My favorite Landy is the series SWB Land Rover. It is such a cool vehicle! Now after many years I thought maybe I want to get a short wheelbase again. So when I saw this vehicle for sale I was so excited because it’s a Series 2A. That means it has the front look of a series three but it’s still got the metal Dash.
Buying an old Series SWB Land Rover
I contacted the guy, after lots of discussions I had a deal. It took a while to ship it from Pletenberg Bay. It’s such a special vehicle with a whole lot of unique features. To start with is it’s got this cool Warn winch. It’s was fitted pretty much from the start of when the vehicle was bought by its first owner. Also its not one of the normal military vehicles that you get. It was a a proper original civilian vehicle, a 1971 Series SWB Land Rover model. The other cool thing about it is it’s got 8:1 compression 2.25L engine. That is its original engine so everything on it is still original nothing modified, it’s completely standard obviously. Sure it’s a little bit worn and tired and needs some work but it is as standard they come.
What did I buy?
This Landy started its life in the Eastern Transvaal or Gauteng area. It spent most of its early life in the Mpumalanga area. Then for the last seven years was down at the coast between Knysna and Plettenberg Bay. Unfortunately that’s what’s caused most of the rust on the vehicle but I think it’s been saved just in time. There’s a few spots that are very bad. The rest is just surface rust that should be able to be cleaned up once we redo it.
Once I’d taken out all the carpeting and cleaned it out I could start to assess the rust properly. The door tops were looking very bad too. That is where most of the rust was around the firewall and then on the in the footwells. The footwells are completely rotten and the left hand side spring hanger is the one that’s taken the brunt of it.
The dirt gets stuck behind the firewall and then it just stays wet and then corrodes. It’s interesting that when the owner sold this vehicle he didn’t think there was a lot of rust on it but there is.
Under the bonnet everything looked great and still has the original engine in. It looks a little bit dirty and worn but seems to go quite well.
Going for the First Drive
After checking everything out it was finally time to take this Landy for the very first drive. It went very well, engine sounded good and it pulled well. There was a bit of an exhaust leak somewhere. There was also a problem with the back diff or halfshaft because it only had drive with 4-wheel drive engaged.
Turns out that it was just a broken half shaft. So I removed the broken bits and replaced it with a new one.
Reasons Why its a Winner
Now onto those things about this Landy that make it an absolute winner. First one is what we found under the front seat is the original jack that these vehicles came with. It’s called a Shelly Jack and it’s complete with the handle. Looks a bit tired and used so I’ll be able to fix that up.
Second thing that makes this vehicle so cool the original papers that came with a vehicle. The original book is in this little AA book and it’s got the original owner’s manual. Its got all the details of ownership, and an old guide to motoring with a whole lot of old adverts and and stuff in it Lucas etc. There’s the optional equipment manual for Land Rover with all the options that were listed at the time. Then of course the all-important dealership index or guide so it tells you where all the dealers are all over the world. So when you go on that Overland trip you just take this with you. You will know exactly where to go in Malawi, Madagascar etc, all the original dealers.
The absolute best is the owner’s maintenance manual where you keep your record of your services. It has the service and you can see the ones taken tabbed off until 18 000 kilometers so that was the last one that was taken out. This vehicle did come with the original registration paper so it was registered in 1971 by the owner. Papers are completely clean, it’s not like a rebuild vehicle.
The Best Part of All
But the very best part of this vehicle I only realised after buying it. This 1971 Series 2A SWB Land Rover is identical in model to the very first Land Rover that my Dad bought in 1974. My Dads is a 1973 series 2A long wheelbase six cylinder. So we have big me and mini me, they are like a matching pair.
That is the best thing about this Landy that I got, these two from the same era. Great vehicles and really nice to have these two matching pair. Its just lucky, I never planned it that way but in the end it’s the best thing about this new little shorty that I got.
I’m looking forward to owning this vehicle and then at some point redoing it but for now we’re just gonna drive it around a little bit.
Watch the full video at The Overland Legend on Youtube
