Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
9th October, 2024 13:00
1957 Land Rover Series I 88'
Estimate
£16, 000 - £20, 000
Registration No: SXF 102
Chassis No: the details below
MOT: Exempt
Understood to have been supplied new to the Home Office Fire Services Technical Centre at Moreton-in-Marsh
Reputedly the Command Car while in service
Matching chassis and engine numbers
Offered with a BMIHT Heritage Certificate
Designed by Maurice Wilks in 1947, a Land-Rover rates highly on any list of the world's most significant vehicles, and the earlier - and therefore purer - the better. By the 1957 model year, during which this example was made, weak points had been ironed out to bring the 4x4 to a specification that would last for decades. A simple ladder frame chassis, steel bulkhead and rugged square-formed aluminium panels created a strong workhorse for light industrial, countryside and military use alike. In 1954, 86-inch and 107-inch wheelbases were introduced, and by 1957, a 'high-speed' 2-litre diesel motor was added to the power options. This diesel engine necessitated Solihull lengthening the front part of the chassis, bringing the Landie to its 88-inch and 109-inch wheelbases which then ran until the introduction of coil springing in the mid 1980s. The 88" chassis was offered from mid-1956 model year, in preparation for the diesel variant.
Chassis ‘00850’ was manufactured new on the 10th of October 1956 and despatched on the 6th of December to Halesowen Engineering Works, Worcester for Home Office fitment, as the Land Rover is understood to have been supplied new to the Home Office Fire Services Technical Centre at Moreton-in-Marsh. Home of firefighting training for the Civil Defence and AFS services (as well as the RAF and others) the site featured three made-up Mobile Fire Columns for teaching purposes. Reputedly the Command Car while in service, the Land Rover is thought to have covered low mileage in service due to the nature of its employment. Thereafter, ‘SXF 102’ spent much of its time in single-family ownership (from 1978 to 2017 and has a recorded mileage of some 28, 000 miles.
In current ownership, the Land Rover has benefited from engine and gearbox bearings and seals replacement; removal of the head and the valves checked; wheels shot-blasted, refurbished and shod with new tyres; and the footwells renewed. Starting readily and running well during our recent photography session, the Series I is accompanied by the BMIHT Heritage Certificate, a collection of previous MOTs and invoices, an original operations manual; workshop and instruction manuals; and a current V5C document. A matching chassis and engine numbers example and pleasingly still retaining its ‘SXF’ Civil Defence Land-Rovers registration number, chassis ‘00850’ is due to be driven to the sale.
