Description
‘Dolores’ is an ex military FFR (Fitted For Radio) 88 inch built in 71, but she came to the civilian market in 81.
She sits on chunky road/ off-road cross tyres on original steel wheels in Old English Heritage white (a clotted cream colour), she has free wheeling hubs, which along with the drum brakes have all been rebuilt in the last couple of years.
She rests on parabolic springs for a better ride and has an all stainless steel exhaust system, plus she is on a new galvanised, and painted chassis - so her resistance to rust is increased manifestly! She has also been coated on her under carriage.
The exterior is hand painted in Land Rover marine blue, she has a Rocky Mountain front grille, full tow bar and electrics and full LED lighting all around.
Bulkhead and pillars are in excellent condition, and body work is all in perfect working order. Her panels have the usual knocks and dings and repairs, but her repaint a few years ago means they just reflect her history. The hand painted vibe means touch ups are easy too.
The doors and tailgate all fit great with correct seals etc. Her rear deck/ tub supports were all redone a couple of years ago and we made sure to not have the ally sit on the steel, thereby preventing that build up of white powder steel with ally corrosion.
She comes with a full hardtop roof (in Old English Heritage white of course), plus a sand canvas hood (new with side panel windows and all the sticks/ hoops/ hardware) AND a sand canvas bikini hood! Her hardtop has the cat flap opening rear door (super hard to come by) on a gas strut, which means it mates perfectly with her drop down tailgate. This also means whether she has her hard roof, rag top, bikini or is topless, it is an easy & painless swap over each time.
Inside she has 3x seats up front and two fold up bench seats in the rear, lap belts for the middle front passenger and four rear occupants, shoulder belts for the main passenger and driver. These connect and swap easily between hardtop and ragtop.
The seats are all in the exclusive Harris Tweed and tobacco leather Exmoor trim. She has a detachable Momo wooden steering wheel (for security), upgraded electrics with dash charging & usb ports, and I very recently re trimmed her whole dash in brown leather too.
As many bolts and fittings, etc as possible I have replaced with stainless steel fittings. Plus her interior lights are all LED bulbs.
She has a push button, toggle kill switch, immobiliser switch, and a red key under the bonnet.
She has an awesome vintage Union Jack lining the inside of her hardtop, a full rubber mat in the load area, original logo’d rubber mud flaps and Land Rover rubber footwell mats in the front.
Underneath the up-spec bonnet she has an upgraded air filter system and upgraded carb. And a new rad, newish alternator and new battery.
A couple of years ago I put in one of the Toro overdrives, they have the bigger oil capacity, so last better than the originals. It makes for smooth 50mph cruising, 3rd gear and overdrive engaged is easy on hills and it just means a conversation inside is a possibility!
I also last year replaced her gear selector and stick with a Syncro short shift system - changing gear is now NOT like stirring a pot of paint with your keys on the end of a stick.
She is MOT and tax free (so long as you input your £0 payment online each year) because she is an historic vehicle. I have a burgeoning file of history and docs to go with her and for the past (maybe 9/ 10 years?) she has been serviced by Keith Gott’s Land Rover Co. All service work/ bills inc.‘Dolores’ named after the gunslinging heroine from Westworld who wore a pale blue dress and had sandy blonde hair, she is the perfect go anywhere, do anything truck. She is a little like a family member after all three of our boys learned to drive in her, but sadly a move to the USA means we cannot take her with us (yes, she’s old enough to qualify, but on a new galvanised chassis, sadly that is too big a change for US import customs, as her new chassis no longer holds her original serial number).
The perfect weekend Cornish getaway vehicle / bimble to the pub on a Sunday afternoon / load her up with logs, dogs or hedge cuttings / arrive at a shoot or picnic out of the back.
Her serial number inside on the lower dash panel (it wasn’t called a VIN back then) matches up with her engine number, and she is essentially one of the earliest Series IIIs, in that cross over year from SIIA to SIII. We think she was with the RAF for her military career (judging by a couple of different coats found in the engine bay).
Her upgrades (lighting, wheels, engine bits, overdrive, gearing selector, etc) now make her a properly useful and viable machine, rather than just owning a classic car you can’t quite rely on. I’d be hesitant to say the mileage is spot on as in the last year the odometer chooses when to work, but as the original Speedo works fine…
She starts literally on the button and is tireless, quaint and quirky but in an entirely everyday liveable way. We picked her up from John Brown’s Classic Land Rovers.
We have had her at shows gleaming and gorgeous, as well as pootling down green lanes you’d struggle to walk down. I insure her fully as a family car for around £160, but frankly could get it as low as £69 if I needed. I insured guaranteed value is set at £20k. She used to be my daily for a number of years and she runs on E5, with additive every couple of tanks from the local petrol station. So if you want an everyday useable classic, look no further - we require a good home for her, as this is a reluctant but necessary sale.
