Description
For Sale – 249 XVW – a rare early Series II Land Rover, 88 Inch Chassis.
When the Series II was launched in April 1958, Land Rover did not have enough of the new 2. 25 petrol engines, so continued to make use of the 2. 0 litre engines and gearboxes from the previous Series I generation. They only made 1, 702 Home Market 88" RHD vehicles, of which this is one. They are seen as the Holy Grail of Series II's for collectors, and are rightly sought after and more valuable than the later ones.
This Series II, chassis number the details below, was built in August 1958 and was registered on 1st October 1958 in Hertfordshire. It has the correct 2 litre petrol engine, Mileage 55536. There are lots of correct early features including dash warning lights, early front valence, wiper motors and early tailgate. Overall, it is a lovely, genuine and original early example that hasn’t been messed around with.
I have the original Buff log book which is fascinating and shows it had never strayed far from its roots until it was bought by a dealer who sold it to me in 2022. Before that it had been in long term ownership and luckily had been dry stored.
The engine ran in 2022 when I bought it, and sounded nice. The chassis is particularly good, the bulkhead is solid and it had new footwells many years ago. It selects all the gears and the brakes have been worked on relatively recently. It could be got back on the road without too much trouble. I purchased it as a project, but have only had time to strip the doors and dashboard. The instruments have been refurbished. Selling reluctantly due to a house move.
This will be a very worthwhile restoration of a rare Land Rover.
Available to view near Salisbury. Transport can be arranged throughout the UK, please ask for a quote.
