The Series One Land Rover
Series I (General): Flat door hinges. No sills. A single marker light on the front of the wing. The windscreen is taller than on later vehicles. The most famous Series I Land Rover is the "AntiChrist" that stars in the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy"
• Series I 80" (1949-1954): The doors are tapered. Earlier 80"s have the headlamps behind the galvanized metal grill, later 80" have them peeking through the metal grill. The instrument panel on an 80" is vertically narrow with rounded ends. The fresh air vents are square ended. There are no side sills.
• Series I 86"(1954-1956): The instrument panel is similar to a Series II or IIA, being a large rectangular panel in the Centrex of the dashboard. The doors on the 86" are not tapered like the 80", but are straight. There are no sills under the doors. The headlamp rims are body colored. From the side, the bottom portion, behind the front tire, of the front wing is equal in length to the bottom portion, ahead of the rear tire, of the rear box.
• Series I 88"(1957-1958): Very similar to a 86" Land Rover , but the front bumper is thicker (vertically), chrome headlamp rims, inverted T grille. From the side, the bottom portion, behind the front tire, of the front wing is about 1-2 inches longer than the length of the bottom portion, ahead of the rear tire, of the rear box. Canadian spec. SI 88" has one piece doors with no galvanized strip to denote where the top and bottom door mated. The interior is well padded with insulation, the front vents do not open. There is a heater box that extends across the cab under the dash, the air inlet being on the inside panel of the right wing in front of the breakfast panel. There are known to be four 107" Land Rover station wagons imported into Canada with these doors. [If you want to break the rules of this Guide, open the door and look at the Serial Number. A Canadian spec vehicle has a "C" suffix.]
The Series II Land Rover
• Series II(1958-1961): The Series II has sills under the wing/door/box section. The waist is curved, bulging out from under the side windows. There are a pair of side lights on the front of the wings horizontally mounted. For the observant, the dash vents on the earlier Series II are opened with a large round crank knob. The vents themselves are held on by screws to the hinges (while the IIA are spot welded). The steering differs in that the steering arms are above the axle, unlike below on the IIA.
Canadian spec. SII 88" (and a number of American hardtops) Land Rovers have one piece front doors. It is heavily insulated inside and came with two heaters.
The Series IIA Land Rover
Series IIA (General)(1962-1972): Unlike the USA, both 88" and 109" models were imported into Canada until the end of 1972. In the US the last 109" SIIAs were imported in 1968 and SIIA 88" until 1971.
o Early Land Rover Series IIA(1962-1967): Headlamps are on the breakfast. Tall sills under the doors, about four inches in height. Steering tie rods connect under the axles. Dash is painted body co lour. Separate windscreen wiper motors. Mirrors on the wings. To many, this is the "Classic" Land-Rover.
Note: There is at least one Canadian Early IIA with factory headlamps in the wings, but this is extremely rare.
o Transitional IIA Land Rover(1968/9?) (a few thousand built): Headlamps on the wings, but surface mounted giving a "bugeye" look. Grille was an inverted T, but the wide portion is nearly the height of the Centrex portion. Rest of details similar to the Late IIA.
o Late Series IIA Land Rover(1968/9-1971): Headlamps are on the wings, but the radiator panel is covered by a metal galvanized grill (after 1969). The later IIA had a single, single speed, windshield motor (after 1967). The instrument panel is painted black, and not body co lour as on earlier vehicles. The sill panels are narrower, being approximately two inches tall, unlike the much wider panels on the earlier IIA's. (1969-71 door latches changed, changed again for III). Mirrors on the top door hinge.
The Series III Land Rover
o Series III(1972-85): Headlights on the front of the wings, a plastic grill and name badge. Other distinguishing features on a Series III will be the fascia and instruments. The Series III sported a revised fascia in black plastic where the instrumentation was moved from the Centrex of the dash to be in front of the driver. The door hinges are thick and flat, with a mirror mounted on the top hinge. The Series III has a single two speed wiper motor. Variants: The military 88" & 109" have a rectangular rear crossmember, generally over riders in the front bumper and straps to hold the bonnet mounted tire down.
o Stage One(summer 1979-1985: Although technically a SIII 109" Land Rover with a V8 engine, it is always listed as a separate model. The grill is pushed out flush with the wings. The grill itself is a wide pattern, square wire mesh. The Stage One Land Rover had leaf springs and a two piece, square edged windscreen. All Stage ones are 109", had a sticker on the rear quarter panel that said V8 and just above the wire mesh of the grill was a plate with "Land Rover". The "V8" sticker is also found below the Land Rover logo in back. The bonnet wraps down over the top of the breakfast. All other specs are as per the SIII.
90, 110, 127, 130, Defender
o 90/110/127/Defender(March 1983 to present): Until 1990 the model name was Land Rover 90, Land Rover 110 or Land Rover 127, after that date the model name was changed to Defender (i.e.. Defender 90), and The name Land Rover was applied to all Rovers. These Land Rovers are very similar to a Series III, but the front grille is pushed out to be even with the front of the wings. The headlamp plate on the front of the wing is painted black, as is the slatted grille. The bonnet extends forward over the grille. The Defender has a one piece windscreen that is about four inches taller than the Series II/IIA/III windscreen with rounded corners. There are black wheel arches that extend outwards over the wheels (which are called eyebrows). The Defender is coil sprung with disk brakes in front. If the badge in front just above the grille says "Defender" (or there are other stickers that say "Defender", then the vehicle is from 1990 or later. (The contra- positive is not true). Defenders/90/110/127/130s built after 1 October 1979 have a VIN number that begins "SALLD" or "SALD"
o NAS (North American Spec--1992-1995): Canadian NAS Defenders have daytime running lights, the American doesn't. Some NAS Defenders have "Land Rover" above the grille, other Defenders have "Defender" printed there. NAS Defender 110s came with a full external roll cage.
o NAS Defender 90s(1994-1995): Come with a partially external roll cage. They do not have windscreen hinges and the roll cage blocks the ability to hinge the windscreen anyway. The Rear cross member of has a welded on step running its whole length along the bottom of the cross member. The tail lights are arranged parallel to and just above i the top of the rear cross member. There are 3 on the left hand side and 2 on the right. A third brake light is mounted on the spare carrier (on the rear swing mounted) above the tyre. The door windows are sliding (like the series). There are side corner reflectors.
Military Land Rovers
o Lightweight(1968-1980): Flat sided with very large wheel arches. The front bumper sports over riders, the rear cross member is rectangular in shape, not being narrow on the ends and angled to a thick Centrex like regular Land Rovers. The wings are sharp edged, and the bonnet is square cornered, unlike the curved edges on regular Land Rovers. The bonnet has a height above the wings of about 8 inches. There is no visible opening for refueling, being under the seat like early Land Rovers. The doors are tapered. If you look carefully you will notice that the firewall/bulkhead is in two pieces with the dividing line flush with the top of the bonnet.
o Series IIA(1968-1972): These Land Rovers have the headlamps mounted on the breakfast protruding through the grill. There are two horizontally mounted side lights mounted on the wings. The front of the wings are cut off to just fit the side lights (about 2 inches), which are flush with edges top and bottom. The wheel arch is parallel to the ground from behind the front tyre to the front of the wing.
o Series III(1972-1980): They have the headlamps mounted in the wings. The wings are cut so that the headlight just fits. (so it is thicker (about 6 inches high) in front than the SIIA). The side marker lamps are mounted vertically on the outer edge of the wing. The front wheel arch is cuts up to about 2 inches from the top of the wing, turns parallel to the ground, then aims back down to the ground in front of the wheel. The door hinges are flat unlike any other Land Rover door hinge.
Forward Controls
o 109" Series IIA Forward Control(1960-1966): Cab over engine and front wheels. The bottom line of the body is a straight line (no wheel arches). There is a small eyebrow over the front wheels. The area covering the driver is usually a standard Land Rover pickup top. The nose extends about 1.5 feet in front of the front doors and has a rounded slope below from the bottom of the windscreen to the flat front grill area. Rounded rear mud flaps. The rear axle is mounted about the spring (like on any 109"). The front grille is rectangular with a curved top. The headlights are mounted about 8 inches above the bumper. Smooth body appearance. The tyres are mounted on 5 studs.
o 110" Series IIB Forward Control(1966-1973): It looks exactly like The 109" FC, except the headlights are mounted about an inch above the bumper, the rear mudflaps are squarer, and the rear axle is mounted below the spring.
o 101" Forward Control(1972-1978): A tall, flat nosed and imposing Land Rover riding on 900/16 tires. If what you are looking at looks like a big army truck and has Land Rover on the front, it is a 101. The 101 has wheel arches for all wheels. The headlights are mounted in the front bumper. The nose in front of the doors is angular and extends about 8 inches in front of the door. The rear body panels show perimeter ribs with sunken panels. The grille is square. The tyres are mounted on 6 studs. If the truck is big, angular, yellow, ugly, has Land Rover on it and claims to be a city cab, then it is a 101 FC in disguise for the movie Judge Dredd.
Copyright Dixon
Comments? Send mail to Dixon Kenner or Benjamin Smith
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