What to look for

power and series land rover....mines a 2.25 petrol thats good for 50 mph if you want to have your ear drums rattled out ! about 18 mpg ! slow noisey and expensive to run

got a lot going for them then.

at 18 mpg I don't think i will want anything with a bigger engine, what are the diesels like?

Well my series is also petrol 2.25, will hit 70 (according to speedo!!) but on a recent run down the A1 (about 120miles) following a truck most of the way it achieved 24mpg. That is with: Freewheel Hubs, overdrive, weber carb & kenlowe fan! Conversation ceases above 50mpg, handling was great with seized springs but rolls abit with parabolics! Has lovely M/T tyres but beware in the wet...they don't seem to grip so well then!

dan84 said:

got a lot going for them then.

at 18 mpg I don't think i will want anything with a bigger engine, what are the diesels like?

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Slow, noisey, 30MPG all day long, keep going... and going... and going...

Ignore anyone who say "Oh they are ****" because a decent one is not.

They are a bit slow but they will keep up with the traffic... up until about 50 / 55.

As others have said check for rust. Rust anywhere is generally a bad thing because the only things made of steel are the chassis and bulkhead. Anything else is cheap as chips to replace..... Compared to the chassis and bulkhead anyway! Just do general checks that you would do with any other car but give the chassis and bulkhead a good going over with a hammer, check bulkhead for filler.

For £1k you are going to get something that needs a little bit of work... so i hope you are willing to get your hands dirty, or the garage bills will kill you!


Btw.... mine cost me nothing

to be honest the speed doesn't bother me as this is a big boys toy to play off road in. Being new to 4x4 driving i just want something cheap to get me started that allows for plenty of tinkering. The MPG is a little concerning as i wasn't planning to take out another mortgage everytime i want to take it out for a spin! I guess that just comes with the territory.

It certainly ticks the boxes then! Re mpg I look at it this way...my MG V6 struggles to better 30mpg so I'm not actually paying that much more in fuel when I compare 23 with 30mpg! Insurance is OK £150 for 3K a year inc green lanes etc. Look up Richard Hammonds Landy Tribute on youtube [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ8jOmolSac"]YouTube - grand old history of land rover[/ame] I love it!!

great link mate, i'm convinced. Just finding it hard to find one i like!

Good on yer mate!!
Of course you will be on first name terms with these folks!Paddock Spares - Land Rover, Range Rover Parts & Accessories - Discovery, Defender and Freelander

dan84 dont be a spanner, i wouldnt worry about the MPG tooo much because like w3hen i had a bike it used to do 100miles to a tank, but its a toy, your not commuting in it are you.

Guys the advise is great, we are well prepared to get our hands dirty and get it what we want. i have seen a few that i like, but i think dans looking for big wheels haha.

mate MPG is going to be an issue if we are planning on going on a few road trips. it will be fine, until we want to go on a landy adventure.

Big wheels would be nice, all i want is a 1973 ex military defender 90 with one previous careful lady owner, less than 20k miles on the clock, 37" plasma in back, sat nav, electric windows and heated front seats. With a budget of £1000 I don't see this being an issue!

Sounds great mate i will take one of them if you see one.

Is the defender 90 the choice of what you like, Not a series 2 or 3. im sooo excited about this. The landy adventures will be fine mate, for how often we do them we cant drive to scotland it will break haha. sure will be fine and a awesome laugh and wont cost too much to run im sure mate, just as long as we keep it maintained. i mean 20mph my car does 45 and the mo wont even notice a difference

Thats gonna be impossible as the Defender 90 wasn't made in 1973 You'll be after a series mate! Have a look at Auto Trader occasionally something decent comes up there but mainly ebay. I got mine taxed and tested for £500 off there! Don't be in a hurry to buy, wait until a good one comes around at the right price, it does happen!

Chrissyg said:

Don't be in a hurry to buy

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I am probably the most impatient person in the world!

well dan your gonna have to wait so you dont get a stinker

i paid £750 for mine and have probably spent near enough that again since but i don't regret it. it's a 33 yr old vehicle so of course it's going to need things replacing, hell i'm only a few years older than it and i need more than a few things replacing
I use mine every day it's not the most comfortable ride and certainly not the quietest but i love it, and in fact when i drive hubs car yesterday i hated it and couldn't wait to get back into my landy!!

is the reg of that BBW ?

landybird said:

i paid £750 for mine and have probably spent near enough that again since but i don't regret it. it's a 33 yr old vehicle so of course it's going to need things replacing, hell i'm only a few years older than it and i need more than a few things replacing
I use mine every day it's not the most comfortable ride and certainly not the quietest but i love it, and in fact when i drive hubs car yesterday i hated it and couldn't wait to get back into my landy!!

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That looks perfect mate thats what i want. course im gonna put more money towards it things need doing and you want to upgrade things etc i dont blame you but thats why i want one for under £1000 so i can spend that extra on it

Here's mine.. paid £390 orf fleabay.



Did plan to MOT it and use it straight away, but once I got it home and had a good poke around it turned out to be pretty rusty, especially the back end of the chassis..




But I don't care.. it's a great project, I aint gonna spend a mint on it but I will end up with a cracking Series.

£211 - failed the MOT on a brake light

Spawny git !