The Landy - April 2022

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Back in the day, loads of people cut up Series Is to make off-road specials of one kind or another. The number of precious classics we lost this way is beyond imagination, but one thing is for sure: everybody who did it wishes they could undo it again.
Well, almost everybody. There’s a 1955 86” in this issue of The Landy with a Ford V6 engine, Series III gearbox, steering and axles, parabolic springs and fat mud-terrain tyres.
Ruined? You might consider it so, yes, depending on your view of what a classic Land Rover should be. But this one’s owner must have had a crystal ball – because next to it in his garage are all the original parts he took off back in the day, ready for when someone wants to turn it back into a matching-numbers original.
Where Series Is have gone, so might 90s and 110s one day. Or have they already? Most people seem to be turning them into blinged-up street machines now – but we’ve also got a feature on one that’s been modded the traditional way as a green lane weapon and general off-road toy. It’s good to know people like that still exist.
It’s also good to know that there are people out there who see a desert race for classic 4x4s as an opportunity to make the most of their Series trucks and early Range Rovers. There were a good many Solihull products entered in this year’s Dakar Classic, from several different nations – though none of them was Britain. See that as a challenge, y’all…
Our green lane guide in the Lake District is a challenge too, albeit a much more gentle one. Gentler and cheaper, too. Though everything’s cheap in comparison to the new Range Rover SV – care to take a guess at how much you can spend on one of these personalised luxury Landies? The answer is within this issue of The Landy… and as always, so too is a lot more besides!