1966 Land Rover SERIES IIa

Believed to have been the service vehicle for Ormu bakery for many years, this charming 88” short-wheel-base Series IIa Landy wears its heart on its sleeve. It’s far from perfect (but then let those without sin cast the first stone, eh?) but it is straight and solid and now just needs someone to continue to love it.

Built on the 25th of January 1966, it was first registered in Northern Ireland on the 2nd of February 1966 by local dealer Charles Hurst of Belfast. Fitted with the sweet-revving 2.25-litre petrol engine it appears to have been off the road, working for the bakery as a ‘fast-response’ breakdown vehicle for their lorry and van fleet for around 25 years, being re-registered in Northern Ireland on the 12th of October 2017. This might explain the low mileage, which the vendor thinks may well be accurate.

In his care for the past four years, he spent he first couple of years refurbishing it with a new rear chassis and outriggers, footwells, dampers, brakes, track rod ends and a new exhaust.

He’s since only really used it to attend local classic car and vintage shows, and describes it as still “wearing its working clothes” and ‘straight and original”.

Offered for sale with a very sensible reserve, it could easily be used as it is, or as a rolling restoration to improve as-and-when time and funds allow.

The Bronze Green bodywork is like that of most genuine old Land Rovers; a bit battered here and there but sporting the sort of indomitable spirit that no modern SUV or faux four-wheel-drive could ever hope to emulate.

The cream hardtop is in decent shape too, and still sports the latch on the roof that holds the tailgate open horizontally to provide the mechanic with some protection from the soft Irish rain when he was fettling broken-down bread vans.

The silver-painted front bumper has more holes than it left Solihull with and it’s a bit wobbly, but then no-one is going to argue with you when that’s the first thing they’re going to hit, are they?

The galvanized trim is very far from being the worst we’ve ever seen and the rear chassis member, complete with towing point, appears ultra-solid because it’s new.

The steel wheels look terrific, and the chunky mud tyres look like their tread depth can be measured in inches rather than millimeters.

Problems? Well, one headlamp is cracked but then a good replacement is supplied, so swings and roundabouts, eh? Oh, and the light lenses are the early glass ones rather than the later plastic.

The three front seats are pretty good for a Series Land Rover and while it does have two inward-facing bench seats in the rear, they’re different colours. On a more positive note, what little interior trim there is – and there isn’t much of course - is in decent shape.

But, it’s got the iconic three gearlevers sprouting from the floor and there’s even a heater. (Heh, don’t scoff; they weren’t standard.)

The vendor tells us that the fuel gauge doesn’t work. But then this is an old Landy we’re talking about, so let’s not get overly precious, eh?

The engine and gearbox have been replaced with reconditioned units at some point in its life, and while the vendor tells us that it starts, runs and drives as it should it would benefit from having the carburettor tuned up.

Please take the time to watch the video to see it in action.

As you can probably tell from the photos, the old girl received a new rear chassis and outriggers only recently, along with new footwells, so she appears strong underneath.

The Land Rover has a current MOT certificate extended to August 2nd despite it being exempt by virtue of its age.

It also comes with an expired MOT certificate plus a few bits and bobs of correspondence including a British Motor Industry Heritage trust copy of the factory record.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this paperwork.

Buying an old Land Rover is never a bad idea and when it comes with the charming history of this one then it adds yet another dimension to an already very attractive vehicle.

One of the (many) joys of running an old Series Landy is that they can be left sitting for months at a time without worry; all you do is jump in, pump the throttle a couple of times and it’s almost certain to fire into life. This makes them ideal for folk who want an occasional classic for beach barbeques, a spot of muddy fun, or keeping mobile in the snow.

They tend to hold their value too, which makes out guide price of somewhere between £9,000 and £12,000 almost irrelevant; if you’ve got it earning sold-all interest in the bank, this is a far more interesting way of stashing it away, surely?

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the seller in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland; to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. He has said that he is very happy to help the winning bidder with arranging transport, should the location prove problematic.

Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

This vehicle is not with us at The Market’s HQ near Abingdon, which means we have had to rely on the owner’s description of it, in conjunction with the photographs you see here, to compile the listing.