Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2025 i Land Rover Monthly

Goodbye, Audi After drooling over Land Rovers since childhood, I moved further out into the countryside a couple of years ago and decided to just take the plunge. My daily driver was a new Audi Q7 on PCP, but one Christmas I bought a 1987 90 which had a Disco 1 200Tdi engine and gearbox fitted. I had no previous mechanical experience, but have since spent many a weekend tinkering, including fitting a new YRM battery box as the previous one was more holes than steel. I had suspension work professionally done at Gigglepin (I know my current limits) who are up the road from me. I’ve really enjoyed going out in the snow when no one else could, and finding any excuse to drive her. After that I decided…

YOU might recall that in the November 2024 issue I wrote about how the RAC left me stranded for hours when the ignition coil failed on SYD, my 1990 Range Rover. I don’t think anything I’ve written on these pages has generated so much response from readers. Everyone who got in touch had their own RAC horror story to relate. Throughout my career, all the companies I’ve worked for employed a specialist agency to scour the media in order to prepare a regular digest of everything – good, bad, or indifferent – that had appeared in the press, on broadcast media, or online regarding the company’s activities. Senior executives and managers would read it avidly, and anything negative would be assiduously followed up, in order to learn from what went…

My son told me a joke the other day: “A shopkeeper gave me one of those new coins with King Charles on. I’m not keen, because I don’t like change.” It made me smile but also reminded me about a conversation I’d had earlier with a serial Range Rover owner. He turned up in the pub car park in a brand new Volkswagen van and explained that he had been buying them for his business for decades but was petrified as the new Transporter was going to be a rebadged Transit, which he considered a huge downgrade. Consequently, he’d bought up a batch of the last-off-the-line old generation models. He is far from alone – VW dealers have sold out. This got me thinking about the outbursts whenever Land Rover…

THE sweet yet spicy hit of the aged malt whiskey base, punctuated with floral and herbal overtones washes over your taste buds as you take a sip of Drambuie liqueur and gaze out at the rolling hills of Yorkshire’s northern moors bathed in golden afternoon sunlight. Relaxing on the comfortable camel-coloured faux leather couch, surrounded by bespoke cabinetry with hand-oiled oak worktops, complete with trademark ‘live edge’, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in some secluded executive retreat. From the oak panelled flooring and Harris tweed scatter cushions, to the knurled brass door handles and unique light fixtures fabricated from copper piping, there’s certainly little to give away that you’re actually sitting in the back of a usually much more utilitarian Defender 110. Known as Skafta, named after…

IT’S been a long drive this morning, with Exmoor Trim nestled on the north coast of Somerset, with the mouth of the River Severn just a mile or so away, and its namesake Exmoor National Park just a few miles to the west. I have visited Exmoor Trim before, but that was back in 2016, and the car park I pull into now feels unfamiliar, as does the reception and large glass-fronted showroom. Things have clearly evolved. John Rayson, Exmoor Trim’s Sales Manager, meets me in reception and explains why it feels different. “We took over this new building on the estate back in 2019; there just wasn’t the space we needed for the sales staff. The expansion also enabled us to have this wonderful showroom.” As we walk into…

Nature-friendly Join Tracey Slocombe and Chris Pedlar as they cook up a spontaneous storm from their mobile kitchen – a soft top 110 called Ratty In this recipe the sausages really are quite special, to me at least. The pigs were pedigree Welsh White weaners I bought from a nearby farm, and then pastured and silvopastured (the practice of integrating trees, forage and grazing in a mutually beneficial way). Whilst they had some compound feed, they were also fed fruit daily and various vegetables in a well planned out environment to grow in. As well as the ‘pig palace’, additional shelter and forage were provided by the oak and willow trees, with an area to wallow and just do what happy pigs do. By the end, their pen resembled something akin…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH Last year was a bit of a write-off in terms of time and money to spend on the Land Rover. There was a redundancy, an operation that turned into two and the requisite recovery, house maintenance to sort and I was transitioning kids from exams and to university or off on their travels. Consequently, the number of jobs needing doing on the Land Rover has accumulated and can no longer be ignored or postponed, especially in light of an upcoming holiday travelling up to and camping in Scotland – a fair trek from my Lincolnshire home. Over the last couple of months, I have set to and made progress. The first thing was trying to identify why suddenly, when travelling in slow-moving traffic in low gear, the…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH Call for a free quote on 01480 484 803 April 5 TEA ON THE TAILGATE Pugneys Country Park, West Yorkshire teaonthetailgate.co.uk/events HERITAGE TRANSPORT SHOW Kent Showground, Detling, Maidstone kcas.org.uk/heritage-transport-show/ April 6 LRM AUTOJUMBLE Newbury Showground, Newbury, Worcestershire landrovermonthly.co.uk/information/events April 12-13 WHITWELL TRAIL (RTV/TRIAL) Whitwell, St Ippolyts, Hertfordshire bhclrc.org.uk/events/whitwell-trial/ April 13 TEA ON THE TAILGATE CORNWALL Penndenis Point car park, Cornwall teaonthetailgate.co.uk April 19-21 MROC TYRO, RTV (ALSO WITH CCV CLASS) & CCV TIMED TRAIL Newmans Quarry, Moreton-In-Marsh mroc.co.uk/calendar April 26 SPRING OPEN DAY The Dunsfold Collection, Alfold Road, Dunsfold, Surrey dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/product/openday260425/ April 27 SCRAMBLE Bicester Heritage, Bicester bicesterheritage.co.uk/events May 2-5 LAND ROVER GLOBAL GATHERING Market Harborough Showground, Market Harborough, Leicestershire lrgg.co.uk/ HARRIS ISLAND TRIP Horgabost Campsite, West Harris, Outer Hebrides. slroc.co.uk/events/ May 3-4 GAYDON LAND ROVER SHOW…

LAND Rover’s LT230 transfer gearbox fitted to the Defender from the 200Tdi models through 300Tdi and Td5 production, has a 1.410 final drive ratio. When higher gearing is needed, such as when a truck is mainly used on the road, a common upgrade is to fit a higher ratio transfer box from a Discovery. And while both the Discovery 1 and Discovery 2 transfer boxes can be used, there are advantages and disadvantages with each. Upgrading with a Discovery 1 transfer box It is a common conversion to use the transfer gearbox from a Discovery 1, which has a 1.211 (nominally 1.2) final drive ratio, giving approximately 15 per cent higher overall gearing. This results in reduced engine revs, a less noisy drive and more comfortable cruising, though it’s necessary…

NEW DEFENDER FUEL SECURITY I have a problem with the fuel flap on my Land Rover Defender X Dynamic (ordered September 2021 and registered March 2022). At the time the vehicle was ordered the dealership mentioned there was a microchip shortage which meant it was not possible to confirm the exact specification until the Land Rover arrived. What I was unaware of and have only just discovered was that the central locking system on the vehicle did not include the fuel flap, so all this time the car has not had the fuel tank security I had taken for granted. The dealership confirmed the Defender does not have a central locking fuel flap and because it is a factory-fitted option there is no way of resolving the matter. So, do…

Just in time TWO very similar jobs back-to-back this month in the shape of a pair of hard-worked, ageing One Ten station wagons, both needing rear crossmember replacement and a handful of other jobs to keep them roadworthy and reliable. Both vehicles had Tdi engines under the bonnet – 300Tdi in the first, 200Tdi in the second. And in both cases the owner believed that the timing belt had been changed by the previous owner in the not too distant past but had no paperwork to support this belief. There is really no way of telling whether a belt has been changed, other than to remove the timing cover and take a look inside. By the time you have done that on a 200Tdi you might as well change the…

AS a lifelong Range Rover fan and recently retired police officer, I thought it was incredibly important that this vehicle should be preserved, not least because we will never see its like again.” These were the opening words in an email written by Chris Murray to the Dunsfold Collection in February 2018. What followed was a remarkable story of one man’s persistence and eventual success in saving the vehicle, even when it finally meant having to buy it himself. Cheshire was only the second police force to acquire the Range Rover, buying five two-door vehicles which were registered STU 699J to STU 703J on Monday 1 February 1971. They entered service the same month. In April 1971, STU 699J appeared on the ITV children’s television programme Magpie. The accolade for…

One of the downsides of owning a Land Rover, be it a decrepit pile of bits loosely resembling a Series III or a brand-new Range Rover, is that other people desire them too – and some sectors of society think it’s okay to steal bits off vehicles, or even the whole Land Rover itself. I nearly lost my 300Tdi Defender to thieves the other night – I went out first thing in the morning and knew something wasn’t right before I’d opened my front door; the amount of light reaching it was somehow different. Once I had opened the door, I could see why – the Defender had been pushed up my drive and onto the road. Luckily, I had several layers of security fitted to it which thwarted the…

Ideal for a cuppa in a hurry JETBOIL SUMO STOVE £199.99 jetboil.co.uk Tested by: Martin Domoney Owned for: One year I’ve always wanted a Jetboil, and after many years of enviously watching from afar as fellow campers brew up in less time than it takes a 2.25 diesel to reach 50mph, I finally took the plunge. This particular Jetboil is the Sumo version, which uses the same basic setup as the Jetboil Flash 2.0, but comes with a bigger, 1.8-liltre cooking cup rather than the 1-litre cup of the standard Flash. Obviously, boiling nearly twice the amount of water using the same burner does take slightly longer, but it does make you even more popular with caffeinecraving mates first thing in the morning. The bigger cup also makes it more…

REGULAR readers, listeners and watchers of Land Rover Monthly will be no doubt be familiar with the quite major surgery my Series III has been having over the last few months. Fed up with constantly chasing rust around the chassis and worrying about where the rot is going to pop up next, I decided the best thing to do would be to take it all to bits and start again, using a new galvanised frame as a base. The process of stripping and rebuilding the Land Rover has been covered on the LRM YouTube channel in a series of videos, and in a more detailed step-by-step guide right here in the mag. In fact, the final part is in this very issue, so check it out on page 110 if…

ELECTRIC cars seem to have evolved aesthetically from the days when they all looked fairly stupid. We now have good-looking Mercs, Hondas, Teslas, Audis, BMWs, Volvos and Peugeots; even Chinese MGs are looking credible. So why does Land Rover have absolutely nothing to offer? Maybe it’s caution about a very tricky market, maybe it’s just running behind time, or does the company have nothing that can be practicably electrified? While the Jaguar side of the JLR business continues to enigmatically reimagine itself as a builder of £100,000-plus electric supercars, Land Rover mentions only its upcoming electric Range Rover which will be similarly unaffordable to the majority of buyers. I would like to buy an electric car because I have an environmental conscience and I like new technologies, despite being deterred…

A Derbyshire car museum has just acquired what is perhaps the most televised Land Rover in the UK. No doubt most of you will recognise the 1996 Defender 90, but if you don’t, it was driven by Brenda Blethyn in the ITV drama Vera, which ran between 2011 and 2025 on Sunday nights. But when founder of Ambergate’s Great British Car Journey, Richard Usher, acquired the famous TV detective’s car, he discovered that all was not quite what it seemed. The Defender had an automatic gearbox, but in the show Vera can often clearly be ‘seen’ changing gears. After a little digging Richard discovered that Brenda only has licence to drive an automatic. He told BBC reporters: “It looks like it may have been factory-fitted – I’ve never seen an…

Optimill has just launched a brand new website and wants LRM readers to be the first to take it for a test drive. While the Optimill product line-up remains the same, there’s a new website address and email to go with the fresh look, so please be sure to make a note and bookmark them for future browsing and communications with the company. If you had an account on Optimill’s old website, please note that it wasn’t possible to transfer that across to the new platform. But it’s super easy to set up a new account and a great place to store your delivery addresses and orders. Simply go to the cog icon on the top right of the screen, click Create Account, fill in your details and set up…

DASHBOARD TOP RAIL From £120 Website: mudstuff.co.uk A split or damaged dashboard top rail can ruin the interior of the classic Defender – as a driver or passenger it’s the part of the vehicle in your vision all of the time. This top rail is a faithful recreation of the original Pad-Fascia Crash Assembly fitted to models from VIN HA455946 and has been obsolete for a number of years. The rail is available in a basic raw finish for you to trim in the fabric of your choice, or it can be professionally trimmed by one of the UK’s largest Tier 1 automotive trim suppliers for an OE level of finish (£300). LED HEADLAMPS £383.62 Website: masai4x4.com Fully DoT and E-marked, these seven-inch LED headlamp units are available in left-…

ANOTHER month of the usual Land Rover trials and tribulations. I had actually drafted this month’s column several weeks back but lots had happened in the intervening weeks. Allow me to fill you in. My 80in was fast approaching 1000 miles post-restoration and I was feeling really rather pleased because it was running nicely and felt like the engine had run-in well – hills I could previously manage only in third gear were now easily attacked in fourth. With barely 20 miles to go until I hit 1000 miles, I decided to head to a local cars and coffee event. Ten minutes into the trip and there was the ominous sight of stream emanating from under the bonnet. I was on a steep, windy section and pressed on a little…

OWNING a Land Rover gives you a perfect excuse to put an adventure in the diary as often as you like. These needn’t be lavish spendathons either, because even the humblest staycation can be transformed into an intrepid fling simply by adding some greenlanes and a spot of al fresco dining into the mix. Camping will save cash, and help make it a memorable experience. For inspiration you could simply open the Ordnance Survey map of your local area, or dust off the atlas and start prepping your vehicle for something more extreme. Here’s a bumper compilation of 20 adventure ideas to suit all budgets and levels of experience. They range from cheap and cheerful introductions to the world of Land Rover ownership, to intensive international escapades requiring considerable fortune.…

WHEN I first met Steve Rosam and his Series III 109 soft top at a Rover Social gathering, I was immediately struck by the vehicle’s patina and the fact that it was stripped to the waistline. It looked very cool indeed. Many of you will also have spotted that it carries the Solihull registration number DXC 533L. More than a few enthusiasts get very excited by these Solihull, Birmingham and Coventry ‘factory plates’ and some might say I’m one of them, because they frequently indicate a vehicle that was registered to Land Rover for company use. Sometimes these can be important prototype, pre-production or development vehicles, although more often than not they are Land Rovers that were allocated to the press and demonstration fleets and many, especially in more recent…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH During a project like this, there are always some days that stick in your mind forever. On the day Storm Caetano hit western France, bringing with it howling 80mph winds, we refitted Purdey’s gearbox and transfer box, with the help of our local mechanic, Chris. As the building shook, we battled with the heavy unit, luckily managing to get it done before we inevitably lost electricity (and some roof tiles). Our next mission was to get the chassis out and turned around so that we could get the tub into the workshop, hoisted up, and ultimately put in place. With limited space, we have to use the assets we have for such a manoeuvre, principally one of the roof beams to hang the tub from, while we…

AROUND two years ago my then 20-year-old son says to me, “Dad, I’m going to buy a Land Rover”. Now, back then I knew only one thing about Land Rovers, and that was that they looked cool. “How much you got?” I asked. “Around £6k,” he replied. This is when I learnt the second thing I now know about Land Rovers, and that is, although six grand would get you a great secondhand Audi, it wasn’t going to get you much of a Defender. These things are expensive! I figured eight to ten thousand would probably get you something in need of a fair bit of love. “Better keep saving,” I told him. So, for the next 18 months I looked online at the usual suspects to see what was…

THIS is it, then, the final day’s spannering to get to that highly-anticipated finish line. We’ll start by correcting the Land Rover’s nose-down stance, something it has always suffered thanks to a big winch and chunky spare wheel mounted up front. Luckily, this is an easy task on the military combat chassis, thanks to its dual-height leaf-spring hangers. Once that’s taken care of, we can continue on to fitting the replacement windscreen frame and repainted truck cab, before moving on to the remaining panels and exterior trims – the bonnet, tailgate and grille. There are also a few bits left to attach to the chassis, like the military bumperettes and Nato hitch. As always, there will be bits and pieces to tidy up and adjust along the way, but that’s…

WE never see a rusted or corroded Freelander 1 because this model was one of the first to benefit from Land Rover’s much improved paint processes. Despite the bodyshell being made of steel (except the plastic front wings) its factory protective treatment has stood the test of time – at least on top. But after up to 27 years of enduring wet roads, off-road muck and gravel and winter road salt, we can’t really complain that these little trucks are now starting to rust quite seriously underneath. Now is definitely the time to tackle the underside, removing loose rust, cleaning the contours, and getting some fresh paint and new protection on. Freelander is a monocoque – no chassis, just a very rigid body (as demonstrated by its full sunroof and…

How long have you owned it? Nearly seven years now. What made you want to buy this particular Land Rover? Nothing in particular. I didn’t know much about Defenders when I bought it, but I knew I wanted a green Defender 90 and heard good things about the Td5 engine, including the scope for tuning. I was fortunate that one came up for sale locally which was just what I wanted. What’s the story so far? I got the Defender in 2018 (I was 19 at the time) with a view to it being a daily driver, and it has been exactly that. It was in really tidy condition when I bought it. I spent a lot of time travelling back and forwards to university with it, but with the…