The struggles were twofold. One involved the front bumper that had become badly twisted through manoeuvring boats around using the bumper-mounted tow hitch. Now, with the front body tidied up, the bent bumper was letting things down, so I had it straightened and the split seams re-welded. That revealed rust thinning from behind, which needed an insert patch. By the time it was all welded up it needed galvanising again, and getting that done delayed things by four weeks. Considering the…

WE CAN save plenty of money by doing our own servicing and repairs on our Land Rovers, but working on rough surfaces or cold, hard floors can take its toll on your body. A padded kneeler will ease the strain not just on your knees, but also on your back and clothing, plus protect against rogue fasteners, cold and spilled liquids. There’s plenty of choice out there. Larger mats are generally better value for money and offer greater versatility, but require more storage space and are trickier to carry around in the vehicle. A folding mat is pricier but takes up less room when not in use. Which one should you choose to take the strain out of DIY work? We got down and dirty with eight – priced from…

WASTE NOT, want not – that used to be the attitude of Land Rover when it came to disposing of pre-production and prototype cars. They were simply shipped off to dealers and sold on at discount prices to ordinary customers. But that’s not the case these days. The vast majority are destroyed, either in crash tests or because they don’t meet safety or emissions regulations. Very few escape the crusher, which means that the very rare survivors are much-prized by collectors. In the case of the original Range Rover Sport, only two are thought to have survived. One, a 4.2-litre supercharged petrol model used as a factory development, test and evaluation model, has just come up for auction. This pre-pro was first registered for the road on January 25, 2005,…

Tell us about your recent buy... Someone at work owned it since 2002. They then drove it until 2004 before parking it up in their garden. Later it was left in a wood, where it stood until very recently. The owner was moving to Cornwall and said if I could take it away, then it was mine. Who can resist an offer like that? But it was easier said than done . . . How did you get it out of the wood? It had stood there for years and it had all sorts of things growing through and on it. I used my Defender 90 and trailer to tow it home. I remember this rough-looking biker-type pulling up next to me at the traffic lights to tell me that…

THE OFFSET rear plate on the new Discovery has certainly split opinion. Did Gerry McGovern leave that bit to the office junior? Apparently not, as he was quoted by AutoExpress as saying: “You know what part of the problem is with that offset plate? It depends on what number plate you put on it. And it was designed for a slimmer number plate.” The asymmetry might be a deliberate nod to the Discoverys of the past, but the number plate was offset on those old Discos for a practical reason, with the other side of the tailgate taken up by the spare wheel, and on the new one without that, well, it just looks, odd. Fortunately if you fancy a new Disco, but can’t look beyond the rear plate, a…

LAND ROVER has erected an very shiny art installation in central London in support of the Tusk Rhino Trail wildlife conservation charity. The 1.2-metre-long rhino sculpture was towed into Trafalgar Square using a new Discovery. The unique liquid metal finish model is part of an initiative involving 21 sculptures installed at prominent locations across the capital to raise awareness of the plight of the rhino, culminating in the celebration of World Rhino Day on September 22. Each of the rhinos will be sold to raise funds for Tusk projects across Africa at an auction hosted by Christie’s on October 9. Land Rover has been an official partner of the Tusk charity for 15 years, helping them reach some of the world’s most remote locations.…

The rot box It is almost 30 years now since the first production Discovery took to the roads. Where did the time go? Over the years I have owned most of the older Solihull products, from a Series I 107 truck cab to a five-door Range Rover, but until now I have never spent any significant time behind the wheel of a Discovery. I have had plenty of them pass through my hands, but for one reason only: to pull the engine out, fit it into another Land Rover, and send the engine-less hulk away for scrap. The Discovery 200 and 300 lend themselves well to this kind of treatment: the Tdi engines are massively durable, Discovery bodyshells rather less so. The rust problems that afflict the first-generation Discovery are…

LANE 1 BANKHOUSE LANE: Starts with a gentle climb. Lane is mostly along a well-maintained gravel track. A few water-filled potholes thanks to the recent rains. LANE 2 MINNINGLOW LANE: This lane is very badly rutted and they can be rather deep at times so do watch out for your diffs or else just keep your wheels outside of the ruts. Please don’t make new tracks. LANE 3 Rocky climb at the start of the trail before turning right and heading into the forest; this is followed by another rocky climb with a slight side slope. Track gets easier towards the end. LANE 4 HELL BANK: Despite its gentle start it did get more and more rocky as the lane went on. Enjoy the sweeping vistas but lookout for walkers…

IF YOU want to purchase a Perentie, Sydney-based company KLR Automotive has developed a well-worn track for prospective overseas (and Australian) purchasers. So we chatted with Brad from the team and got the good oil. Brad confirmed that KLR can conduct vehicle pre-inspections on your behalf before auction day. While bidding on a vehicle is your responsibility, Brad advised that post-purchase, they can pick up your rig from the auction site, conduct whatever servicing you need or want, and then assist you with the shipment process – including clearance paperwork. They’ll even drive your rig to the Sydney shipyard! While Brad stressed that every country has unique import arrangements, and buyers’ needs are all different, the KLR team are there to help. And when it comes to parts, Brad told…

TIME TRAVEL is something for the future, they say. But here, deep in rural Devon, there’s already a timewarp that will transport you back to the summer of 1990. Let me tell you all about it. It’s August 30, 1990. Margaret Thatcher is still British Prime Minister, Nelson Mandela has just been released from prison after 27 years, Germany is reunified, Iraq invades Kuwait, igniting the first Gulf War, the birth of the internet is still four months away, and in the quiet town of Barnstaple, North Devon, a metallic blue Discovery is registered for the first time. That sounds like a pretty unremarkable event. After all, Land Rover launched the Discovery in November the previous year and already it had become Europe’s best-selling 4x4. By the summer of 1990…

“VX05 was used for design and development of the 35th Anniversary limited edition ” RANGE ROVERS are rather like those celebrities who become hugely famous for a fleeting period only to fade away and end up selling burgers from a van. When fashions change and the signs of middle age become apparent, Range Rovers that were once highly desirable and photographed tend find themselves languishing in the bargain basement at the end of their career. This is the story of the rise and fall – and rise again – of one lost celebrity Land Rover: Lode Lane’s prototype 35th Anniversary Supercharged Range Rover. Automotive manufacturers often release anniversary editions to boost sales. Chevrolet had a 65th Anniversary Corvette, Mercedes had a 20th Anniversary edition Sprinter Van and Land Rover has…

WE HAVE chosen the Baja peninsular route for a several reasons. First, it’s the most direct route. Second, in our research it’s billed to be incredibly beautiful. And it also misses out the northern mainland of Mexico close to the US border, which is still plagued by drug trafficking and has some of the highest murder rates in the world. It’s not something we are overly concerned about as generally drug traffickers care not for a couple of Brits in a Land Rover. However, we had the option to avoid this area and we felt the desert of Baja to be more our cup of tea. Within minutes of crossing the border it feels like the start of an adventure. Somehow the traffic in Mexico is just more exciting than…

WHERE: UK to Morocco WHEN: 26 October to 11 November HOW MUCH: £1625 for two people in one vehicle (payment plan available) MOROCCO IS one of the most colourful, incredibly stunning and friendly places on Planet Earth. For those who have not yet visited this vibrant country, you will be blown away by the vast landscapes and variety of cultures. Beginning in the city of Chefchaouen, known for the striking, blue-washed buildings of its old town, you will have the chance to explore the small winding streets, quaint shops and the main square, packed with restaurants. From Chefchaouen you will then head into the Rif mountains with views of the azure Mediterranean and into the Cedar forests, where you will experience your first night under the Moroccan stars, wild camping.…

This year's Adventure Overland Show (Late Summer Edition) takes place over the weekend of September 22 to 23 at the Stratford Racecourse, Stratford-upon-Avon. The show is a major national event featuring all forms of alternative travel and now boasts the largest gathering of expedition trucks in the UK. It brings together those that love exploring the great outdoors and includes two full days of free seminars covering expedition trucks, 4x4s, adventure bikes, 4x2 camper vans, plus trade stands and clubs galore. Full information on the show can be found on the website and its Facebook page. adventureoverlandshow.com facebook.com/adventureoverlandshow…

Classic Land Rover Day The Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre in West Sussex is holding a Classic Land Rover Day. Along with a wide range of exhibiting Land Rovers across the Series range – some original and some modified – the resident steam trains will be on display and you can also enjoy riding the railway around the fascinating site. Details are available on the museum's website: amberleymuseum.co.uk Land Rover Day The Museum of Village and Rural Life Centre at Tilford near Farnham will be hosting a parade of Land Rovers, from pre-production through to Series vehicles and the latest models, in order to mark the car maker's 70th anniversary. The Land Rovers will be flexing their muscle and horsepower with thanks to the Southern Vintage Agricultural Club. There will…

BRAKES ARE something we probably take for granted most of the time. We press the pedal with our foot, and the resulting force affects the wheels. It sounds simple, and indeed it is on pre-ABS systems. Your foot pressure pumps brake fluid out of the master cylinder via a piston, through the brake lines into the wheel cylinders. The extra fluid entering the cylinders then forces apart the cylinder pistons, pushing the brake pads onto the drum, thus slowing the wheel. It is a straightforward system that makes troubleshooting and any rectification work fairly simple. Developing problems Aside from the brake shoe friction material and the brake drums wearing, problems will arise with the rubber brake hoses perishing with age, and steel brake pipes corroding, allowing fluid to leak. Wheel…

CONTINUING ITS 70th anniversary celebrations, Land Rover visited a remote location deep in the Indian Himalayan region known as the ‘Land of Land Rovers’. The rural community in West Bengal sits at an altitude of 3636 metres and is reliant on a fleet of 42 well-maintained Series Land Rovers dating back as far as 1957. Land Rover has released a film that highlights the spectacular 31 km journey made often by residents of Maneybhanjang to Sandakphu for their means of living. Towering gradients, rock-strewn pony tracks and treacherous weather are just some of the hazards faced on a daily basis by the residents and their Land Rovers on the journey to the hilltop village. Watch the film here and see page 108 for more: https://youtu.be/YNXU1IR2LR8 .…

JAGUAR LAND Rover has fitted virtual eyes to self-driving intelligent pods to understand how humans will trust self-driving vehicles. The ‘eye pods’ help work out how much information future self-driving cars should share with users or pedestrians to ensure that people trust technology. Current research studies show that 63 per cent of pedestrians and cyclists say they’d feel less safe sharing the road with a self-driving vehicle. The pods run autonomously on a fabricated street scene in Coventry, while the behaviour of pedestrians is analysed as they wait to cross the road. The ‘eyes’ have been devised by advanced engineers, working in JLR’s Future Mobility division, while a team of cognitive psychologists help to better understand how vehicle behaviour affects human confidence in new technology. The pods seek out the…

THE WORLD has gone mad – at least so far as Defenders are concerned. Since production ended in 2016, demand has outstripped supply, with bizarre results that range from deluded owners expecting ridiculous sums for their battered old farm hacks, through to equally-deluded chancers with no discernible design talent bolting on expensive bling and attempting to sell secondhand Defenders for eye-watering sums. The fact that both succeed in finding buyers with more money than sense shows just how mad that Defender world has become. It therefore comes as a refreshing reality check to encounter a genuinely beautiful Defender that puts these expensive pretenders in the shade. You suddenly realise the world isn’t such a bad place when you learn that the example of automotive excellence you can see on these…

PURCHASING AN ex-Australian Military 6x6 Land Rover 110 Series Perentie went from an idea to reality in four months. But the decision to join the Land Rover fraternity was rooted far deeper in my UK origins, followed by 40 years knocking around the Australian outback and 20 years in the Australian Army.. In 1978, I emigrated to Australia with my family as a kid. In the years following our arrival, we spent considerable time touring the remote back country – well before overland tourism became a national pastime. Rattling along outback tracks in a 1976 Toyota Landcruiser, meant that I developed an affinity with this great brown land that’s shaped much of what I’ve done since. I’ve spent a lifetime looking for reasons to get beyond the tarmac – whether…

LAND ROVER’S push towards an electrified future appears to be in full swing. The firm has already been spied testing CO2-reducing mild-hybrid tech for its next-generation models and is also forging ahead with plug-in hybrids, with both the full-fat Range Rover and the Range Rover Sport now available in P400e guise. Matching a four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor, each is capable of up to 31 miles on electric power alone. We first drove the Sport PHEV in Los Angeles earlier this year and were impressed by its mix of luxury and refinement on smooth Californian tarmac. But does it fare as well on UK roads? It’s time to find out . . . At low speeds at least, the plug-in powertrain is a perfect fit. Pulling away in…

Land Rover recently released a short film showcasing the crazy 31 km journey undertaken by residents of Maneybhanjang in West Bengal, India, to Sandakphu, which lies at an altitude of 3636 metres. There are roughly around 40 Land Rovers in Maneybhanjang and they perform the vital tasks of safely transporting goods and people along this deadly mountain track. At the time of going to press the film had already been viewed nearly six million times. Every serious Land Rover fan needs to see it: https://youtube/YNXU1IR2LR8.…

THE SUMMER weekend event at Sour Leys Farm near Helmsley has become the annual highlight of the year for the Yorkshire Central of Series III & 90-110 Owners Club. Most of the club members arrived on the Saturday, and sadly for some they had not experienced a good start to the weekend. Tony Cox’s blue V8 Series hybrid was suffering from heat exhaustion and had required top-ups of water en route, while another member also arrived later than planned after splitting a tyre on the A1. Fortunately, and as always, club members rallied round to help and it was agreed that the usual Land Rover roadside breakdowns would be called pit stops. Soon after arriving Andy Gibson fired up his industrial-sized barbecue. He’s the main man of the whole weekend,…

What you need Morocco requires slightly more preparation and paperwork than your average trip to Europe. You will need paperwork and proof of ownership for your vehicle, along with your passport. We need to know the spec and if necessary who built your vehicle. • Passport • D16 • V5 registration document • European Travel Kit (Including hi-vis, breathalyser, first aid kit, warning triangle, head lamp convertors) • Change for tolls in Europe and Morocco (Morocco is 300 dirham, Spain approx 12 euros each way) • Insurance and recovery for Europe • Sixth spare tyre is advisable • Good medical kit What’s included? • Morocco return ferry (we can help with arranging your UK return ferry) • All campsites and one night’s inn fees in Morocco • Lead/guide vehicle, two-way…

The Project Jay Preservation Group will meet with the Devon and Cornwall Section of the Discovery Owners Club to celebrate 29 years of the Discovery on Saturday October 20. The Discovery Birthday Party, which kicks off at Plymouth Hoe, will follow the route of the 1989 launch of the Discovery to the press and dealers. The Discoverys will cross the Tamar River by ferry and then take the coast road to the Mount Edgcumbe Estate. If you want to join in with the convoy, and celebrate 29 years of Discovery, have a look at the website: discoverybirthdayparty.co.uk…

YOU WOULD be forgiven for thinking I’d no longer got my Range Rover Classic. All of last year I was so tied up with getting a Series I back to good health that I just didn’t get the time to really use my Range Rover. Once the older car was on the road, there was still a list of jobs to do on it, meaning the Classic lost out. The Range Rover saw its usual trip to the Lake District on holiday last year, but other than that didn’t get used as much as it should. Even when April 2018 arrived – historically the time I put it back on the road each year – it got only the most cursory drive to welcome it back to use. The June…

THE WORK carried out to my One Ten in the big hangar of the Ulster Aviation Society in Maze, County Down, was both enlightening and exciting. It was enlightening to experience the way in which camouflage colour schemes are painted. It was exciting to see the Land Rover – which I have owned for 20 years – become transformed into a vision that was so much better than I had even hoped for. Now it was time to take the One Ten back home to my workshop and begin fitting the parts and components that would really put the finishing touches to a project that had been so enjoyable to work on. Bespoke cubby box WHEN I first converted the One Ten soft top to become my 88-inch off-road toy,…

IN THIS age of USB charging, adapters that convert a car’s 12 volt power socket into several more may seem old hat. But there are still lots of accessories that require more punch than a standard USB outlet’s 5V can provide. Powered cool boxes, travel mugs, aftermarket reversing camera systems, in-car fans and heated seat covers all require a cigarette lighter socket. For these, adapters which increase your 12V socket count and provide USB outlets make more sense than those that just offer the latter, and remove the use of the socket at the same time. So which are the best? We plugged in eight products to find out. HALFORDS 131253 PRICE: £15 CONTACT: 0845 762 6625, halfords.com MAX 12V OUTPUT: 10 Amps RATING: THIS HALFORDS unit is one of…