Old Land Rovers are cool just sitting there, but ones that are running, loaded with patina, and sporting a vintage pop-top camper conversion – well, that’s just on another level entirely. This 1964 Series 2 has a fantastic back-story that demonstrates years of careful stewardship even in later years when it was parked in storage. The Land Rover was recently imported by a U.S.-based dealer which eliminates the challenge of bringing it stateside and is a rare opportunity to own a vehicle used for overlanding in its most authentic state, long before it became fashionable. Find the patina’d Series 2 here on eBay for $49,850 or best offer.
According to the listing, the manufacturer of the pop-top conversion is a company called Searle Carawagon, which is obviously now long defunct. The wild detail here is the use of wood and metal to form the sides and roof of the raisable compartment, which allows for full-height standing room inside. I’m trying to wrap my head around how the wood paneling folds down but I’m sure that’s just the lack of an engineer’s brain preventing me from visualizing it. What I can imagine, however, is how many of these are plagued by wood rot after left upright in a rainy camp site, and then folded back down and left undisturbed for months at a time. Thankfully, the integrity of this one is said to be sound.
Apparently, the second owner saw it on display at a car show at the Olympia Motor Show when the Land Rover was being used as demonstration vehicle for Searle and promptly traded their Sunbeam on the spot. These owners used the Rover as intended, taking numerous holidays and vacations in it before retiring the vehicle to a stable block at their country house (I don’t think this story can be more British if you tried.) Thankfully, the storage arrangement was apparently quite weather-proof, as the Land Rover supposedly emerged without needing extensive cosmetic reconditioning, hence why you see it in this natural state. The pop-top has skylights and illuminates a proper kitchen and rinsing station.
The seller notes they did reupholster the front seats, overhauled the brakes and exhaust systems, wax oiled the chassis, repainted the steel wheels, and performed some steam cleaning. Otherwise, the drivetrain shows just 31,300 original kilometers (61,350 miles) and the 2.2L 4-cylinder engine is said to run quite well. The vibes coming off of this truck are just outstanding and I suspect there’s a market of both Land Rover loyalists and overlanding enthusiasts who are both salivating over this truck. The Searle conversion will likely be the biggest pain point and I imagine finding original components is near impossible, but that seems like a worthy aggravation to live with in exchange for owning this truck.
31,300 kilometers = 19,448 miles.
Every time I see an old land rover like this, I think of the one used in the movie The Gods Must be Crazy. I think the one used in the movie was an older maybe a little smaller version.
Is it just me or are their more people finding weird Vehicles over seas getting them shipped to the United States then trying to flip them for profit? I’m not sure where you could even find parts for this thing
Parts for old Land Rovers are extremely easy to find. They built tons of these over the years and they were sold around the world. Not exactly weird or rare. I happen to have one in my driveway here in California.
About 10 miles from where I live. Rovers North.
You would have to go through the trouble of googling “Land Rover parts”
NOW i know why the side windows looked so narrow.
What a find.
Wish it was local. Just for a trip to lean into an in-person view…
Imagine the noise ofa hwy drive (never mind a 4W one) – all that wood inside an alu can? squeak, squeak, rattle
I’d gofuridid
Somebody needs 20 lashes for that red upholstery.
And it’s not even a diesel.
As Fuzz Townsend and Henry Cole said recently something like:
“They are hot as hell in Summer, freezing cold in Winter, generally uncomfortable seats, bare bones, no accessories at all and require real attention to drive and shift gears, but we would not have them any other way”.
My Dad had one of these in the early 2000s when I was a little kid. His was a 1965 short wheelbase station wagon (not a camper). I now have a ‘62 Willys Station Wagon that is very special me, however I still bleed green and would still love to have a Land Rover someday (ideally I would like to find my Dad’s and buy it back)
According to the speedometer (MPH) there are 31,424 miles on it, which seems nigh to impossible after 61 years. That’s only 319 miles per year. The ad description says there 61,350 miles on it, so which is right? Multiply miles by 1.61 to get a close conversion to km. In any case, the math doesn’t work, so I’d want to see the proof.
It is a pretty cool vehicle, but would be a bone rattling ride, and not a fast one at that. The right hand drive make it a bit tough in the U.S. unless one is a mail carrier.
Lat me know how much you love Land Rovers after you have performed a set of swivel reseals. ;-)