The evolution of the early Land Rover trucks can get a little complicated. Mine was made in 1979 (Series III) in Santana, Spain. Land Rover made 440,000 of this type between 1971 and 1985. The video below features a Series I truck. They didn’t use that term until the Series II trucks came along and all previous trucks then became Series I, by default.

Our Mr. Wolf was tapped to work on some of the cars shown during this event.

Frankly, I’ve never understood the appeal of off-road vehicles. ATV, dirt bikes, etc. But after watch a whole bunch of videos showing Land Rovers doing impossible things in all kinds of terrain, I’m getting a little tingle.

Mind you, I have few legitimate reasons to go “off road,” but a couple of times a year a big rain will completely wash out the gravel road leading to our house. Deep ruts that would swallow my MINI whole. I’ll be sure to post videos.

Fear not, I’m going to spend some time practicing this kind of driving, starting with gentle roadside ditches and farm pastures.

PS: Looks like this video was produced in 1972 but the voice-over sounds like 1955.

Apparently it is not uncommon to name one’s old Land Rover. This is Fergus and he (it?) belongs to a new acquaintance in the Kansas City area.

You can’t look too close- it needs a frame, and isn’t restored but is set up to take it into the forest for firewood. We left the dents in the body, rough cut the rear bulkhead out for more legroom, added comfortable suspension seats, and lifted it a bit with parabolics and OME sport shocks. One day I will take it apart again for a frame swap and better engine. The 2.25 gas just doesn’t have enough power to be safe on the highway. I lose 10 mph just going up hills!

I believe this is a Series IIa and I think it’s beautiful. I’m fond of the bikini top and will probably go that route next next spring. Here’s another angle on Fergus.