The seller of this 1962 Land Rover Series II made the sad discovery that his friend wasn’t going to complete the restoration of his vintage pickup project. The seller himself seems to be awash in project-grade Rovers, so it’s no surprise he’s cutting the one with a frozen motor and transmission loose. Still, there’s loads of potential here and the weathered body looks perfect as-is. Just sort the mechanicals and go tangle with some Jeep owners. Find the Rover pickup here on craigslist or go here if the ad disappears.
You’d be forgiven if you didn’t see some quantum leap forward in styling between the Series 1 and Series II Land Rovers. These short wheelbase pickups are somewhat truncated in appearance, but that stance likely aided the Rover in off-road experiments. The body looks tired but not rusty; in fact, I don’t see any obvious signs of corrosion whatsoever. The seller mentions that there is surface rust on the bulkhead but it has not rotted all the way through.
The interior is stripped bare, with missing seats and a dashboard panel that needs a lot of work. Of course, you can absolutely get away with keeping these interiors as bare-bones as you want, since this generation of Land Rover was a far cry from the over-cushioned luxo-barges they’ve become today. While the interior will need work, so will the drivetrain: as noted above, the engine and transmission are both believed to be seized. Given the seller seems to be in the business of collecting old Land Rovers, perhaps he or she has a spare tranny and motor for sale.
The seller notes the tail gate is gone, but that sweet rear jump seat is still attached. Was this standard equipment? Certainly, the valuable 12-seaters had plenty of carrying capacity in the bed, but given the limited real estate out back, I’m not sure Land Rover would have wanted precious cargo room taken up by a jump seat. Land Rover experts, please let us know if the seat was standard equipment, and whether you’d consider making an offer on the seller’s $4,400 ask.
definitely bare bones I wouldn’t go overboard on ” fixing it up” IDK what engine swaps would fit, but, nothing bigger than a V/6 .. some sort of a ” non stock” paint ( loud) possibly chromies, and good to go .. oh, and be sure it passes inspection, which would be half the battle most likely needs everything, oh, yes.. just some random buckets out of a salvage yard cheap as u can get
Common conversion here in the UK is the Rover V8 which is originally an all aluminium buick lump from the 50’s. They ranger from 3.5 too 5.0 litre, not sure what that iis in cubic inches but the 3.5 in mine pulls plenty well and practically bolts in!
Sits in this, mine being a later series III long wheel base
OM617 on the engine swap?
I turned one of these down for 800 bucks a couple of years ago. Now they are going crazy.
You can buy a nice driver for 8-12K. Why would anyone with half a brain even consider this?
It’s cute. I’ve seen something similar in the past with transplanted engines in them. One I think was a sbc, but I didn’t spend a lot of time looking at it or the other one because it’s not something I’m really into.
For the right person, could be fun. Don’t know if it’s worth the $$, but then again what is?
In the last 2 years I looked at two of these near Anderson, Indiana for $500; bad shape. One in Knoxville, TN perfect but parked outside since ’95 with a rat hole middle of the drivers seat and convoluted ownership. Wish I could have had all the other British cars parked in the basements and garages like sardines. Finally several parts 88 and 109’s in Newnan, GA sitting for 25 plus years. I’m not surprised to see this many Landys in that area of NC; affluent mountain dwellers. I’m thinking a first generation Dodge Raider/Mitsubishi Montero.New enough not to be too rotten, globe trekking credibility and similar short overhangs and sight lines. A value proposition for sure. When was the last time you saw one?
BarnfindyCollins,
i am in powder springs…whereabouts in newnan did you see them?
thanks as I am looking to find a 88 would rather another IIa…spent to darn long reworking a jeepster commando.
Aluminum body? No rust!
The aluminum body isn’t the problem, it’s the steel bulkhead these are built around and the steel frame they sit on. Any extensive rot and a new galvanized frame is a given. These trucks are as tough as combat boots but every shoe ridden hard needs new soles at some point.
Yep, nothing fells a “perfectly good” Rover like frame rot. Thankfully repos are available!
“Project grade Land Rover”? That’s basically all of them.
Totally. There’s something peculiar about LR people, loving cars that constantly have a spectrum of issues.
I should know, my daily is a Range Rover Classic, only on average I drive it second daily.
As Leno says, “I love British cars, because we all need to feel needed.”
An Isusu 2.8 fits with an transition plate to fit a series 3 gearbox (no syncrho on first in 2 series) also better usung series 3 axles. You can use servo off 3 series to upgrade braking. A good thing to do is fit parabolic springs in place of the semi elipticals they give a better ride and you can actually take corners with some faith that you’ll get around !! Handling was’nt a plus point then.Those narrow tyres are a plus in snow but vibrate and drone horrendously,much better to fit aftermarket steel modulars with proper all terrain tyres.If the bulkhead is too far gone a Defender one fits with a little fettling. Moving the fuel tank outside the cab does a lot for ones self confidence as siiting on top of it does not. Some series three gearboxes were fitted with an overdrive in place of the pto on 2 series,which enables you to attain freeway speeds without going deaf!! You can also get a replacement chassis converted to take coil springs.You’ll just love these old landys as there’s something different to fix every day!!
The owner pulled the ad, must have sold it.
Where is the seller from, I’m interested in what’s in the background
Seller is a long time resident of Fantasy Land.