Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2021 i Land Rover Monthly

WHO would’ve thought in March that we would be going into regional lockdowns at the start of winter? At the time of writing that means no greenlaning for now in Wales. Even as I type this the rules are changing for everyone everywhere. Last week was probably the most normal week I have had since the pandemic started to impact our lives in the UK. Monday was a day at the desk. Tuesday and Wednesday were spent with JLR driving the new Defender 90 and James Bond new Defender 110 on the Gaydon track and around the muddy tracks of Eastnor Castle. Then down to Goodwood on the Thursday to celebrate 50 years of the Range Rover and on Friday I went to see our friends at Britpart. Yes, it’s…

SINCE 1983 Land Rovers have featured prominently in James Bond movies. That was the year a Range Rover convertible appeared in Octopussy. One of my favourite Bond Land Rover scenes was the crazy chase scene in Skyfall when they bashed up a grey old Defender double cab pick-up. They bashed up several but you only get to see the one of course. I think the reason I love that scene is because my first Defender was exactly the same model. Or maybe it was the fact that Naomie Harris was driving? Or was she? They had cages on the top of the cabs and the real drivers sat in there while Naomie looked pretty and made to look as if she was driving. Today one of the double cabs is…

IF you’ve got a spare £70k burning a hole in your pocket and you’re a big fan of Afzal Kahn’s work then you could bag yourself this distinctive Chelsea Truck Company 110 Defender Vesuvius edition – with a pound change. The Kahn Automobile Company take on a standard Defender and turn it into a luxurious vehicle for individuals who, and I quote, “will not accept conformity and demand perfection”. So, if that’s you, you can expect a number of enhancements including gloss black detailing, a new grille, front and rear bumper, 9.5x22 inch forged wheels shod in Cooper tyres and a Kahn cross hair exhaust system, to name but a few. Meanwhile, inside, the package consists of black upholstered seats with orange accents to match the exterior, and extends to…

EVERY so often in life the opportunity for a grand adventure presents itself that cannot be passed by. What’s more, you know if you don’t jump at it, the chance will not arise again in the future. That’s exactly how Jonny Stage, founder of Sandgrouse Travel & Expeditions, felt when British military veterans' charity, VetRun180, approached him to discuss plans for a unique Scottish Highlands expedition. It didn’t take long before planning was in full swing for an offroad operation across the Scottish Highlands, from the east coast to the west coast, passing through Scotland’s most infamous but hidden Highland estates. A team of 13 men, including ex-Royal Marines and ex-British Army personnel, would drive their specially equipped Defender 110s across the whole country, 90 per cent of which would…

THERE really is nothing quite like a good Land Rover mystery! This 120 inch wheelbase Range Rover first came to the attention of Philip Bashall of the Dunsfold Collection earlier this year when owner Jeffrey Lee got in touch offering it for sale. Many months later, Jeffrey contacted us again with a specific value in mind. In the meantime, Philip and I had done some research and discovered how little seemed to be known about the Mayor of Solihull’s stretched Range Rover limousine. Nevertheless, we concluded that this fascinating Range Rover potentially deserved a place in the Collection… as long as it was built by the company rather than one of the many Range Rover conversion specialists that were active in the 1980s. But let’s start with what we initially…

FROM its earliest days serving with the British Army, the Land Rover has been pictured stripped down and bristling with machines guns in the mould of the wartime jeeps. In this guise, it has proved to be the ideal light reconnaissance vehicle and the Parachute Regiment were early users of the marque. In its stripped-down configuration, the Series Land Rover could more easily be lifted forward by helicopter or dropped from an aircraft by parachute. During my early days with the Regiment, I remember Lightweight ‘buggies’ being employed along with 109 based ‘guns wagons’ with pedestal mounts for a General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG). These were simply ad hoc solutions modified by the local command workshops. Perhaps the first properly designed variants I recall were the recce 90s specially modified…

BEFORE fitting the new bearing races, the inner and outer bearing tracks need to be changed. The tracks are an interference fit inside the hub, but the old tracks are easily tapped out and, after thoroughly cleaning the hub surfaces, the new tracks are carefully driven in. This needs to be done with the hub on a solid surface to withstand the hammer impacts as the tracks are driven out and in by a series of hammer blows on a punch or drift. It’s vital not to mark the tracks or the hub surfaces, so care is needed, and the punch or drift should be of a softer metal than the bearing tracks so they cannot be damaged. For safety (and efficient removal) the end of the drift should be…

Friends reunited I just read the latest edition of LRM and noticed a photo from Emilio Folegnani in the Your Pictures section and the silver 110 (reg RYO2 GJE). It’s my old works vehicle that I had from brand new in 2002-2010 when I worked for the Scottish & Southern Electricity Board. I am wondering if the person who owned the vehicle would like some photos of it taken during its working life? If so, could you please pass on my email to him? Ian Stokes Patrick replies: I am happy to report that we have put Ian and Emilio in contact with each other. If you would like us to help you find an old lost Landy please do get in touch and we will try and help. Hooked…

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THE Sierra Nevada offers a plethora of adventure-based opportunities for any offroader looking to explore; it is just one of the many incredible wilderness areas that the Northern California Land Rover Club call home. Located within these soaring mountains is the Rubicon Trail, a route that is so iconic it really needs no introduction. Jeep has long used it to distinguish it’s most capable Wrangler model, and has long supported the Jeepers Jamboree in its 50-plus years of history. Not only an off-road trail famous for the technical prowess, it also offers the beauty and isolation that make this landscape of California so special. Originally, what has become known as the Rubicon Trail, was used by Native Americans travelling back and forth between the Sacramento Valley and Lake Tahoe in…

THERE has not been much to celebrate in 2020 except maybe if you are a Liverpool FC fan or if you started mass producing PPE at the beginning of the year. For Land Rover fans at least it was the 50th anniversary of the Range Rover, and massive kudos must go to the folk at Goodwood motor circuit who have just given us the Goodwood SpeedWeek, and celebrated the milestone in style. Yes it was held behind closed doors but incredibly it was all streamed online for free. For those that don't know what it was, I would call it a combination of the Festival of Speed, Goodwood Revival and the Members’ Meeting, which were all cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19. Who will ever forget the Festival of Speed…

CORONAVIRUS has dominated the news headlines for most of this year. Politicians can talk of little else. They love nothing better than the sound of their own voices and can usually be relied upon to spout forth on any subject – regardless of whether they actually know what they're talking about – so you would imagine that they had every Covid-19 angle covered, wouldn’t you? Wrong. The subject they all avoid is car ownership. For the last decade or so, politicians of all persuasions have been banging on about how bad cars are, but they’ve suddenly gone quiet on the subject. They can’t bring themselves to admit that the safest form of transport during the current pandemic is the motor car. Luckily, us Brits have always had a healthy distrust…

ARB VALVE CAPS PRICE: £7.99 CONTACT: Britpart stockists ARE you an ARB groupie? Then you need their silver and black durable anodised aluminium valve caps. Five in a pack. UNDER PRESSURE PRICE: £26.50 CONTACT: Britpart stockists GOT ARB lockers? Then you need the ARB air locker heavy-duty pressure air line kit which has been designed for use on one locker. Suits black 6 mm and existing blue 5 mm hoses (not included). XS AIR COMPRESSOR PRICE: £72.50 CONTACT: Britpart stockists THE XS single pump portable compressor more than does the job. The impressive hose is 10 metres long and it can achieve an incredible air flow of 72 ltr/min. We like the rubber feet that dampens vibration plus the heavy-duty gauge. 300Tdi ENGINE PRICE:£5460 CONTACT: Britpart stockists NEED a new…

I DON’T know about you, but when I’m really tired, there’s nothing like opening the windows and blasting some heavy rock music to wake up your senses. Not so, according to the boffins at JLR, who say Active Road Noise Cancellation, which basically helps remove unwanted sounds from the cabin, can help prevent driver fatigue on longer journeys. Its new noise cancellation technology removes unwanted road and tyre sounds from the cabin to provide a quieter and more refined experience for drivers and passengers. The tech is capable of lowering unwanted noise peaks by 10dB and overall noise levels by 3-4dB – the equivalent of turning down the in-car sound system by four ‘steps’. It would be wasted on me then! But for those less fatigued with a reduction in…

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ONE of the hazards of writing this column is that sometimes a job that I write about comes back to bite me hard, after my piece on it has gone to press. Last month I described how I had saved the owner of a Defender 200Tdi the cost of the engine rebuild he had asked me for, by diagnosing a couple of simple fuel system faults. There is a sad postscript. Seeing as we still had £4850 left of his original £5000 budget, the owner asked me to give the vehicle a full service and thorough check over, and rectify any faults that I found. I had already noticed a minor clutch judder when reversing and the bottom of the flywheel housing was wet with oil. I suspected that the…

WELCOME to LRM Classics. This month, Editor Patrick reports on JLR’s Range Rover 50th anniversary parade at the Goodwood SpeedWeek, which could well be the only motoring event this year to have celebrated the Range Rover’s golden jubilee. Although the whole event was staged behind closed doors, at least it provided Range Rover fans with something to remember the 50th! We also reveal the story behind the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull’s Mayoral Limousine, a common enough sight in the town in the 1980s and early 1990s and occasionally seen further afield. It has been hidden from view for the last 20 years or so but is now safely in the hands of the Dunsfold Collection. This fascinating vehicle is not only an interesting piece of Land Rover history but also…

IT HAD to be true love! Why else would a Lancashire lad desert his newly-restored Lightweight Land Rover, to say nothing of his family and his hometown, and emigrate 3750 miles from Belmont, Lancashire, to Oshkosh, Wisconsin? Steve Owen grew up on the family farm a few miles north of Bolton, and as well as Land Rovers his other passion was aeroplanes. And it was aeroplanes that were the root cause of the upheaval. “I’ve been a planespotter since I was ten or eleven years old,” says Steve, “That’s when dad took me to Manchester’s Ringway airport for a day out. It was a lot more interesting than a day on the beach at Southport and I was hooked! My passion for Land Rovers began around the same time when…

YOU just knew it was going to be a good day for the fifth Patina National when you saw the line-up of motors. The site for this year’s event on the North Yorkshire Moors was thankfully still clear of any local lockdowns and with a full entry of 30 leaf-sprung Land Rovers, everyone was determined it was going to be a great day of trialling. Due to the number of entries this year it was split into three groups. As for patina there was a host of Land Rovers with more patina than paintwork, including Ben Stowe’s 80in. As for legends there where a few including Toby Jefferson’s father’s restored trails and comp safari 86in, Matt Savage’s 80in V8 and Toby Savage’s standard 80in. This particular 80 has a bit…

How did you find this project? The same as most people I guess, which is word of mouth. Though it has to be said that I waited over three years to acquire this specific Range Rover, so it did take a wee while before it officially became mine! The owner knew of my desire to own it, which always helps and thankfully he was keen for me to get it. It took us a while to get it out of the storage facility and I have owned it for about six months now. Sometimes you just have to be patient and then good things do come your way. How is the engine running? Are you planning on replacing it? The engine is a rebuilt Rover V8 with forged racing pistons,…