Sold my 1991 Land Rover Defender 110, got a 1972 Series III a day later

There were some leaks around the injectors but that is expected from a 50-year-old car, that too a Land Rover!

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Introducing our 1972 Land Rover Series III 88"

and 1983 Land Rover Series III 109"

Background:

We had got a 1991 Defender 110 for greenlaning and offroading. I had created a thread on the Defender and had started calling it the "Unstoppable" as it was literally unstoppable. But that was the point that started alienating the vehicle and instead of being happy with such a capable vehicle, I started to get a bit annoyed. There was a strange feeling that car was doing everything and I was not learning anything! One of my friends here, Sam, had told me that he would get the Defender if I planned to sell it ever. So I brought up the idea with him and he agreed to take Defender off my hands. It was a long weekend and on Saturday morning Sam came and drove the Defender away! It is always difficult to let go of a car.

Long weekend and cash in hand is a bad combination. I started looking for a replacement vehicle immediately. Rajsri got a bit annoyed and told me to wait for some time before jumping onto another one and she was unhappy that I had sold the Defender. She loved driving it. Anyways that evening went out with Sam and his newly acquired Defender for greenlaning with a few others. I hitched a ride with Sam and some of the lanes were the toughest I had seen in the UK. I had already started regretting the decision to sell the capable Defender.

By Sunday night I had found a vehicle online and had booked a viewing the next afternoon. Went all the way to Kent in our Range Rover Sport to see the vehicle - a 1972 Series III 88".

The vehicle:

The Series III was standing inside a barn of a huge estate and it started at the twist of the key. Everything looked nice and fine except the front seats which were tattered. Not a big problem. There were some leaks around the injectors, but that is expected from a 50-year-old car, that too a Land Rover! Took permission from the owner and drove the vehicle for a few minutes inside the estate. Everything seemed to be in place and I was keen to finalise the deal and be on my way. Spoke to Rajsri for a minute and found that she was a bit apprehensive, but did not tell me the reason. She just told me in a nonchalant manner to go ahead if I think it is a good deal.

To be frank I did not have much idea about the Series III and was amazed that the 50-year-old car was running at all. So I must admit that my judgement was clouded, to say the least. More on that later. I told the owner that I would take the vehicle and drive it back to London, about 75 miles away. The shock on his face was quite evident, he said that he had not driven the vehicle more than 10 miles in the last 2 years that he had it. Said all the best to me, did the paperwork and we took some pictures before leaving.

Driving out followed by our trusted old Range Rover Sport!

Forgot to mention one thing. Before we left the owner told us that he wanted to give us something. After a few minutes, he came back with a basket with 5 bantam eggs in it. Over the years I have bought many used vehicles, but this gesture was a first.

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