I'd second hammy on that; you woint find MUCH for under a grand, let alone a tax exempt one, there just aren't enough about, and for a 'leisure vehicle' thats what every-one wants.
A grand might JUST get you a 'Historic Vehicle Status' eligible landy, but it wouldn't be much more than a project base.....
I presume, you are thinking 'Land-Rover' as in the farmers-truck style ones, the Series Landies, rather than a Discovery or Range Rover?
For under a grand, you'll be lucky to find ANYTHING, that shape that is reasonably road-worthy, again, becouse that's what EVERY-ONE wants.
Cheapest of the breed are Series III Land-Rovers, built between 1971 and 1983, which have lamps in the wings, plastic radiator grills, plastic dash-boards and leaf springs.
A Grand would just about get you a 'tidy' and functional short wheel base, but probably not a Station Waggon with seats and windows in the back; more likely a pick-up or van back.
Prices for these start from around £500 for something with some Tax and Test on it, and go up to, well, 5-6K for 'collectors' examples, be they amazingly 'authentic' original veihcles or incredibly well restored concourse examples.
In the real world, expect to pay about £1500 for something worth having, thats reasonably tidy, reasonably sound, and reasonably useful; 'better' examples, might push closer to £2k, particularly if they are a genuine CSW or CSW spec. 'Nice' SIII's can fetch more. and I was looking at one the other day, marked up at just over £3K on Craddocs forecourt. Nothing particularly 'special' just a very tidy, 'renovated' late SIII genuine County station Waggon, and I doubt it will sell for much less than the sticker price.
Something reasonably solid and functional, but a bit more scruffy might fall in budget, at around £750, beneath that, they will need work and money spent on them.
If you really want a tax exempt SII, then start at the middle of the SIII price range and stretch it to around £5-£6K.
If you want to go for a 'modern' Landy, then you are talking a 90 or 110, built from 1983 to 1990, or a 'Defender' (essentially the same vehcile save the new TDi Diesel engine) built from then on, and still in production.
Coil spring suspension, permenant four wheel drive and 'flush' to wings radiator grill; prices on these start 'just' inside yoru budget for early ones.
110's, but not the five door station waggon, are a bargain, but 90's command a premium.
£500 would buy you an early 90, that was little more than a project base, or a 110 commercial (van or pick-up) that was just about serviceable.
£750, might get you something moderately 'useful' by way of a 110, but tatty and in need of work by way of a 90.
£1000 might JUST get you something useful by way of a 90, or a reasonably funtional 110 commercial.
LOTS of these though are being bought up for inflated prices by people intending to bring them up to later 'Defender' spec using a rotton Discovery as a donor for a TDi engine and newer, less worn running gear.
If you want something inside your budget, then there are a lot of early Discoveries dropping into the bargain basement these days, but unfortunately at that price most are, or are very close to being spares or repairs projects.
Possible to get something 'useful' for around £8-900, but most will be pretty rotten, and in need of major welding come test time..... either this year or next!
LOTS of examples going for as little as £250, spares or repairs, normally with terminal body and chassis rot.
Better value is still to be found in old Range Rovers; LOADS of them about, and very few breaking your £1000 budget.
Older ones are better; becouse they dont have as much on them to go wrong as the later ones, with air suspension and more electric accessories, and they were actually built better and dont rot as fast.
£750 should get you a pretty useful Range Rover Classic V8 on LPG, which is as cheap on fuel as a Diesel.
Lots of scruffy examples out there, and it IS possible to buy something with Tax and Test on it, with a Range rover badge for as little as £250.
At the top of your budget, if you sort through the chaff, and ignore the optimists selling an 'average' example with shiny paint for a premium, you should be able to turn up a straight, solid motor, with nearly all the 'usual suspects' sorted, going for a song, simply becouse the prices are so depressed.
One I just bought to replace my 'old' 3.9Vogue, was another 3.9Vogue, pro-gas converted, £650, wheel arches done, needed sills. Chucked £300 at the remaining 'usual suspects' of sills and floor rot, and a little 'fettling' and I have a sound, solid motor for £20 under your budget, that shouldn't need much to see it through its next three or four tests.
If you stretch the budget, there are a lot being advertised by optimists, between £1000 & £2,500 some of which are occassionally worth the money, but most aren't
And then there are the 'classic' classics, the earlier two-door models, which are now rare and have classic status; and can command a premium over the 'typical' examples on offer.
Some really good early 2-doors can fetch silly money into tens of thousands, but more normally in the mid thousands.
Again, on Craddocks forecoart this week, there was a K-reg 1971 (tax exempt & VERY RARE) 2-door, tidily restored, but NOT to original condition, it had the interior from a later model and a brooklands spoiler! But a sticker price again, of just over £3K, and I'd expect it to go for the asking price SIMPLY becouse its one of the few built that qualify for tax exemption.
So, where would you like to start?
If it has to be a slab-side utility Landy, then you need to re-think the budget, either to buy a better example to begin with, or to be able to bring a cheaper one up to scratch.
If you want to play with the spanners, then a Series III is easier to get to grips with, and normally a bit cheaper on parts, but a carbed Rangie isn't much more daunting, If it doesn't have to be a slab-sider.
If you can weld, and like wrestling with rusty out-riggers, then you may like to take on a project, in which case an SII may be do-able, and more likely to be worth more of the time and money you sink into it when finished; though even DIY'ing it, you aren't likely to bring in the finiahed article under budget, or have a vehicle worth more than the cost of bits you have had to buy to build it.
Certainly more so than trying to rescue a rusty Discovery......
If you JUST want something to walk the dogs and shift mucky stuff about, and not waste too much time or effort on with spanners; probably the best start would be a Series III, and for the standard of motor you could expect to get for the money, probably a Long wheel Base '109' model, again, a commercial, pick-up or van-back..... take up a lot of space on the drive though, but you can get an awful lot more wood, DIY materials, furniture etc in them.
