1982 Land Rover Series III 88 Inch

Land Rover had continued to update the original 1948 model from inception and the Series III was the culmination of nearly thirty years of development and improvements. For the first time, they sought a new buyer demographic, amongst leisure users. The Series III had the same body and engine options as the preceding IIA and was little changed cosmetically from the IIA to the Series III, however the III is the most common with 440,000 of the type built from 1971 to 1985.

The headlights were moved to the wings on late production IIA models from 1968/9 onward (ostensibly to comply with Australian, American and Dutch lighting regulations) and remained in this position for the Series III. The traditional metal grille, featured on the Series I, II and IIA, was replaced with a plastic one for the Series III model. The 2.25-litre engine had its compression raised from 7:1 to 8:1 increasing the power slightly although the high compression engine had been an optional fit on the IIa model for several years, During the Series III production run between 1971 and 1985, the 1,000,000th Land Rover rolled off the line in 1976.

The Series III saw many changes in the later part of its life as Land Rover updated the design to meet increased competition. This was the first model to feature synchromesh on all four gears as only some late H-suffix SIIA models, mainly the more expensive Station Wagons, had used the all-synchro box in the past. In keeping with early seventies trends in automotive interior design, the simple metal dashboard of earlier models was redesigned to accept a new moulded plastic dash and the instrument cluster, which was previously centrally located, was moved to the driver's side.

The 1982 Series III soft-top we have on offer here is the combination of Land Rover's ingenuity and the demands of the 2016 leisure user and it's quite rare to see a Series III with updated mechanical and interior features, This vehicle has had a full rebuild and extensive restoration. Briefly, the car was rebuilt around a brand new Richards galvanised chassis, rebuilt bulkhead including new foot wells and the 2286 cc petrol engine was stripped down, cleaned, inspected and parts changed where needed. The gear and transfer boxes had a full inspection and replacement of parts where required, as did the axles. The suspension and wheels had significant attention with new Rocky Mountain parabolics including new gas shock absorbers and five 750 x 16 Avon Range Master tyres were mounted on refurbed wheels painted in Old English white. A genuine replacement fuel tank, new radiator and Lucas battery have also been fitted together with a new wiring loom, lights and wing mirrors. The whole vehicle was re-assembled carefully with all the new bits that have to be sourced when you carry out a comprehensive restoration such as this.There are some really good photos of the whole process.

The bodywork was taken back to bare metal and given a proper respray in Sage Green which was the original 1948 colour and a new PVC hood was fitted over the galvanised frame.To finish off the project, the interior was upgraded with three new Defender seats in the front covered in a 'diamond stitch' pattern, matching bench seats in the rear and new mats and belts.

With just 82,500miles and a new MoT until November 2016, this superb Land Rover is perfect for summer fun, at a fraction of the price of a Series I or Defender.