Thread: What makes it a LandRover - VIN

You need to be a lot more specific.

The chassis number and on later models the VIN is always stamped on the chassis, on most modern vehicles on the RHS chassis rail usually in front of the front wheel.

In Australia, many (but not all) series Land Rovers have them stamped on the LHS rear spring shackle bracket.

In terms of swapping body panels, many Series panels will still fit on Defender models. Range Rover classic and Disco 1 front mudguards will fit on each other but look a bit strange. Discovery panels will not fit on Freelanders, get my drift.

Since the introduction of the VIN - that will determine the production model specification although it may differ from the year of manufacture. i.e. a November 05 build whatever will be a 06 production "whatever"specification.

Diana

I think your question is what determines what model the vehicle is, seeing so many bits are interchangeable, particularly for Series Landrovers.

The answer is - the chassis. All Landrover chassis have the VIN or before them (early 70s) chassis number stamped on them in the locations Diana stated, although some of the early ones varied. This number also appears on a plate on the back of the bulkhead on earlier Series Landrovers, later somewhere under the bonnet, but the definitive one is the number on the chassis, and this is the one that should be checked when registering it.

As an example, if you fit a Series 3 chassis to a Series 2a (virtually identical chasses) the vehicle then becomes a Series 3, and all differences from Series 3 specification have to be engineered, which will present all sorts of problems.