Current Owner: Barrie John Bawden, Wiltshire
Previous Owner(s): Ian Thompson, Wiltshire and Sultanate of Oman/unknown, Leicestershire/Richard Jackson, Aberdeenshire

SXF 91 in 2012

In 1993 I received a letter from Ian Thomson, who lived in Salisbury, Wiltshire, but was currently serving with the armed forces in the Sultanate of Oman. He wrote:

I bought '91' from a chap in Amesbury, Wiltshire in October 1985. He had placed an advert in the local ‘rag’ offering ‘her’ as an ‘unfinished project’. My wife and I went along to view the said vehicle and immediately commented that perhaps the advert should have said ‘unstarted project’. It was the mother of all ‘basket cases’. The chassis and engine block were laying on the garage floor; the rest of '91' being spread to the four corners of his shed, conservatory, spare bedroom, outside toilet etc. All the body panels were in the rafters of the garage. Obviously my wife was not impressed, but a deal was struck with the understanding that I could have free use of the garage for three months in order to move ‘91’ to my home.

I decided the best line of attack was to rebuild the Rover into a large as piece as possible and tow ‘her’ home, but not connecting anything to make it work. I think the previous owner only possessed two tools; a pair of side-cutting pliers and a hacksaw. None of the parts were labelled, but with a great deal of patience, a workshop manual and lots of tea and sympathy, the long nights and weekends finally saw ‘91’ home....where I then took her apart again ready for the real rebuild.

On reflection this exercise proved to be very worthwhile. I was able to confirm that ‘91’ was complete and in very good condition. The previous owner had replaced the rear crossmember, but unfortunately with a Series Two one, (I will change it one day), but all I had to do over the three years it took to see ‘91’ through her first MOT was clean off the dirt and surface rust and repaint everything. The mechanical items just required new gaskets and oil seals. It was obvious that ‘91’ had had a very easy life, but of course at that time I did not know the reason why.

‘91’ was registered on 15 February 1957 and allocated to the Auxiliary Fire Service as a soft-topped reconnaissance vehicle. The words "Auxiliary Fire Service" can be seen under the paint on both door bottoms. I am pretty sure that the nearside door top has "Gloucester" written on it. Had I known the origins of ‘91’ at the time I would have rebuilt her to original spec. I am sorry to say that the existence of the large brass identification plate in one of the many cardboard boxes I acquired did not set the alarm bells ringing. I swapped the hoops and sticks for a hard top, but I know now the purpose of the metal sheet riveted to the back section of the hoops. At the time I thought it was to stop rainwater collecting in the canopy!

The ‘flashing light’ switch is still fitted and the brass plate shines like a new pin. The mileometer now reads just over 75,000 and I have no doubt that this is genuine. Before I came to Oman I had to go to a language school near Slough to study Arabic for ten weeks. ‘91’ saw me home to Salisbury every weekend without missing a beat in some of the coldest and foggiest weather we have had in the south for some years. I had to use the A4 as the M4 would have been suicide. Just imagine a 50mph vehicle on the M4 on a Friday night!

The Arabs can't understand what we see in owning an old Land-Rover as to their way of thinking it’s a sign of being poor. Consequently there are no Series Ones here at all, but I have found a Series One door as part of a Bedouin house near here.

SXF 91 in her 'orange' days in the 1990s

In a second letter, he sent the photo above, and said:

Yes, '91' really is orange! I hope you will agree that she looks quite striking in that colour — and it certainly goes well with the ivory-coloured hardtop. I get ribbed quite a lot — you know jokes about sunglasses etc. I'm sure the traditionalists disapprove, but apart from the rear cross member it’s the only thing that's not original. She was already orange when I bought her and everybody who saw her said it looked good. So apart from the Bulkhead which was repainted (Ford Sunburst Red was the nearest match), every other panel just received a severe ‘T-Cutting’ and quite a few coats of Turtle Wax and she really does shine. To look at her now, its hard to believe the state she was in. The one thing I really regret is that I was so busy bolting, wire brushing and painting, I did not take one photograph of her before or during the rebuild.

Concerning the [Ministry of Supply] brass plate, yes ‘91’ still has hers under the bonnet on the LH inner wing. She also had the oval unit on the bonnet with the two amber lights. The flashing light switch is still mounted on the dashboard, but the lamp itself never materialised from the previous owner although he could clearly remember taking it off. I bet he still has it in his house somewhere. If I were to tell you he actually had a racing car in one of his bedrooms you can imagine what the rest of the house was like!

On ‘91's’ front bumper at either end and in the centre are some small plates which have been welded over some holes; about 3/4 of an inch round. I read in a book which had a small section about the AFS that these were used for wooden flag poles. I would imagine that these were used to fly ‘convoy’ flags as you still see the Army do today. ‘91’ has the holes in the windscreen frame for the original indicators and quite a few holes behind the seats and in the rear cargo area. It’s interesting to note that ‘91’ has an original heater and passenger windscreen wiper motor both being optional extras in 1957. I wonder if all the SXF Land-Rovers were so equipped or whether '91' was used as an officers vehicle?

Ian also said that when he was stationed at Bessbrook Mill in Northern Ireland a few years earlier, he was detailed to empty out some unused storerooms which were padlocked. When he opened the doors he found that the stores once belonged to the Civil Defence Corps and were still full of all their old equipment.

Of course to everybody else it was all rubbish, but to me it was an Aladdin's Cave! I managed to ‘liberate’ quite a few attractive items before the bulldozer moved in — eg cap badges (CD and AFS), arm bands, and tunic buttons, but unfortunately there were no uniforms. I've still got them all in my loft somewhere and shall have to get them out and see exactly what I do have.

In September 2012, SXF91 (now based in Leicester) appeared on eBay (Item 221126278726)

The seller wrote:

Manufactured in 1956 and went into service in 1957. A very original Land-Rover that has not been restored and does not require any restoration work. The chassis does not have any repairs or welding and was in its original grey paint when I bought it and has since been waxoiled in black. The bulkhead has had a small professional repair behind the fuel pump but is otherwise in sound condition.

The following works have been undertaken: Brake wheel and master cylinders have been replaced and brake pipes replaced in cooper pipe, new SU fuel pump fitted, Stainless exhaust and new manifold fitted, recent new tyres, new hood fitted and new shock absorbers. The carb has been rebuilt with new jets, spindles etc. The front seats appear to be original and bench seats have been fitted to the rear with seat belts to one side. The Land-Rover is fitted with an original hand throttle and has been fitted with freewheeling hubs and an overdrive.

The Land-Rover is in remarkable condition, drives well and is in good working order with everything working as it should. The engine was running when the photographs were taken and you can see the oil pressure in the photograph. The galvanised trim to the bodywork is original and has not been painted. This is a remarkable 56 year old vehicle that starts on the button and has always been reliable.

The vehicle is taxed (historic vehicle – free) and has a recent MOT (11 months). I am only selling the Land-Rover because I no longer have storage space.

Of course, not all of this description (particularly the 'originality') corresponds with what Ian Thomson wrote, but a lot can change in nearly 20 years, and information isn't always passed on from one owner to another.

The seller also wrote:

The last 2 pictures show a hardtop with tailgate which was fitted when I bought it. I believe this was original to the vehicle. The hardtop is available but is not included in the sale. It is stored in a garage in France and is in very good condition. Also available but not included in the sale is an Aeroparts capstan winch which is complete and has 2 sets of brackets for 2 litre petrol and diesel engines.

Is this the 'ivory' hard-top that was fitted in the 'orange' days? There is some doubt that it's a Home Office original, as they were generally to the Export Hard-top specification with side windows, which Purchase Tax made unrealistic in the UK home market, but which could be fitted to Crown vehicles without penalty as The Queen didn't pay tax. The Aeroparts capstan winch would not have been a Home Office fitment.

Certainly it looked to be an excellent restoration. After 39 bids, the sale closed at £8,850.00.

In March 2019 the story was updated:

I had an email from Richard Jackson, who was the successful bidder. He sent me more pictures, and wrote
So it's taken me circa 7 years to write to you. I was the lucky custodian of SXF91 in Sept 2012, being the 6th owner since its demob on 19/10/1978. I’d been searching for early and as-original-as-possible sequenced number as possible, and was lucky enough to land on this after viewing a few less-than-unoriginal basket cases. 91 now resides with me in Aberdeenshire and again lives a cosseted life as before prior to demob from the AFS. I also purchased the hardtop mentioned and Aeroparts winch also mentioned in the advert.

It wears its bronze green paint well and has just been put through an MOT last October just to offer piece of mind, last done prior to my purchase in 2012. I read the description on the site and need to make note of a few errors, just to set the record straight. I have many Series Land Rovers ranging from pre-production 1948 through to 1952, though this is the only 88" owned and youngest to that matter. The rear cross member is a replacement before my time and is a later series 2 style. The hard top was in my opinion not part of its original AFS life, it has no windows and consider it not to even be an original Home office hardtop; though is an excellent addition for practicality of use nowadays.

The MOT history highlights 65,405 miles in 2010, 65,582 in 2011, 65,856 in 2012 and last October read 66,042. Bearing this in mind, and upon review of the clock which looks original and non-tampered, the 75,000 miles noted above [in the original posting] seems to be a mis-key. The rebuild was sound as suggested but have improved the standard in certain areas such as the braking rod bracket beneath the footwell being a Heath Robinson fix — the mechanism is now set up as it was when built in 1957).

I just replaced the rear oil crank seal and changed engine mounts whilst the engine was dropped out, removed sump and washed out, multiple flushes of the engine/transfer/diffs/gearbox, wheel bearings replaced all corners, rebuilt the brakes drums rear as somebody had built them up incorrectly, cork gasket for the fuel cap. Finally placing on some correct sized tyres. There have been a multitude of other small and niggling jobs down to the correct wheel nuts being fitted and pork pie rear lights. The flag holes in the front bumper which had been blanked off have been again exposed.

I’m a bit of a perfectionist and like all jobs complete, to the best standard I can achieve. 91 is looking very good and is certainly mechanically fit. I am toying with the idea at present to signwrite AFS history back to the doors — maybe I’ll find time to research the font type and text colour between another series build project on the go.

Richard asks if anyone has any ideas where he could get this information — suggestions to the address below.

In June 2019, Ian Thompson wrote to me again, clearly still very much attached to his 'orange' Series 1:

I’ve just made a speculative entry in Google for SXF 91 and am extremely pleased to discover your register is still active, and that SXF 91 is alive and well. A lot has happened in the past 26 years, but I still regret the day I sold SXF 91. I sold it to the chap in Amesbury who had repaired the bulkhead for me. He owned a car body repair business, and it was he who resprayed the Landrover back to its original bronze green. I can see from the recent photos that 91 still retains the interior limestone paint from its orange days. It still has the steering wheel cover I fitted all those years ago, and what appears to be the same Krooklock I purchase to provide some form of security back then. I had the seats recovered in the black vinyl as the original patterned green were all split - but the original foam was reused. The current owner has commented about the recorded mileage and the hardtop. He is right about the mileage — I’m afraid that when I said 75,000 miles in my original letter, it was a guess, as at the time I was 9,000 miles away in the desert!

The hardtop is not original to 91. When I bought 91, it had the hoops and sticks and a very tatty and torn canvas. I’m afraid that at the time funds were limited, and I couldn’t afford a new canvas. I met by chance a chap from Andover who had a hardtop, but wanted a canvas roof, so like an idiot, I agreed to swap the hoops for the hardtop. I had failed to appreciate that even then original hoops and sticks were quite rare! The two hoops were riveted together by a large metal plate — I said in my original letter I thought it was to stop water collecting in the canvas, a trick we used to do in the Army with “redundant” six foot tables on the LWB Landrovers. The metal plate had a hole in the centre. One of the sticks had a series of metal clips running along it. I have since learnt that reconnaissance or command cars were fitted with either a PYE or BCC radio set, so I’m sure the plate was used to mount the antenna, and the clips secured the coaxial cable. I’m sure from the recent photos that it’s the same hardtop, as it’s got an idiosyncratic handle on the back which is not original — should be tee shaped — which points at 10 o’clock when locked. I fitted two Volvo gas struts inside to hold the rear flap open.

I note from the recent photos 91 is still fitted with the Landrover Series 2A handbrake. I fitted this as my wife had problems with the original short/straight handbrake. I believe I still have the original in my garage, so it would be good to get the original and 91 reunited. I also still have the original instruction manual and a reproduction workshop manual, so if the current owner would like them, please put him in touch with me.

Thanks, Ian — it's good to get so much fill-in detail on a vehicle from so long ago.

In August 2019 SXF91 was advertised on eBay:
A reluctant sale to further house renovation. This is one of the best SXF's around. Series 1's are already desirable; SXF registered vehicles offer a further desirability. SXF91 is a particularly good early SXF plated original example with a full recommissioning end last year, including new correct type tyres (incl. spare), full flush and fluids change in diffs, radiator, engine, transfer and gearbox, brake fluid.....etc... New engine mounts, new rear hub oil seal. new wheel bearing's all round, new track rod end rubber boots, N/S drag link end rubber boot, new rear shocks, new transfer box rear oil seal, relined handbrake shoes, new rear universal joint on rear prop shaft, reconditioned wiper motors. Finished off with an MOT to offer piece of mind. Been used sparely since circa £3k recommisioning. All receipts available for verification. SXF91 benefits from free wheel hubs and overdrive.

The asking price was £18,625 — it appears not to have sold.

Update, July 2020

I had a phone call from Barrie John Bawden, saying that he was the chap with the bodyshop in Amesbury, Wiltshire mentioned earlier in this page. He is clearly an enthusiast for classic vehicles, and Land Rovers in particular. He owned two Series Ones, one for each of his daughters, but a change in family circumstances meant that he very reluctantly had to part with 91. Many years later, he saw an advert by Richard Jackson offering the car for sale. After an exchange of photographs, they agreed a price, and Barrie had the interesting (?) task of getting the car back from Aberdeen to his home near Stonehenge.

As the photo says, after many years apart, SXF91 came home. It's probably the most-documented SXF in the database.

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