Current Owner: Ian Rylatt, Isle of Wight
Previous Owner(s): Various

From this...

...to this

Reported by James Dunsdon May 2001 as permanently parked in a nearby front garden, near Bideford, Devon. Possible non-runner. (Top picture)

More information gleaned in April 2015 — vehicle is in dire need of restoration, but the engine fires. No longer in that front garden... more details to follow.

May 2015 — the story is too complicated to detail here in full, but the then owner acquired the vehicle by default without any documentation. He appreciated the historical importance of the registration, but had had no success in managing to establish ownership of the vehicle, or declare SORN, because DVLA has no recent record of it. It had been suggested that he could re-register it afresh, and apply for the number SXF715 in the hope that it had not been re-issued, but for that to happen it would have to have a valid MOT(?) Clearly that was impossible with it in its current state.

The then owner regretted he has neither the time nor the necessary facilities to devote to a full (or even partial!) restoration, and wanted to find a buyer who could do a worthwhile job. There was someone in the frame, but the uncertainty about the documentation was a sticking point. Sadly there was a good chance that this potentially-restorable SXF would be broken — even if it weren't, it would probably lose its number.

HOWEVER, in late June 2015 I received a message from Andy ('Maverick' on the LRSOC Forum) who said:
Just a short note to advise that I have successfully purchased the above Landy. [It's] now at home in Exmouth, Devon and just started the slow stripping processes today.

Andy had been refurbishing a Brockhouse trailer, and realised it had been a Field Cable Party one — so getting the appropriate Land-Rover to go with it seemed to be an obvious idea.

Then in December 2017, 715 appeared in an eBay ad from Churchill Garage in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. (www.landroverrestoration.com)

The Classified (no bidding) Ad said:

This is an ex Civil Defence with “SXF” registration which has a owners club dedicated to “SXF” Civil Defence Land Rovers. [That's a bit grand for this website, but I'm honoured! — Ed] Just had nut and bolt restoration by our mechanic over the last 18 months, key specification as follows:

• brand new bulkhead
• original chassis sandblasted and repaired then given 4 coats of chassis paint
• engine stripped and fitted with new timing chain and head gasket then cleaned and painted
• gearbox checked and new clutch fitted then cleaned and painted
• axles stripped and rebuilt and painted
• all new suspension
• all new brakes
• new fuel tank
• new wiring loom
• new lights
• bodywork resprayed inside and out in Bronze Green and galvanising re galvanised
• wheels resprayed to match
• 5 new tyres
• new soft top
• front seats retrimmed
• rear bench seats fitted
• all new door rubbers and pedal grommets

Too much to list, superb looking example in immaculate condition.

The asking price was £29,950. At the time of uploading this (17/12/17) the advert was still current, with a range of photographs.

However, in July 2019 I received an email from Ian Rylatt saying that he bought 715 from Churchill, and "it’s now the family run about at our house on the Isle of Wight."

I'm delighted that this long and involved saga has had a happy ending.

[To add (or alter) information on this page, please contact me on sxf@teeafit.co.uk.]