I've just been having a bit of fun looking over the ADR's and seeing which apply to my vehicles. The anomalies are intriguing.

Firstly, the date of manufacture makes a big difference on which ADR's apply - before 1988 is a lot easier than after. And the earlier before that, the easier, too.

Second, a bus (>9 seats, OM) is a much more lenient category than either Multi-Purpose Passenger Car (5-9 seats, PM) or "Other light vehicle" (1-4 seats, LG). The seats have been calculated based on the load-carrying capacity of a Series III. After 1988 a Land Rover would classify as an MD1, MC1 or NA1 if it met the descriptions above.

Basically, until 1983 there were few requirements on passenger buses. There was no requirements for seatbelts.

ADR21 - which specifies the requirement for padded dashes, did not take effect for any Land Rover classification until 1988 and still does not apply to utilities.

So, I'd suggest having a good look at what you want to do, what category that puts your vehicle in, and what ADRs do or dont apply to each category.

Having or not having 8 seats in the back could make all the difference. And whether you use a County or a Defender chassis could make even more.

http://www.dotars.gov.au/roads/safet...s_3Feb2006.pdf