This vehicle has had many homes and owners in its civilian life! The earliest owner I have a record of is Simon Squance, of Weybridge, Surrey.
Subsequent owners (George and Diane Thrift, Arborfield, Berkshire) contacted me 11/04 to say the vehicle was undergoing restoration:
"Will be bronze green — at present faded green. So far have cleaned all of chassis, two coats of red lead, one coat of black Hammerite Smooth, refitted rear body, fitted new wiring loom. I have a hard top for it but I am not sure if this is right. Hope to be on the road in a couple of months(!)"
Whether that 'couple of months' was actually achieved, I don't know... but in March 2006 there was an advert in LRe 03/06:
"Rare opportunity to accquire a SXF registered Land Rover, first registered to Home Office in 1957, 88", in first class condition, hardened valves, repaint & Exmoor trim seats, 54000 miles, £3750." Now fitted with White H/top.
A year later (4/07) new owner Andy Smith (Terrington St Clement, Norfolk) wrote :
"It still has a white/cream hard top, new soft top and hood sticks from Exmoor trim due to be fitted this summer. It will also be placed up for sale this year."
The next owner I know of was Marc Halliwell, of Todmorden on the W.Riding/Lancashire border, who seems to have owned the car from March 2009. In January 2014 he sold the car to Nigel Reid in Kingswood, Bristol. Nige told me that the engine has a factory rebuild plate with serial no K1408/20/10. He'd been looking on the Series One Club Forum for few years looking for a Series 1. On January 10th he posted:
"SXF 777 was delivered today in bits. Only thing that looks like needs work is bulkhead so will take off and get stripped and repaired"
He supplied these pictures:
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But only a short while later Tom Wykes emailed me to say that the Car and Classic.co.uk website was advertising 777 for sale through AB Landrovers (now AB 4x4) of Margrove Park, East Cleveland, Yorkshire. It was described as:
A well-sorted Series 1 in super condition and ready to enjoy. Chassis is great as is bulkhead. New Exmoor Trim canvas, recent seats etc.
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Now, as we say in East Cleveland, the new AB 4x4 Series restoration specialists are "nobbut a cockstride" (ie "not very far") from where the SXF Database is maintained — in fact, very shortly afterwards I was driving into Guisborough and 777 came the other way. I waved frantically, but as I was in the Filthy Freelander2 they had no idea why I was getting so animated!
However, in August Anthony Brown (and his wife Jane and their children) took a stand at Danby Show, where I traditionally provide 'gob-on-a-stick' services on the ringside microphone. They'd brought SXF 777 along, and we were able to have a very brief chat — they said there was just a little more paintwork preparation to be done, and 777 would be offered for sale.
A few weeks later, in September 2014, I had an email from Andrew Fleetwood in Kent:
You may like to know that I am the new owner of SXF 777. The vehicle is all complete and roadworthy, and back at work, much as Rover intended, on my small farm in Kent. By a happy co-incidence, my small farm trailer is an ex Royal Artillery one, designed to be pulled by a Land Rover (with the same wheels to make spares easy). The combination works as well together on and off road as it ever did! The only problem is the appalling steering lock on Land Rovers which makes orchard work quite tricky, but there's nothing I can do about that!
In my care, I have done a bit of fettling on the vehicle, attended to some of the cosmetics, and given the chassis and bulkhead a good body schutz using my compressor and Dinitrol. There really isn't much else that needs doing for now, although the swivel gaiters and some of the steering ball joint gaiters will need replacement soon.
The Land Rover lives with my classic motorcycle in a garage with dehumidifier, so I'm hoping it will outlast me now! Photos attached of the Land Rover at work in my orchard.
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Good luck, Andrew — you've gained a fine vehicle with a lot of history!
Andrew has subsequently sent more information, including a printout of the research he's done into the vehicle's ownership details between the Home Office and himself. You can see the result here.
He also wrote:
I have decided to break my “rules” and make one change from original spec, and that is to fit a Fairey overdrive. The low gearing tortures the engine out on the highway, and I know I will be happier to use and show the vehicle if I take the revs down. Overdrive comes later this week, but the cost of the special moly anti-scuff paste was a nasty surprise! Otherwise, I am trying to refurbish or replace with like-for-like so that everything stays as original as possible — it seems worth it since the vehicle is still on its original chassis, bulkhead and bodywork. I had a difficult few hours with the wiper motors for instance, but it’s very satisfying to see the originals in place and working nicely at the end of it!
I also queried the information I had from a previous owner giving the engine number as K1408/20/10, instead of the expected 1117#####, and wondered if this might be a reconditioned engine. Andrew replied:
It IS a factory rebuild. Down by the dipstick are two enamel and brass plaques. The writing is almost illegible now, but I can make out:
The Rover Co Ltd Factory Rebuilt Unit
and the embossed numbers:
269217 K1408/20/10
I suspect the former number is the serial number, and the latter indicates a 20thou overbore and a 10thou grind on the crank. But I could be wrong! Must have happened a long time ago, as the plaques look very ancient! In its time with the Civil Defence Force I suspect... but maybe someone can interpret those numbers.
Can anyone?
In March 2016 Andrew wrote again, attaching two pics of 777 re-liveried as Civil Defence. A marvellous job!
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I queried the recreation of Reconnaisance livery on a soft top — in my experience, they were all hard top vehicles. Andrew replied:
Yes, this was originally a hard top and had a tilt fitted in its private ownership. I decided I should sign write it as per original rather than label it as a Field Cable Party which it wasn't........
A valid point.
At the end of March, Andrew posted a 'Picture of the Month' on the LRSOC Forum...
Always good to see a Series 1 still working! This picture was then selected to represent March in the LRSOC 2017 Calendar.
In June 2018 Andrew sent me an update:
My daughter wants to use the Land Rover for her wedding car, and so I have upgraded the interior to Deluxe Station Wagon trim, thanks to Exmoor Supplies. I have also undertaken innumerable smaller repairs and returned the car to cross ply tyres so as to ensure the LR is running properly well.
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It has just been on the 2018 LRSOC charity run to Veurne in Belgium. |
It's great to see an excellently restored car being used for agricultural work and travel, and not just parked up as a museum piece.
Unfortunately, in May 2019 Andrew posted on the LRSOC Forum that he was (very reluctantly) offering SXF777 for sale, as a medical condition prevented him from holding a driving licence for a while. By mid-July there had still been no uptake from Club members. However, he did also post a picture:
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He said What a bonus it is to have a Civil Defence vehicle. Not only can you show it at Land Rover events, but you can also show at War and Peace events. I have probably had more pleasure from the latter than the former. I have a Civil Defence uniform and information board — the picture is of both in use at the recent War and Peace show in my local town. |
[To add (or alter) information on this page, please contact me on sxf@teeafit.co.uk.]