Help please.

Hello to all fellow Land Rover enthusiasts, i am new to the forums but not new to Landys. I have a 2015 Defender Bowler 110, a 1995 Defender 90 300tdi hard top and I have just bought my second series 3. And this is where i require some help. The car has been restored to a very high standard at some point, but the history is sketchy. I would love to research the history of the car. I have spoken to the factory (traceability dept) and they can only tell me the date the vehicle was made and due to the fact the record is hand written and not very legible they can't confirm the colour it was when it left the factory, although i believe it to have been red which is unusual for a 1975 model. It has a coventry registration number so was wondering if it could have been a press car? or being red maybe fire brigade/post office. I would love to know more and try and establish if the low mileage is genuine.

The car is now a beautiful bronze green soft top. Reg:JKV 397N and chassis number: 90202358A

Anyone know this car?

Suggestions?

I think the best bet for a series 3 is to try and get the history from the DVLA - the colour should have been registered. (It sounds like you've already spoken with Dunsfold)

Stretch said:

I think the best bet for a series 3 is to try and get the history from the DVLA - the colour should have been registered. (It sounds like you've already spoken with Dunsfold)

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Thank You, I emailed the DVLA but have heard nothing back. I will ring them. I have so far only spoken to the traceability dept at the factory. I will try ringing Dunsfold.

FFS what a nice looking landy. To my knowledge red wasn't a standard colour at that time. It could have been GPO/ PO, a strong likelihood except they didn't use soft tops.

John S said:

FFS what a nice looking landy. To my knowledge red wasn't a standard colour at that time. It could have been GPO/ PO, a strong likelihood except they didn't use soft tops.

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Thank you. I thought maybe fire brigade?

Xander4428 said:

Thank You, I emailed the DVLA but have heard nothing back. I will ring them. I have so far only spoken to the traceability dept at the factory. I will try ringing Dunsfold.

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You probably won't get a fast response from the DVLA via email.

I think the form you need is this one =>

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...an-individual-for-information-about-a-vehicle

The problem with the Heritage certificate route is that they will be looking at the same hand written records that you've already had people look up for you. They are not very detailed. For example, I wanted confirmation that my engine block was original - that kind of detail wasn't recorded. You can only get a rough idea of the age of your engine from the engine number not a specific "matching numbers" confirmation.

I reckon the colour history of the vehicle might be more complete with the DVLA as it is one of the things they want the rozzers to know about

Stretch said:

You probably won't get a fast response from the DVLA via email.

I think the form you need is this one =>

https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...an-individual-for-information-about-a-vehicle

The problem with the Heritage certificate route is that they will be looking at the same hand written records that you've already had people look up for you. They are not very detailed. For example, I wanted confirmation that my engine block was original - that kind of detail wasn't recorded. You can only get a rough idea of the age of your engine from the engine number not a specific "matching numbers" confirmation.

I reckon the colour history of the vehicle might be more complete with the DVLA as it is one of the things they want the rozzers to know about

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Thats so kind of you to help. I will keep digging!

Actually, if you put your reg number into this DVLA web page

https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

It does say the colour is red.

So that information has not been updated.

The V888 form should still be worthwhile doing though as it might tell you who the original owner was

Stretch said:

Actually, if you put your reg number into this DVLA web page

https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

It does say the colour is red.

So that information has not been updated.

The V888 form should still be worthwhile doing though as it might tell you who the original owner was

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Thanks, i tried that, the other strange thing is when you check the MOT history on the DVLA which i think goes back to 2005, it shows it had an MOT in 2014 and 15 but none before that, so possibly 10 yrs without one? Hopefully in storage. It might help lend credibility to its low mileage.

Xander4428 said:

Thanks, i tried that, the other strange thing is when you check the MOT history on the DVLA which i think goes back to 2005, it shows it had an MOT in 2014 and 15 but none before that, so possibly 10 yrs without one? Hopefully in storage. It might help lend credibility to its low mileage.

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Low mileage confirmation is a bit hit and miss with out a wad of servicing records and even then speedos are not immune to being broken or disconnected.

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Chassis number information =>

http://www.seriesdiesellandrover.com/identification numbers.html

Numbers starting with 902-XXXXX were RHD export for 1971 to 1975 - this is meant to be for chassis numbers up to 902-02640A => Your number 90202358A seems to fall within this category...

...however, if there's one thing I've learnt about Land Rover in the last year is that they don't stick to the rules they have made for themselves, they do exactly what they want. There seem to be more exceptions to the rules than the rules themselves.

Stretch said:

Low mileage confirmation is a bit hit and miss with out a wad of servicing records and even then speedos are not immune to being broken or disconnected.

####

Chassis number information =>

http://www.seriesdiesellandrover.com/identification numbers.html

Numbers starting with 902-XXXXX were RHD export for 1971 to 1975 - this is meant to be for chassis numbers up to 902-02640A => Your number 90202358A seems to fall within this category...

...however, if there's one thing I've learnt about Land Rover in the last year is that they don't stick to the rules they have made for themselves, they do exactly what they want. There seem to be more exceptions to the rules than the rules themselves.

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I know its odd, i saw that about the export thing. However the V5 says it was first registered in the UK same date as its first registration. So i think not exported. The KV in the registration number would indicate that it was first registered in Coventry so nr. the factory. I was hoping it could have been a press car as i read somewhere that a lot of those had KV registrations. The red is an anomaly as well. Hopefully the DVLA will be able to answer these. It would be good to build up a picture.

I sent off (using some special form which I forget) to establish the previous owners of mine. It had 13 previous owners so I was keen to gleen whatever information I could. I forgot about my request and 3-4 months later a large wad of information arrived through the post. They had photocopied every v5 form for each owner.
Together with the Heritage certificate and MOT history which I obtained separately, I found out which owner added the hard top, which owner probably put it in a galv chassis, a good indication as to how long it was off the road for. Etc etc.

My advice would be to get all the information you can from the various sources (most are free) and build the puzzle.
I'm in Hampshire - I'll look out for you

Land Raver said:

I sent off (using some special form which I forget) to establish the previous owners of mine. It had 13 previous owners so I was keen to gleen whatever information I could. I forgot about my request and 3-4 months later a large wad of information arrived through the post. They had photocopied every v5 form for each owner.
Together with the Heritage certificate and MOT history which I obtained separately, I found out which owner added the hard top, which owner probably put it in a galv chassis, a good indication as to how long it was off the road for. Etc etc.

My advice would be to get all the information you can from the various sources (most are free) and build the puzzle.
I'm in Hampshire - I'll look out for you

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Thank you for your advice. I will be sending off the V888 to the DVLA. I look forward to building up the picture. See you around Hants!

Xander4428 said:

Thank you. I thought maybe fire brigade?

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Forgot about them! Whichever way it's really nice looking. My second landy was a 1975 model. My current landy is a swb S3 1983. It's Masai Red but I aspire to bronze green and have a canvas tilt so I'd like mine to look like yours

John S said:

Forgot about them! Whichever way it's really nice looking. My second landy was a 1975 model. My current landy is a swb S3 1983. It's Masai Red but I aspire to bronze green and have a canvas tilt so I'd like mine to look like yours

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Thank you for the compliments. She is a beautiful Landy.

In the Midlands during the 70's there were a lot of very big factories, one of the ones I worked at was more than half a mile from its north gate to its south gate. Some of these big factories used red landrovers, I know mine did. They where used as basic utility vehicles mainly by the maintenance department.
Also, one of the reasons why landrover parts were not always specific to the age of the vehicle is that a heck of a lot of suppliers to landrover (and other car makers) kept going on strike so LR would stock pile things like main components that they could source elsewhere. This meant that if a perceived strike didn't take place or didn't last long, LR would still be using the stock pile of components after they changed the model hence early s2a still having front panel headlights.
Col

Colthebrummie said:

In the Midlands during the 70's there were a lot of very big factories, one of the ones I worked at was more than half a mile from its north gate to its south gate. Some of these big factories used red landrovers, I know mine did. They where used as basic utility vehicles mainly by the maintenance department.
Also, one of the reasons why landrover parts were not always specific to the age of the vehicle is that a heck of a lot of suppliers to landrover (and other car makers) kept going on strike so LR would stock pile things like main components that they could source elsewhere. This meant that if a perceived strike didn't take place or didn't last long, LR would still be using the stock pile of components after they changed the model hence early s2a still having front panel headlights.
Col

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Wow, thank you! It would be great if it started life being used at one of the LR factories. I have sent of form V888 to the DVLA so may have some answers soon.

Xander4428 said:

Wow, thank you! It would be great if it started life being used at one of the LR factories. I have sent of form V888 to the DVLA so may have some answers soon.

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Hey @Xander4428 I know this is an old thread and it doesn’t look like you’ve been active for a while, but do you still have this Landy? I’ve just stumbled on this thread and realised it is my Dad’s old Land Rover! This one is the reason I’ve ended up with my two land rovers, including a blue S3 which is the colour I remember it as.

I’m happy if mine just starts