Tell us about the first Land Rover you ever owned

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Originally Posted by 1984V8110

We still travel light in our newer LRs (although we still use these for fun), but it's worth noting that we had 4 adults and 3 kids under the age of 5 in those 2 SWB LRs and we were away for a week

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Great write up and pics.

Its amazing what we did years ago.
There was 4 of us kids,two parents in the SWB S1,wooden tailer in tow,used to travel all over the place.
Fraser island trips went for months,although on occasions we did get food and parts flown in.
Also long trips up to Cairns and Daintree areas are in my memory as well.
Huge canvas tents,no fridges,tinned food,dried meals at times,powdered milk,fresh fish(if we caught any,which we usually did),etc,etc.
No complaints either,three of us kids, spent weeks, in the back of the S1,sitting on pillows,or towels.The youngest always sat in the middle in the front.
Not much ventilation,we always had a paper bag ready if we didnt feel well[bigsad][biggrin]

Kids these days wouldnt last 2Km without a winge or three[biggrin][wink11]
Any of that and we got a good clip around the ear[bighmmm][biggrin]

Pics of those days for us are hard to come by,but i will have a search.

I always wanted a Land Rover, so after graduating from a VW Kombi I bought my first 4wd, a Datsun 720 Dual Cab in 1983. Yes, go figure.

My first Land Rover we bought in 1987, a Stage 1 V8 Stn Wgn. We owned that vehicle for 21 years and it took us lots of places, including our first crossing of the Simpson in '89 and to Cape York solo in '94, Fraser Island and many, many weekends camping and weeks of touring.

This is 'Alfred'.

Attachment 177791
A child of the '70s, which we adopted in '79, in the Isa. Helen and I had many adventures and one or two misadventures with him, over the years. I remember on leaving the Isa, there was a fair bit of water over the road in several places, so we hooked Alfred up to the Kingswood that Helen was driving and I'd tow her through the different patches. Probably frowned upon today! I traded him on a 244 Volvo sedan after returning to S.E. Qld in the late 80's. The Volvo was a great car, but not the character that Alfred was. [bigsad]

Helen and I still talk about him.[bigsmile1]

My first was a 200Tdi Defender 110 trayback.

Mate named it Doris which i thought was a stupid name and had never heard of a car called that before.,
But I see that @Tins also has a trayback ute named Doris. What are the odds...

My first Land Rover was a 300TDI Disco 1. It was at the time that they were using the "starts below 40" theme for their ads. I almost bought a second hand 3 door a couple of years earlier but ended up with a Daihatsu Rocky instead. I haven't been without a Land Rover since 1998 or so.
Attachment 177808

Pictured in Tassie

Regards,
Tote

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Originally Posted by scarry

Great write up and pics.

Its amazing what we did years ago.
There was 4 of us kids,two parents in the SWB S1,wooden tailer in tow,used to travel all over the place.
Fraser island trips went for months,although on occasions we did get food and parts flown in.
Also long trips up to Cairns and Daintree areas are in my memory as well.
Huge canvas tents,no fridges,tinned food,dried meals at times,powdered milk,fresh fish(if we caught any,which we usually did),etc,etc.
No complaints either,three of us kids, spent weeks, in the back of the S1,sitting on pillows,or towels.The youngest always sat in the middle in the front.
Not much ventilation,we always had a paper bag ready if we didnt feel well[bigsad][biggrin]

Kids these days wouldnt last 2Km without a winge or three[biggrin][wink11]
Any of that and we got a good clip around the ear[bighmmm][biggrin]

Pics of those days for us are hard to come by,but i will have a search.

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Not Landrover, but where us kids travelled in 1947. I am far right, my sister is the oldest one, the other three are cousins. By the clothes we are wearing it must have been my grandfather's 90th, held in the old hall at Mulgoa, where the fire station is now (I think). There were only two seats in the front for mum and dad, so the kids travelled in the back. The vehicle is a Ford T.

Attachment 177809

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Originally Posted by JDNSW

There were only two seats in the front for mum and dad, so the kids travelled in the back. The vehicle is a Ford T.

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Huh very neat. Am guessing the engineering inspection of the anchor points for the additional child seats was a lot cheaper back then? 🙃

My first LR was a second hand blue Disco 1 which I bought in 1996 and i thought it was the bees knees after having a holden jackaroo previously. It was a manual and a great car except I remember the dashboard cracked to the point that it was ugly. LR still replaced the dashboard even though it was out of warranty. Did lots of sand driving around Beachport back then. I think my favorite car of all time was my grey Disco Series II with auto and the 5 cylinder motor.

Attachment 177810

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Originally Posted by skidrov

Huh very neat. Am guessing the engineering inspection of the anchor points for the additional child seats was a lot cheaper back then? 🙃

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Anchor points? child seats? seats?

Perhaps worth pointing out that the Ford T truck had a nominal maximum speed of 15mph, about 25kph. While speeds could get a little faster downhill or perhaps even on the level, they were certainly not fast. Those fitted with a two speed axle were faster (35kph). They had a nominal carrying capacity of one ton, a wheelbase 15% longer than the car, and a 7.25" diff ration compared to 3:1 for the car. But the same 20bhp motor and transmission.

The Ford T car, with much higher gearing, had a top speed of around 70kph.

I bought my first Land Rover in 1967. It was an ex Ambulance from Woomera Rocket Range. Bought it from Carthy Motors in Melbourne for $1700 on condition he fitted a fuel tank on the LHS and free wheel hubs. Which he did. It was a 2a I think 63 and had a fold down tail gate that made a step. It came with a fold down back settee thing on the RHS that made a bed and a stretcher rack on the LHS . The folded stretcher was stored under the settee thing. Travelled all round OZ in that. Broke an axle near Ayres Rock. My fault as hubs were still locked out. Went on to Adelaide on front axle.
Camped under Ayres Rock and found the Leyland Brothers tree they blazed as the centre of OZ.
Took it to Mt Hagen in PNG when I got a job there in 1969. Sold it to a School Teacher when I transferred to New Ireland and by then I was driving a Series one SWB I squeezed a crate motor Rover 6 into.

Sorry about the pics. They were half frame slides I took on a Canon Demi and they got a bit of fungus in PNG



https://live.staticflickr.com/1796/2...c1afe763_b.jpgCamping Ayres Rock in rain 1968 001 by Keith
Cree, on Flickr


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e7602e2c_b.jpgLeyland Bros. Tree centre 1968 001 by Keith Cree, on Flickr

If you want to know more about the Leyland Brothers trip across the Simpson in their old Land Rovers, read their book "Where dead men Lie "
You will see a pic of the same tree.

Found another photo.
Something you cant do now. Drive up Mt Kosciuszko.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...870bf0e6_b.jpgOn the top of Mt Kosciusko 1967 001 by Keith Cree, on Flickr