Thread: Importing Series 3 to Australia

Originally Posted by flecxie

Great!
One more question: what kind of seat belts should be installed?
We need to replace the ones we had (didn't work anymore), so we can better immediately buy ones which will pass the aussie test.
Thanks!

I think that seat belts have to be ones that have actual Australian approval. While this has been obtained routinely by importers for cars sold in Australia since seatbelts became compulsory, usually with the belts fitted for some overseas markets, the belts fitted to Series Landrovers were all sourced locally, so these would be the only ones approved. I think that an email to the relevant state authority may be useful.

From memory, seat belts were not compulsory in 1970, but I would certainly be fitting them to all seats.

Thinking of seats brings to mind a potential problem you may encounter. In NSW at least (other states may vary) ten or more seats makes the vehicle legally a bus - which means a six monthly roadworthiness inspection, carried out by the RTA not a garage. You probably do not want this, unless you really need the extra seats. If fitted with side seats in the back, this suggests a centre console in place of the middle seat is worth considering.

John

Originally Posted by flecxie

Great!
One more question: what kind of seat belts should be installed?
We need to replace the ones we had (didn't work anymore), so we can better immediately buy ones which will pass the aussie test.
Thanks!

As JD said - unless you can find some with Australian Standards compliance over there, they will likely be no good to you.

Seat belts cost will cost you around AU$70 each over here.

AFAIK seat belts were mandatory in Australia from 1969.

Seat belts, like blinkers, once retro-fitted are not allowed to be removed.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

ten or more seats makes the vehicle legally a bus

More than 12 actually John.

An organisation I used to work for routinely buys Toyota Hiace busses (14 seats) and removes two seats prior to registering it as a 12 seater. This means that the vehicle doesn't have to go through all the HV hoops, and employees/volunteers can drive them on a car licence.

Originally Posted by Shonky

More than 12 actually John.

An organisation I used to work for routinely buys Toyota Hiace busses (14 seats) and removes two seats prior to registering it as a 12 seater. This means that the vehicle doesn't have to go through all the HV hoops, and employees/volunteers can drive them on a car licence.

I based my remark on what I was told by an RTA inspector - they screwed up the paperwork on my County when I moved from Victoria and listed it as a five seater despite the fact that it had the side seats. I had to take it to an RTA inspection depot to have it checked after years of correspondence (actually charged them time and mileage for two trips to town - and they paid!). While he was inspecting it I was closely questioned as to whether it had originally had a centre front seat (it didn't) as this would have made it a bus. (The compliance plate does not have any seating capacity, describes it as an omnibus)

It is quite possible that the number of seats that make it a bus is different to the number of seats you can drive on a car licence - the answers to this are probably on the RTA website somewhere - but I always find it impossible to find anything on that website - it would have to be one of the worst ones I know of!
John

I did some digging.
According to the NSW RTA inspectors' bulletin:
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registration/downloads/vib56.pdf
(WA requirements will most likely be different to these)

Vehicles required to undergo an annual RTA Heavy Vehicle Inspection
The category of vehicles inspected under the RTA Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme (HVIS) has changed.
Inspections are based on the vehicles Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) or Gross Trailer Mass (GTM) instead of tare weight.
The following vehicle types are required to undergo an annual inspection conducted by the RTA under the HVIS scheme:
...
• Passenger-carrying vehicles with body shapes of BUS, SBS, FCV, PVS and PVF, or seating 10 or more passengers including the driver or with a GVM of more than 4.5 tonne, (regardless of usage).

But contrast that with this page about the HVIS: Heavy Vehicle Inspection Scheme (HVIS):

Vehicle classes that must be inspected
Heavy vehicles that require an inspection include the following vehicle categories and registered usages:

...
* All vehicles carrying 10 or more seated passengers including the driver or more than 4.5T Gross Vehicle Mass (regardless of usage).

So the threshold is 10 seats.

But I suspect the latter is the case regarding SBS, etc. vehicles - as our County was an SBS, and now Defender, (both 9 seaters) and they've never been required to go to HVIS.


Geoff

The Series III Land rover station wagons were described on the Australian literature as ten seats, whereas in the UK they were described as twelve seats. The reasons being that in the UK a twelve bum vehicle is a commercial and attracted a much lower rate of sales tax. In Australia at that time, a twelve seater required a bus licence, hence the description as a ten bum vehicle.

A matter of interest, my County is complianced as a "motor omnibus" ten seats even though with the centre console it could only be a nine seater.

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

The Series III Land rover station wagons were described on the Australian literature as ten seats, whereas in the UK they were described as twelve seats.

Brian are you sure that's the definition?

The 12 seat 109 wagons had Deluxe (ribbed) seat trim, 3 individual seats for the second row and (I seem to remember) the rear side facing seats were slightly longer than the side facing seats in the 10 seat wagons.

Diana