Best Expedition Land Rover?

Hello I wondered if I could get some advice on what would be the best base vehicle for an extremely low cost Land Rover for an overland trip which I’m helping to plan from France to Singapore.
Early Land rover or Disco maybe an elderly Range Rover?
The budget for this daft idea of a trip is very low indeed so we are talking of an older vehicle –speed is not important but fuel cost are –we may even be thinking of building a camper on a base unit (this would be separately funded by me –things you agree to do for your mates after too much red wine!). Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you Jaro

Series 3 109 or a defender 110. if you're thinking of turning it into a camper.

a diesel 109 turned inta a camper!Easy(ish) to fix,simple engines and no clever electrickery.plent of room for equipment and kippin in.And speed wont be an issue cos you wont have none!

the problem with low cost overlanding is that a cheaper vehicle may have many more problems along the way. usually due to age. If your not turning one into a camper a series 1 Discovery would be ideal with the 200tdi engine. if you wanted a camper convertion an older 109 or early 110 would be cheapest. the vans are cheaper again than the station wagons and offer more security due to less windows. you can also load them better this way. just make sure the vehicle is mechanically sound and well serviced... same as always eh?!

G

for such an expedition I wouldn't bother with the camper conversion and use tents / roof tent / camping hammocks or some such instead. A landy isn't an ideal camper but is a great base for camping on top of / next to.

I'd go for a coil sprung early 110 over a series anything for "comfort"

You can pick up something suitable for under a grand, give it a good check over making sure the suspension mounts etc are good, give it a complete service, take it on a trial trip (like round Scotland) and see how it copes.

Even if the chassis is tired as long as you don't overload the landy and as long as you drive it sensitively you should be ok.

For sleeping, a second hand roofrack, a sheet of marine plywood and two ASDA £7.80 tents will work. Maybe a couple of self inflating mattresses if you like your home comforts!

If it all goes REALLY WRONG you can just abandon the vehicle (ok give it to a local garage) and you're what £1000 out of pocket?

And if it goes well, you've done a major overland trip for pennies.

(The above WAS my plan till I decided to do a full rebuild on my "budget overlander" which cost me so much I could no longer afford the trip - but do now have a nice landy)

Thank you for your input, no ones suggesting Disco's then? would have thought that these were better value as a base than the proper Land Rovers?

Jaro said:

Thank you for your input, no ones suggesting Disco's then? would have thought that these were better value as a base than the proper Land Rovers?

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Not if your planning a camper conversion. as the body is one piece and can't be modified without major cutting and welding. a defender is a giant meccano kits and everything can be unbolted and removed if necessary.

A 110/109 also has a lot more storage space.

discos a capable beast and probbably a beter place to be sat over a long journey but as red sed 109/110 is the way to go for camper.but the rof tent idea is a goodun see http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Hannibal_roof_tent.jpg

I would try to find a very early V8 defender, because of the price of fuel they are cheap. And put an ex-rusty-disco tdi engine and gearbox in it. The best fuel consumption of any Landy engine.