Just Picked Up a Series II

[MickS]

Well, i have finally done it, and today I can say I am the proud owner of a 1959 Series II - ex firefly from the Royal Agricultural Show, where it spent some 20 years or so.

No pics yet, but will do asap. In the meantime, I want to publicly thank and acknowledge Uncle Ho for his assistance and vast amount of knowldege.

All she needs is a coat of paint and she will be sharper than a rat with a gold tooth. She drives great.

I've already taken the kids for a drive sans roof, and they love it!

:):):):)

[Lotz-A-Landies]

Mick

Waddya mean ex-Firefly? Does it have it's Firefly pumper body or not?

Diana

[ellard]

Hi there

Welcome its always nice to see another Fire Fly - Fire Engine

Will wait to see the pictures.

Wayne

[Grizzly_Adams]

Congrats!

Can't wait to see the pictures...

:BigThumb:

[MickS]

Mick

Waddya mean ex-Firefly? Does it have it's Firefly pumper body or not?

Diana

Diana

Yes, apparently it was a fire truck at the easter show, on a shorty body..not like the longer wheel base nodies...the pump etc has since been removed and it is now essentially a ute....there is an article on it in one of the magazines that came with the sale, along with a pic, so i will post up the full article if anyone is interested?

But it's very straight, has had a lot of money spent on mechanicals etc...original motor...has never been unregistered and goes really well. Has had work done on it (all receipts supplied) by reputable Landy mechs throughout Sydney...spoke to one of them last week, and he was glowing in his assessment of it..he put the current tub in it...

[MickS]

Hi there

Welcome its always nice to see another Fire Fly - Fire Engine

Will wait to see the pictures.

Wayne

Wayne

You may know this one, the seller stated he spoke to you some time ago about it...??

[ellard]

hi there Diana & Mick

There was a few of the short wheel base made - I have only seen pictures of the one from the Dulux Factory.

Essentially they were designed to be a hose carrier with extinguisers etc, but I wasnt aware they ever had pumps.

I was not aware it was for sale - but in saying that I have got enough now, but its good to see it go to a good home (well done Mick)

[ellard]

Pictures of the one from Dulux factory -

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/02/392.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/02/393.jpg

Enjoy

Wayne

[MickS]

hi there Diana & Mick

There was a few of the short wheel base made - I have only seen pictures of the one from the Dulux Factory.

Essentially they were designed to be a hose carrier with extinguisers etc, but I wasnt aware they ever had pumps.

I was not aware it was for sale - but in saying that I have got enough now, but its good to see it go to a good home (well done Mick)

Very similar mate...on mine, you can see the difference in the paint where the hose sat curled up, and where the brackets for the hose used to be....no bull bar though...

[ellard]

Hi there Mick

Well its a good find and I am happy its in good hands.

Are you going to Cooma with it? - it would be good to get as many fire engines there as possible.

All the best

Wayne

[Fusion]

Great find Mick :BigThumb::BigThumb:. Hope you have a lot of fun with it ;).

[MickS]

OK, managed to take a few pics, and hopefully they post up here OK....

Took her out a couple of times today again. Goes well, a bit "whiny" in second gear. Have not "driven" like this for a long time!!

This is an article from the June 2004 edition of "Free Wheeling" magazine - the magazine of the Rover Owners Club:

"The pictured Land Rover is one of four 86" SWB "Landy's" progressively acquired by the RAS of NSW. These were designed to act as 1st response fire vehicles at the Sydney RES site in Moore Park.

You will notice the absence of roof mounted beacons, sirens etc. This was to allow maximum accessibility to various low head room areas in the event a fire.They carried very little in the way of heavy fire hoses etc. just enough for a quick hit. They did however, carry a brass standpipe which was mounted in front of the grille. The showground site was quite well honeycombed with underground 4" and 6" water pipes.

The back section was fitted with a small demountable pump of about 110 gallons per minute and a hose reel carrying 130 feet of black rubber hose. The rear workspace also carried an axe, shovel and 2 McLeod tools. These are combination rake/hoes.

All four vehicles were fitted with 2 way radios tuned to the NSW Fire Brigade frequencies. The reason was that for the most part, they were crewed and operated by NSWFB personnel especially during show times.
All four vehicles were painted cherry red and as far as is known saw well over 20 years service each. Unlike the fire vehicles at Baulkham Hills Bush Fire Service, these retained their genuine Land Rover engines."

I've attached a picture from the magazine - apologies for the scan quality.

The bonnet has the holes where the brass stand pipe was mounted. Not sure about the white stripes though - a later addition?

[Fusion]

Great stuff mate ;). looks in good shape . very good start to a project . Congrats on the buy ;):)

[UncleHo]

G'day MickS :)

CONGRATULATIONS :ehand: you lucky family:) all it needs is a coat of "Cherry Red" and you have one VERY NICE little early series 2 SWB:D:D that will really turn heads, and I am thank you for the compliment, am only too happy to assist fellow Land Rover owners:thumbsup:


Bung-Tiddley

Uncle Ho

[Fusion]

Howdy Mick , Is this the SWB that was for sale in the markets area of the site?

[Bisho]

sure is, wannalandy! and this little gem used to live just down the road from me, i enquired about it before i ended buying young desmond (in comparison). As it looked like a little bit of a bomb from the outside, so i left a note on the vehicle asking if he had thought about selling. Turns it it has about 33 000 original miles on it, and it's tight as a drum! at the time, the owner was keen to hold onto it, and was asking too much for it. It really is a wonderful landy, how much more character can you get? apparently there's even a bullt hole in the front guard from a drunk security guard (sydney show ground). great buy! i've always had a thing for that one, and its awesome to see it get a bit more use than it was getting!! onya mick.

john

btw where r u in sydney mick?

[ellard]

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachments/series-2-2a/6829d1202731678-just-picked-up-series-ii-ras-landy-001.jpg

Hi there

I love the picture of the very early series II Fire Engines - theres has always been a lot of healthy discussion as to weather Land Rover actually made a series II Fire Engines (including SWB & LWB).

I honestly bieleve they did - There is quite a few within Australia and they advertised them in there early sales brochures, but theres is alot of UK so called "experts" still argue black and blue they didnt.

It would be nice if your could bring the little vehcile back to its former glory. I also have a picture of a SI SWB also used as a hose carrier/first response (will post later)

All the best - and a great piece of Australian Land Rover History.









Wayne

[MickS]

Thanks everyone, and it has already turned heads Uncle :)

Mick, it is the one that was in the markets section and it should keep me busy as a project :eek:

John, I'm in the Sutherland Shire.

Wayne, not too sure if I can get it back to its former glory, but I'll do my best.

The thing with it was that it didn't have to be flat bedded - I just jumped in it and drove it home. Always registered and my "research" led me to think that I would be hard pressed to find something similar, or something that didn't need a lot of money spent on mechanicals.

I have contacted the RAS archives section, and hopefully they will be able to come up with articles/pics etc which they can send me.

Here is another pic.....

[JohnE]

hey mick
thats a great find/buy, i remember seeing them at the showground years ago when we used to do the odd shift there.Always covered in dust!!

i'll be down at the end of the month, for the games, plus will be picking up the shorty from bathurst. i'll give you a yell when i get down.


john

ps can't ring you the no's are on the other computor , which has a video card prob, waiting to get fixed.

[Dinty]

G'day All, Good pick up, I thought it may have been one that a chap rang me about back when remlr was in it's infancy early 2000, he said his was Deep Bronze green and still had all the fire fighting eqpt still on board, I cannot remember who he was or what part of Sydney he resided in.:(
My S2A 88"GS (Chloe) has under 2,700 miles on the clock so if that one is nice and tight at 33,000 miles, you can well imagine how good 'Chloe' feels when been driven, anyway good luck with it and cheers Dennis:wasntme::angel: