Daihatsu Taft

Ok bear with me here - I know it's not a Land Rover!

I visited a client on a farm today and down the bottom of the yard was a nice original looking Daihatsu Taft 1980/81 W reg. Looks like it was a retired farm hack but chassis and bulkhead looked a little rusty but solid. This was cab version with tilt back.
I've never really seen one close up and peeking inside revealed a basic metal dash - like a Series 1 Land Rover. Fold down screen etc. I've read that there are only a handful still on the road. Just wondered if anyone had once owned one of these or driven one. What are / were they like?

If I had the space, I might have been making more serious enquiries - really liked the look of it

Internet library picture to jog memories....

I had one for around 3 yrs , took the body off to shotblast the chassis which was mint. The body was bad mind mainly the roof.
Couldn't get bits for it for love nor money but this was in pre internet days for me.
I also stuck the engine out of one in a 2.6 series 3 109 using a conversion kit off a guy in Telford .
Ive got some pics somewhere (the Doris loved it).
They drove better than a series for sure but rust and spares availability means I wouldn't touch another.

Yes, I was looking at parts on eBay out of curiosity. Wheel bearings brake pads, water pumps seem readily available but I wouldn't fancy looking for internal engine / gearbox parts. This one I saw was rust free bodywork wise but well worn. The chassis appeared to be surface corrosion. Just looked a fun thing - Series One LR in terms of size and quaint features

The later engine and gearboxes will fit (2.8 turbo iirc).
Leaf springs all round, some basic electronics which gave me bother, vac pump on the alternator .
The local main dealer couldn't even locate handbrake shoes for me around 1995 , could only import some at some silly price (£40 odd iirc), I found a place to reline them for a £10.

Half way through the restoration around 1994

More or less finished. Painted with mod paint nicked from the stores.

Pic of the backend next to the 109.

Oh, and this is how the 109 ended up looking like and powered by the dihatsu injun

Thanks for posting the photos!

They looked to be a simple design and easy to work on and small enough to fit through small spaces. Surprised that they weren't more popular with farmers at that time but maybe the towing capability / weight was a drawback compared with other vehicles in the late 70's / early 80's.

Just had another 'memory'
They rotted that bad that a company used to supply new fibreglass bodies for them.
I considered it but they were expensive .
I also remember I could carry the chassis, just , on my own, the 110 chassis needed 4 blokes to move around. Not got a pic of the daihatsu chassis but here's one of my 110 chassis.
Just realized that I've spent nearly all my adult life on projects.

It upheld the reputation of 70's Jap cars being rusty then! If it was that light I suspect it gave Land Rovers a run for their money in poor ground conditions.

We used to have one around the farm & I remember it as being pretty damn good off road & a lot more reliable than the Land Rover

We used to call them "Postman Pat's" around this way, good little run arounds popular with farmer's. However it was said that on a quiet day you could hear them rusting away.
When a local dealer started selling them he had an open day at a nearby farm when after a talk and display potential customers were allowed to drive them on the sloping field we were in.Not five min's had passed when behind us there was a thud and a Daihasu was lying on its side!
We took the opportunity to check out the underside of the vehicle and were doing so when there was once more a thud and another "Pat" was having a rest on its side.The event then came to a premature end.
Still they sold well and easely towed the trailer sizes common at that time,you just did not use them like a series off road
Not seen one in ages but some engines live on in a couple of local landys.

I can remember a local open cast mine using them , really good off road because they were so light.

I was told that when they were around many farmers chopped their Land Rovers in for these , or similar , Japanese 4x4s as they were cheaper . However , when it was time to replace them they found that they were virtually worthless and the dealers they bought them from didn't want them back . These careful and frugal farmers had been used to getting a good proportion of the cost of their new Land Rovers back when it came to changing them and were somewhat miffed when they found out that their bargain Jap 4x4s weren't such the bargain they thought they were .

One local solved the above problem by recovering the body of an old series 1 from behind the barn and fitting it to the Daihatsu chassis/running gear. Most thought it was just a standard series but the wheels and axle ends gave the game away.