Land Rover Owner March 2022

‘A new era of budget Land Rovering’ Until fairly recently, your entry into the world of budget Land Rovering would have been with an old Series vehicle. But with pretty much every beam-axled Land Rover being so expensive now, you have to look elsewhere for cheap off-road fun. So that’s what we’re looking at this month. Freelanders and Discovery 3s are as cheap as they’ll ever be, and you get a lot of vehicle for your cash – which translates into a huge amount of fun. It should go without saying, but if you’re intending to buy a cheap motor to go playing, take it to an off-road site – see our events list on p19, or visit LRO.com/events to find your nearest one. You’ll be able to find out what it can do,…

HELEN TAIT WRIGHT CONTRIBUTOR • People spend lots of money on kitting out their Land Rovers, but ignore driver training. Helen heads back to (off-road) school ahead of her rally in Morocco (p88). THEO FORD-SAGERS NEWS EDITOR • Managing to time an overseas trip just right to avoid getting caught up in restrictions, Theo has been enjoying the best that Greece has to offer (p58). JÉRÔME ANDRÉ EUROPEAN EDITOR • Never one to let a modified Range Rover glide past, Jerome was certainly wowed by Ra Savage’s lifted L322 (p6). Luxury and capability in one. DANNY HOPKINS CONTRIBUTOR • Danny, editor of LRO sister magazine Practical Classics, brings us a great story of this 80-inch Series I rebuild (p66). GET IN TOUCH • It’s never been easier to drop us a line. We still get letters too – our address is on p83 FIND…

While I had heard about the infamous ‘Monster Truck’ L322 Range Rover through the Range Rover Owners’ Club, there were no images of it to be found online. I wondered if this would end up being something of a ‘Nessie’ Range Rover or if anyone had actually built it. Fast-forward a couple of months and I’m staring this gargantuan Range Rover in the eye, in a field next to the 4x4 Days Off-Road Experience centre in Bristol. Owner and builder Ra Savage knows how to make an entrance – suspension raised, spotless bodywork, chunky 35in tyres and more amber lights than a US tow truck. His mint Range Rover looks fantastic and sounds incredible. It’s the most impressive and superbly crafted modified L322 I’ve ever seen – and I’m an L322 nerd!…

1st You can almost hear the cicadas when you gaze at FÉLIX ANDRADE’S photo of his restored 1984 Santana Series. The fabulous setting is near A Coruña in northern Spain. ’Even without the Santana, this would be an epic photograph. Lighting, composition and setting are spot-on.’ NEIL WATTERSON, EDITOR IAN HARPER contemplates his imminent crossing of Morecambe Bay in his 1986 Ninety. His father-in-law David McKillen took STEWART BROWNE in his Freelander 2 to pick up the Disco 2 he’d just bought – and surprised him with a stop in Solihull for the Land Rover Experience. While touring Scotland in his nicely turned-out Discovery 3, IAN BALL made Instagram friends with ‘mydefender110 (REHAB)’ at the site of the old Lealt Valley diatomite quarry on the Isle of Skye. ALISTER FORDER and his sons Liam and Daniel…

TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK Battle over Leicestershire greenlane takes a disappointing – and a depressingly familiar – turn Drivers failing to adhere to a temporary closure have wreaked havoc on an already badly damaged Leicestershire byway. Repair work on the lane between Packington and Ravenstone had only just got under way when fresh destruction put the work behind schedule and caused costs to increase. The byway has seen long-running conflict between 4x4 users, landowners, walkers and horse riders. The latest damage highlights how even minor incursions can have major consequences for land management. The original project, which included resurfacing and improvement of drainage, was expected to conclude the lane’s TRO (Traffic Regulation Order) in time for Christmas, but the new damage in early December pushed up costs by an estimated £5k-10k. In…

Prepare for questions If you’re planning to travel in Europe with a commercial Land Rover, be prepared for customs or local law enforcement to check you’re not driving for ‘hire and reward’. From 21 May 2022, LGVs in that category will need an International Operator’s Licence and a transport manager. Hot property Range Rover Sports are among the most stolen vehicles in the UK, according to a recent survey of DVLA data by car leasing comparison site LeaseLoco. The HSE SDV6 and HSE Dynamic SDV6 Sports both feature in the top 10 most stolen: 315 and 174 vehicles respectively. Overlanding an L663? Overland author Tom Sheppard has published an updated version of the Vehicle Dependent Expedition Guide. The 618-page tome includes ‘extensive revisions and additional content’, including an assessment of the new…