Land Rover Anorak Vehicles 110

Vehicles

110 Station Wagon

Year of registration: '87/E

Owned: September '07 to May '08

After the disaster that was my DII V8, I slummed it in an ordinary car for a few months but it wasn't too long before I was itching to drive a Land Rover again. By this time, my wife had bought one of her own - a DII TD5 ES, more of which here - which meant I had a bit more freedom in my own choice.

I briefly toyed with the idea of a 90, but the practicalities of seating my two small children in their car seats in the back eventually ruled that out. This then naturally led me towards a 110, which was something I'd always hankered for anyway.

Finding one for a sensible amount of money that didn't need major surgery to repair a rusted bulkhead proved to be a challenge, but I eventually came across this example on eBay that looked promising. The big tyres and winch weren't really my 'thing' but a more detailed look at the spec. revealed lots of new or updated parts including the bulkhead, the rear axle, the gearbox and various body panels. The engine was an Iveco 2.5TD, which I was quite relaxed about as I knew somebody with the same engine in his 110 and he raved about it.

The downside was that it was something of an unfinished project. It was apparently originally intended to be an expedition vehicle for use in cold climates, but many of the details such as wiring in the heated front windscreen and mirrors hadn't been completed. The dashboard had been customised with some interesting switch panels and gauges, although non of them worked, and all of the lighting circuits had been re-wired incorporating, for example, numerous relays in each rear light cluster. I decided that, as long as the vehicle was mechanically and structurally sound, those sorts of things would be relatively easy to deal with and cash was handed over.

Not long after I bought it, I took it to the Abingdon 4x4 Festival where, apart from getting a puncture in one of those big tyres, it performed brilliantly. It certainly looked the part with its' twin snorkels and Warn winch up front too, although it wouldn't remain like that for long.

As a daily driver truck that I'd be using for business as well as pleasure, it didn't really have the image that I wanted and so some changes were in order. First to go was the Warn 8274 winch and matching bumper, which although fun, were overkill for the sort of off-roading that I do. These were sold on and replaced by a standard bumper complete with some natty towing rings, painted bright yellow on a whim.

Next were the tyres. It came fitted with huge Goodyear Wrangler MTR's on white eight spoke wheels, which again were completely over the top for my use. They were also incredibly NOISY - so much so that my children complained that the vehicle was too loud on their first trip out. These were also sold and and replaced with more modestly sized 235/85R16 Insa Turbo Rangers on Discovery steel wheels that were also painted white. These tyres are a copy of the BFG AT tread pattern and for the price perform very well indeed. They were certainly much quieter too.

Other changes included removing one of the snorkels (it wasn't connected to anything anyway), a pair of fold up seats form the rear and a rather worn swing-away spare wheel carrier. The latter was replaced with a standard door mounted carrier, which I considered adequate for the job with the more normal sized wheels and tyres now fitted. All of these items were sold and the funds used to buy bits and pieces that I actually wanted.

I began the process of tidying up the things that either hadn't been finished or just needed attention. These included replacing the top rail and bottom fascia of the dashboard to return it back to standard, replacing all of the front lights and the plastic headlight surrounds, fitting an adjustable tow bar, connecting up the heater controls and the fuel gauge, replacing the bonnet catch and various other minor odds and ends. I also added a few details of my own including some chequer plate to hide the slightly tatty cills, a leather Range Rover steering wheel, a First Four Off Road rear step and a military 'Wolf' spare wheel sling.

Unfortunately though, in the end I had to admit defeat with this vehicle. Every time I looked at something I seemed to find more details that really needed attention and, whilst it was great fun to drive, I found that I just didn't have the time to spend on sorting out all of the things that needed to be done. It was a shame to see it go as it had a lot of potential, but sometimes you've just got to be realistic about these things.