Chapter 22: Raymond’s Best Features

Since the nerve wrecking MOT experience, Raymond has once again been trouble free. So, in place of the usual “what’s gone wrong this week?” I thought I would tell you just a few of the better features of the L322.

Firstly, we have to mention the storage. This car comes with an abundance of storage, with spots all over the car. There is the very deep glovebox, the centre console, the glasses case, the multitude of cup holders, the rear seat pockets, and of course the enormous boot space (which we previously showed could fit huge sheets of plasterboard).

Secondly, there is the level of comfort. Heated seats in both the front and back, heated steering wheel, very efficient air conditioning, comfy leather seating, electric headrests, adjustable arm rests, air suspension providing a smooth ride, adaptive cruise control for those long journeys and then amount of room means that even tall people with long legs can fit without being squashed.

Thirdly we have a very practical feature, which is the split sun visor, meaning that if you are constantly changing direction on windy country roads, you don’t need to keep moving the visor to block the sun, meaning you can relax and enjoy the drive without being blinded.

Finally, we have the HDC (Hill Descent Control) switch, which does exactly what it says. This clever system when enabled slows the car down automatically when going downhill. There is the normal setting, as well as low range, which controls the speed more aggressively. This feature, whilst not necessary, just makes driving around that little bit easier.

I recently watched a film on Netflix, called Extraction II. This was an action-packed sequel starring Chris Hemsworth and a lot of cars, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot of cars.

The whole film was like a car advert featuring G Class Mercedes, tons of new Volkswagens but most importantly some Land Rovers. There is a lovely placement for a 2023 Defender in a scene with Idris Elba, but also a Discovery 4 in a chase scene. And seeing these cars in this film made me think, what are some famous appearances in film by Land Rover?

CARS 2

In no particular order we start with animated Range Rovers from the film Cars 2. The film is partially set in England and features a car version of the Queen, who has a barricade of bodyguards, of which are all Range Rover P38a’s. Also, the Queen’s Guard is represented by a 1962 Series IIa. It’s nice to see that a very American film chose an apt car to represent the military elements of British culture, what with Land Rover’s deep embedded connection to the military.

THE ITALIAN JOB

The next film you wouldn’t necessarily associate with Land Rover, instead you would choose another famous British car manufacturer in Mini, however the Land Rover plays a very important role.

The film is The Italian Job, and whilst it made the iconic Mini iconic, it never would have happened if it weren’t for the kitted-out Series II that blasts through the Italian streets to get them to their eventual getaway cars. But this is very apt for a Land Rover, just getting the job done properly and never asking for any of the glory.

TOMB RAIDER

One of the more iconic and recognisable Land Rovers in film has to be the customised Defender TD5 110 from Tomb Raider.

Angelina Jolie played the character Lara Croft, an adventuring archaeologist who gets into all sorts of scrapes. The Defender is the perfect fit for the character, helping her through all sorts of treacherous conditions, whilst still making her look badass. The car was customised by Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Division, adding tons of accessories to aid her on her expeditions.

JUDGE DREDD

This next one we mentioned in the facts blog (https://blog.famousfour.co.uk/uncategorized/7-interesting-facts-you-may-not-know-about-land-rover/) but it has to be mentioned in this list as well, as it is by far the most interesting looking Land Rover on film. We are of course, referring to the 2139 CityCab from Judge Dredd.

The film is set in a futuristic New York known as Mega City One and the traditional New York Taxi has been replaced by this beast of a vehicle. Based on a 101 Forward Control, these 31 of these cars were made for the film, however most of them were reverted back, leaving only a handful of these cars still in existence.

EON’s JAMES BOND FRANCHISE

This next film isn’t a singular film, instead a franchise and most people would think of the infamous Aston Martins, but Land Rover have had cars featured in 10 James Bond Films, meaning Land Rover has been in more Bond films than any of the Bond actors. Land Rovers have appeared in Octopussy, A View To A Kill, The Living Daylights, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, SPECTRE and No Time To Die.

The first appearance was in the 1983 film Octopussy and it was a Range Rover Rapport Huntsman, a 3-door convertible take on the classic Range Rover. The latest film features a fair few cars but most importantly 3 Defenders, 2 Range Rover Sport SVRs, a Range Rover Classic and Land Rover Series III.

GET CARTER

Many times, the car in film is just a cameo and is easily replaced, however in the film Get Carter, the Land Rover 109 Series II Station Wagon appears quite frequently as it is driven around by criminals chasing the protagonist, Jack Carter.

That same car is later used by the police during an arrest scene, in which the Land Rover is like Mary Poppins handbag with a seemingly never-ending supply of officers getting out, showing the roominess of the Station Wagon version.

In my short time looking into this topic, I have found hundreds of examples of Land Rover’s being used in films; Charlies Angels, Gemini Man, SAS: Red Notice, Tenet, 6 Underground, Fantasy Island just to name a few and all of those are from the last 5 years, so this is a rabbit hole we are going to leave here for now. Let us know your favourite Land Rover cameo in a film and if you want us to do a part 2.

Welcome back to the Famous Four Blog. We at Famous Four are independent Land Rover Specialists, supplying parts, advice, and servicing. But we also love to share our knowledge of Land Rovers with others. So today, we are going to share with you 7 interesting facts you may not know about Land Rover.

Now, we could tell you that the steering wheel was first placed in the centre of the car or that the first Land Rover was built years before Land Rover was even a company, but those are the facts that most Land Rover fans already know, so let’s try some more interesting ones…

#1 – A Revolutionary Monster

Land Rover built the first ever Monster Truck in the 1950’s. The British Forestry Commission demanded that Land Rover make a vehicle that could manage deep puddles, so what they did was attach 4 tractor tires to a Land Rover creating what is considered the first example of a monster truck, somewhat 30 years before they became popular.

#2 – Going Strong In 2139

The first Land Rover was built in 1947 and Land Rover will still be going strong in 2139. That is according to the 1995 film Judge Dredd. And the car they will be making is the 2139 City Cab. The only way to get around Mega City One, formerly New York, this futuristic spin on the New York taxicab was based on a Land Rover 101 Forward Control but constructed to be a fortress on wheels. These cars were actually made for the film and occasionally pop up for sale now and then.

#3 – Jet Engine Roots

The Range Rover was built by the nephew of Maurice and Spencer Wilks, who ran the company. Charles Spencer King, of whom the CSK model would be named after, would first work for Rolls Royce after WWII helping to build jet engines. What put him on the map though and got people noticing him, was his work on the Rover JET1, which in 1952 set the land speed record for a gas turbine vehicle with 152mph.

#4 – An Earlier Range Rover??

You may think that you know what year it was first made, 1970 right? Wrong, the first ever Range Rover was actually called the Road Rover and was made nearly 20 years prior in 1952. Okay, so perhaps it wasn’t the Range Rover, but it was the same project. Land Rover wanted to create a bigger more luxurious version of the Series in the early 1950’s and they came up with the Road Rover. This project would however be shelved and then picked up in the mid 60’s where King and Gordon Bashford would create the prototype of the first Range Rover Classic.

#5 – “Would You Like The Tank Version?”

This one, you might know about, but it’s too cool not to mention. The Series II Cuthbertson! Originally designed by a Scotsman to manoeuvre around the Scottish Highlands, without sinking into the ground, this was a Series II, equipped with not wheels, but rather rubber tracks. This was later offered as a factory option, you know, just in case you wanted a half car, half tank to roam around your town.

#6 – Mona Lisa and the Range

Another cool, but potentially well-known fact, is that the Range Rover is considered to be a work of art, and that is not an opinion. A ¾ scale model of the 1970 Range Rover was actually a featured exhibit in the Louvre. It was described as an “exemplary work of industrial design”. Since then, many other cars have been displayed, but know that it all started with our beloved British car the Range Rover.

#7 – The Pink Panther

Finally, did you know that there is only one military vehicle which is pink? Well,   there is, and it’s a Land Rover. A modified Series IIA was given the nickname “Pink Panther” and was used by the Special Air Service (SAS)in the Persian Gulf area. The hue of the car was thought to have been just right to blend in with the sand in the area at certain times of the day. Pretty cool, right?

So, did we teach you anything? Or are you just too much of a Land Rover whizz? Let us know in the comments which ones you knew and which you didn’t and also what is your favourite Land Rover fact?

Chapter 15: Shake, Rattle and Roll                                 

Perhaps a fresh start with Raymond? Hopefully all the issues are a thing that we leave behind us. The first few trips looked promising, Raymond driving smoothly and without a problem, however this was too good to be true and within 3 days, we had something to fix.

As I was driving along, suddenly Raymond started to shake, the wheel vibrating in my hands. I quickly pulled over and did a quick check of the car in case I had blown a tyre. However, upon further inspection, I couldn’t see anything. I decided to brave it and get back in the car and continue. Thankfully there was not a recurrence, that was until the next day. I was mere minutes from work when he started shaking like a rollercoaster. I began to brake, however this time this made matters worse, and the shaking became violent. Once I finally got it to work the Workshop technicians had a look and found that the front brake discs were warped and in general bad shape.

Raymond carries on his streak of being in the workshop at least once a month, but that’s the fun of owning a low budget L322. The technicians fitted shiny new brake discs and pads. With these now replaced Raymond is back to 100% and driving flawlessly. Whenever Raymond is working, he is an absolute dream and it kind of makes it worth the constant stress.

In the previous two blog posts about these toy cars we looked at two pairings of vehicles and in this post we will look at the last of our pairs. The third pairing is the army vehicles.

First up is the Series III station wagon in the camo livery with the classic spare wheel on the bonnet. This car just looks like it belongs in a war film, driving through the gritty land, mud everywhere. And they were used a lot, not just by the British Army, but also the Australian and New Zealand armies too.

In my research into the military usage of the Series III, I was shocked to find that a lot of the time they did not use the hard top like in this example here, but instead would use soft top models.

The other car in this pair is a Series II LWB Fighting Vehicle that was designated FV18061/2 which stood for General Service or Fitted for Radio. That meant that this truck was customised to fit its purpose. It was fitted with twin fuel tanks, pusher bumpers, military electrical equipment and had longer spring hangers, which allowed the use of larger section tyres when needed.

The Sankey trailer behind the car is also a fighting vehicle designated FV2361. It was a ¾ ton trailer, equipped for either carrying cargo or fitted with specialised equipment, such as water-purification plants, radar equipment or welding equipment. The body was designed to be watertight so that it could be floated across bodies of water.

On the box it states that this vehicle was used by the 1^st Battalion, Royal Green Jackets, which would date the model between post 1966 as that is when the Royal Green Jackets were formed. They were a light infantry unit, and the 1^st Battalion were based in Weeton. The unit is most known for being deployed to Northern Ireland in the 1980’s as well as West Germany prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Looking at all six of these cars, it shows how influential and useful Land Rover were and still can be in the world. They are multi-purpose vehicles that can be applied to many different situations and are also highly adaptable. And yet whilst they may all be adapted to fit the job description, at the heart of it, is still the everyday civilian car that Land Rover make. And that makes the everyday car, that little bit more special, because it could be a police car, it could be saving lives on the beaches, or it could be delivering essential cargo in a warzone.

Following on from the previous post about the toy cars, we are going to be looking at another pairing of cars; specifically Coastguard Land Rovers.

Starting off with the Corgi Classics 50 Years of Land Rover,  Series IIA Station Wagon in navy blue with a yellow roof. The car also has searchlights and a siren on the roof and of course the spare wheel on the bonnet. Written across the side is HM Coastguard and Marine Rescue.

Once again I had trouble finding this specific model in the internet’s archives, however I did manage to find a Series III in a very similar livery. The similarities between the design of the two cars makes me confident that at some point, somewhere this Series IIA was roaming the beaches of the UK saving lives.

I can imagine that the offroad capabilities would be very useful when traversing beaches and rocks to find stranded or injured people.

The second model car is not so great a story as this one I believe to be completely fictitious for a number of reasons. Firstly, being the livery. I could not find one single example of any UK coastguard vehicle looking anywhere near this. Then it got me thinking, this one doesn’t say HM Coastguard, so perhaps it is not English. I looked at the design and searched European countries with coastlines and then also the USA as I feel the more cartoon like text and logo might be more in line with the Americans, however no luck again. I then scrapped the idea of another country because I noticed it was right hand drive, so the conclusion I came to is that someone at Corgi wanted to design a Coastguard car, chose a vehicle that is in line with the accurate vehicles and then created a unique design based off of the designs already in place.

Whilst one of these cars might not be a legitimate Coastguard vehicle, it once again goes to show how the versatility of Land Rovers have been used in a positive and life altering way. To think that since researching these cars, we have seen the mail being delivered by Land Rovers, gas and electric brought to people’s homes by Land Rover, law and order being kept in Land Rovers and now the beaches and coastlines kept safe by Land Rover’s. It is amazing how much one company have helped shape the history of a country.

In our next dive into the die-cast model cars collection, I am going to be looking at a pair of cars with a common theme between them; that theme, the police.

Firstly we have the 5 door Range Rover Classic from the West Midlands Police, more specifically the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG). The livery is quite accurate to the real counterpart, however there are two glaring errors. Before I go onto the errors though I would like to point out the numbers and letters on the roof of the car. This is code created by the force so that aerial units can identify the ground units. In our case there is a red circle which generally means traffic or general response unit.

Now the errors, one of which may be arguable, but one not so. The arguable point is that, during my research I could never find this particular car in this model. I did however find this EXACT livery on a P38A, the model that came after this one. Perhaps there is no documented existence of this car, perhaps you need special access to find this out. The only shred of evidence I have is that Corgi made this model and with it was a card that read:

“1972-1997. 25^th anniversary of West Midlands Motorway Network and Motorway Police (C.M.P.G) Featured Range Rover is the last of its style to be take into use by the Central Motorway Police Group.”

The second error is in the design of the car. The car is a fairly solid remake of the 5-door Classic, however the indicator lights struck me as quite odd when I first looked at it, because instead of the usual split of indicator and fog lights, there was just a singular red light. I researched for a good few hours and I could not find one example of a Range Rover Classic that had this design. So if it is by some miracle accurate, then this is a very rare car.

The second of the police vehicles is another 5 door Range Rover Classic this time from the Metropolitan Police. The livery on this model is not accurate and appears to based on a few different designs, and more noticeably those designs appear to be more later designs as the designs used on the Classics was very different. Funnily enough though, this model car has the same issue as the other one in that it has a singular red indicator not a split like we know the Classics had.

Despite the issues with the models, I think these two cars serve as important reminders of the importance that Land Rover and more specifically the Range Rover plays in British policing. 2 separate areas of the country and yet the same cars used. I also think that it is a testament to Land Rover because these are being used in jobs in which you need the best, in order to fulfil a public need.

Welcome back to the third installment of the Land Rover Die Cast Model Cars series. So far we have looked at several interesting finds and todays post is no different.

One of our finds in this collection is a Corgi Collection Land Rover, Trailer and Mini Safari Rally set, which was released in 1997.  The rally race in which the mini on the trailer raced in was the 1997 Safari Rally Kenya, of which the legend driver Colin McRae actually won. The story is not so exciting for our mini #53, driven by the team of Robert and Michael Plant, brothers from Rochdale as they unfortunately retired from the race. A fun fact about that race is that a fellow retiree was actually Carlos Sainz Snr.

The Land Rover towing #53 is a Series III 109 W.B in white. From my research I cannot find if this was the exact car that would have towed the trailer, however given the location of the race and the year it is very likely. The car is detailed with decals from the time period, and also includes the famous Corgi logo (now, that definitely wouldn’t have been on the car at the time). This toy serves as a reminder of the part Land Rover plays in all aspects of life, including rallying.

Our next find is this wonderful pastel blue and orange livery Transco Land Rover. This again is a Series III 109 W.B and is also towing something behind it, however in this case it is not a rally car, but instead a road drill. Also included in the box is a workman, donning a head of white hair under his helmet and a grimace on his face as he uses the drill on a small piece of road.

Transco were a gas distribution company who then merged with the National Grid Group, to eventually bring the UK what we now know as The National Grid. Transco mostly used Transit vans, however in more rural areas, they sometimes used a Land Rover, similar to Royal Mail as in the last blog.

Our third and final find is a Series III 109 W.B Royal Mail Post Bus. This served as a later edition to the Series II we previously looked at, however it did not last long, quickly being replaced by the Defender 110, with an identical livery. If you took a quick glance, besides the front being different, partial bits of trim and the addition of a an Alpine Window, there isn’t much difference aesthetically. So, if the Defender 110 came out a little bit earlier, would this Series III Post Bus version even exist. This makes this find even more special as it marks such a specific time that could never have happened, yet for many will bring amazing memories.

After diving back into the collection of model cars that we bought from an ex-employee, I came across yet another limited edition find. This Corgi Millennium Collection Land Rover is #1635 out of 3000.

There isn’t much on the internet about this collection itself and I could only find two other vehicles, a Q1 Trolley Bus and a Fowler B6 Super Lion Showman’s Engine. From what I can tell the collection is to do with some of the standout vehicles by the time we reached a new millennium. If this is the case, then what a testament to Land Rover for being selected. On the side of the box, we have a shortened version of what was on the 50 Years Anniversary box we looked at last time. The model itself is very similar to the 50 year one, however this is a silver version and does have the spare tyre on the bonnet.

Also amongst the boxes of boxes was this gem of a find in the form of a Limited-Edition Royal Mail Land Rover, #4646 out of 5600. This was one of two Limited Edition Royal Mail die-cast scale models in 1997, the other being the Bedford CA Van.

This Land Rover is based on a Series II SWB that was used by Royal Mail in the 1960’s for rural deliveries. The hardback top is actually removable on this model; however, I haven’t found anything to back up that Royal Mail ever used it without the top. I did however manage to find a photo on Pinterest of one in real life and the accuracy of the model is spectacular. Whilst looking into Royal Mail’s vehicles I found that they used a wide range of Land Rover’s in rural areas.

The final find for this post is yet another car from a television programme, Daktari. The popular TV show, Daktari, was a drama series in the 1960’s by MGM Television. The word ‘Daktari’ is actually Swahili for Doctor and the show was all about a scientist dedicated to the preservation of wildlife in the African Jungle.

This model car is another Land Rover Series II, however without the hard top, but with a wonderful jungle livery and the words Wameru Sub-District across the side. Wameru is the Swahili word for the Meru, an Bantu ethnic group. This set also comes with the two pets the doctor in the show had, Judy the Chimp and Clarence the Lion. Clarence on the show actually had a stunt double on the show called Leo, who was used for any snarling or ferocious scenes.

The final fact about this set is that is actually based on an original 1967 Corgi Daktari set which sold in excess of 1 million units in the seven years it was available.

Three amazing finds in this haul, once again showing the amazing diversity of Land Rover and the cultural impact that the vehicles have had. Delivering mail and saving the animals of Africa.

Chapter 2: “Raymond Gets A Facelift”

05.07.2022

Raymond may be one of the cheapest members of our fleet, but that doesn’t mean he deserves any less. That being said, it might be interesting to see how cheaply you can run and maintain a Range Rover.

So lets get down to brass tacks, Raymond needs a lot of work including the brakes, the key, the smell and that is only scratching the surface. What did you expect for under five hundred pounds?

Firstly we have an actual safety concern to contend with, the mirrors, or more importantly the drivers side wing mirror. You would think we can’t scrimp and save on something as vital as this, well you would be wrong again. Ebay…Ten Pounds…Bargain!

Sorting out the brakes had to be the next thing on the list of things to do as both the discs and the calipers were very worn and cracked. So lets fit some fresh ones and get Raymond stopping as well as he looks.

Final issue for today is the front fog lamp bezels. Raymond is missing one of the plastic bezels and it makes him look a bit sad. Now this is purely an aesthetic upgrade as it poses no danger, but let’s get it done anyway. We found these chrome bezels online for twenty five pounds. Now Raymond looks like he’s ready to release a rap album!

– Famous Four