1977 LAND ROVER SANTANA LHD
2286cc diesel, manual. Most Land Rovers have had an interesting past, but this story behind this 88in Series III Santana is particularly unique. It was originally bought in 1977 to replace a donkey that died, and was put to work by a famous cheese maker in northern Spain who made his produce in remote mountain caves, up a difficult access track. The track eventually became so bad that even the local authority could no longer repair it, and when they discovered that only 4 vehicles a year were using it (this Land Rover one of them), they blocked it off with boulders. And so, after 36 years of service, the Land Rover had to be replaced… by another donkey.
Our vendor is a Land Rover restoration specialist who bought the vehicle from the cheese maker around 2017, and drove it home via the Bilbao ferry. Between then and 2022, he has spent many hundreds of hours restoring its original chassis and bulkhead (with a new dumb-iron and rear crossmember), retaining the LHD configuration and installing electric power steering. The original 5-bearing diesel engine has also received a rebuild (though apparently it didn't really need it) using a new crank, conrod and pistons sourced from Cyprus. “It's been given 2 oil changes, and run up to temperature between them,” the vendor tells us. "The front end is only on so that the engine can be run with its coolant. There's so much compression, it'll start without the glow plugs.” Range Rover differentials are also fitted for easier cruising, rather than using an overdrive.
The Land Rover is supplied with all its body panels and many boxes of parts, new and used, ready for reassembly. The Spanish registration certificate is present, but there is no V5C.
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