M
Michael Williams
Guest
The Series Landies dont have much in the way of seat belts full stop.
A 109 I had at one point had been owned by a bloke who had got a britax baby
seat and bolted it to the floor in the back!
Side seats dont tend to be all that accomodating, so the solution I guess,
would be to go to exmoore trim or BLRS and get a single forward facing seat,
and all the associated seat belt mounting kit, so that you can strap a baby
seat to it in the conventional manner.
Trouble is those seats take up most of the load space in the back of a 90.
I've seen two of them fitted, one either side, but then there is no space
for the passengers to actually get into them, and hardly any space behind
for luggage!
To be honest, I'd say that unless you really want a 'classic' truck, or a
'real' leaf sprung (read, harsh, gutless and uncivilised) Landie - Steer
clear of the series 2's or 3's. An early 90 is a little better, but not
much.
Best VFM by a LONG LONG way at the moment is a Range Rover Classic. You can
get a good one for a Grand, which would only just get you a useable Series
3.
Two grand gets you something pretty useful - either something that is well
presented and with a profesionally fitted diesel, or an LPG conversion, or
something that has been detailed out for seriouse off-roading or whatever.
Three grand and you have pretty well choice over late standard cars or well
presented earlier ones, etc.
Best thing about them is that the drive like a 'normal' car.
For what you sugest, I'd go looking for a 1990ish Vogue 3.9 V8 Automatic, on
LPG. Incredibly refined, all the toys, extremely comfy. Anti Roll bars make
it a bit less useful off road than earlier examples, (Not that you are
likely to notice), and make ride on the road a bit more taut.
I know you said that economy was not you most important consideration, after
a 4.0l TVR, but a Rangie probably weighs three times as much, and has three
times the frontal area - they manage about 15mpg on average. I've got it up
to over 20 in ours on a long, and gentle run, but the wife, who just boots
it every where is lucky to get it into double figures!
LPG dont make it any more economical, but does get you twice the gallons per
pound.
Seat belts and seats that take baby cradles, seats and boosters - and a boot
you can shove a couple of Labradoor sized muts in. We have a third row seat
in the back of ours, and can get three more kids on that. In fact, I can
just about sit on it, and I'm 6'2".
Other idea may be a Disco. Seems a popular family choice - has all the
usefulness of a Rangie, but not quite so much refinement or the extras, and
they cost more!
I dont have any serious objection to them, and they dont seem to have many
major vices, but they do seem to live harder lives than equivilent Rangies,
and mid to low end examples can be a bit risky - come accross a couple of
examples where good money has been paid for a well polished and presented
Disco that couldn't pass an MOT and needed a lot of money spending to make
it do so - but I think that that is a risk with a lot of cars of a certain
age in that price band.
Dont know if that helps any, but there you go.
If you want some more ideas on what its like living with either a Classic
Rangie or a Series three, have a look at my web site at:-
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/williams73/LRHome.htm
"Jamie T" <virtualranger@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9751f577.0408180818.736f2cf6@posting.google.com...
> Land Rover newbie with loads of questions so please be patient!
>
> I need help deciding which model is best for me. I need to transport
> myself, wife, six month old baby, and two (usually filthy) springer
> spaniels to and from the hills 3 or 4 times a week. There will be no
> extreme off-roading, muddy tracks and fields is as bad as it gets.
>
> I really like the idea of older (tax exempt) SWB ones, especially the
> soft-tops. The vehicle will be used all year round but only for short
> journeys (its a 10/15 minute journey to the hills). Decent fuel
> economy would be nice but not vital (I'm used to running a 4 ltr TVR).
> What is vital is that I can fit myself, the wife, child seat and dogs
> inside. Is this possible in a series II or III? Do they have seat
> belts suitable for child seats? If not, can they be retro-fitted? Do
> you think I'd be better off with an early 90/110 or even a CSW? Can
> baby seats fit in these ok?
>
> Budget is not really important but couldnt afford a new defender so
> would have to be a series landy or early 90/110.
>
> Any advice gratefully received.
>
> Jamie
A 109 I had at one point had been owned by a bloke who had got a britax baby
seat and bolted it to the floor in the back!
Side seats dont tend to be all that accomodating, so the solution I guess,
would be to go to exmoore trim or BLRS and get a single forward facing seat,
and all the associated seat belt mounting kit, so that you can strap a baby
seat to it in the conventional manner.
Trouble is those seats take up most of the load space in the back of a 90.
I've seen two of them fitted, one either side, but then there is no space
for the passengers to actually get into them, and hardly any space behind
for luggage!
To be honest, I'd say that unless you really want a 'classic' truck, or a
'real' leaf sprung (read, harsh, gutless and uncivilised) Landie - Steer
clear of the series 2's or 3's. An early 90 is a little better, but not
much.
Best VFM by a LONG LONG way at the moment is a Range Rover Classic. You can
get a good one for a Grand, which would only just get you a useable Series
3.
Two grand gets you something pretty useful - either something that is well
presented and with a profesionally fitted diesel, or an LPG conversion, or
something that has been detailed out for seriouse off-roading or whatever.
Three grand and you have pretty well choice over late standard cars or well
presented earlier ones, etc.
Best thing about them is that the drive like a 'normal' car.
For what you sugest, I'd go looking for a 1990ish Vogue 3.9 V8 Automatic, on
LPG. Incredibly refined, all the toys, extremely comfy. Anti Roll bars make
it a bit less useful off road than earlier examples, (Not that you are
likely to notice), and make ride on the road a bit more taut.
I know you said that economy was not you most important consideration, after
a 4.0l TVR, but a Rangie probably weighs three times as much, and has three
times the frontal area - they manage about 15mpg on average. I've got it up
to over 20 in ours on a long, and gentle run, but the wife, who just boots
it every where is lucky to get it into double figures!
LPG dont make it any more economical, but does get you twice the gallons per
pound.
Seat belts and seats that take baby cradles, seats and boosters - and a boot
you can shove a couple of Labradoor sized muts in. We have a third row seat
in the back of ours, and can get three more kids on that. In fact, I can
just about sit on it, and I'm 6'2".
Other idea may be a Disco. Seems a popular family choice - has all the
usefulness of a Rangie, but not quite so much refinement or the extras, and
they cost more!
I dont have any serious objection to them, and they dont seem to have many
major vices, but they do seem to live harder lives than equivilent Rangies,
and mid to low end examples can be a bit risky - come accross a couple of
examples where good money has been paid for a well polished and presented
Disco that couldn't pass an MOT and needed a lot of money spending to make
it do so - but I think that that is a risk with a lot of cars of a certain
age in that price band.
Dont know if that helps any, but there you go.
If you want some more ideas on what its like living with either a Classic
Rangie or a Series three, have a look at my web site at:-
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/williams73/LRHome.htm
"Jamie T" <virtualranger@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9751f577.0408180818.736f2cf6@posting.google.com...
> Land Rover newbie with loads of questions so please be patient!
>
> I need help deciding which model is best for me. I need to transport
> myself, wife, six month old baby, and two (usually filthy) springer
> spaniels to and from the hills 3 or 4 times a week. There will be no
> extreme off-roading, muddy tracks and fields is as bad as it gets.
>
> I really like the idea of older (tax exempt) SWB ones, especially the
> soft-tops. The vehicle will be used all year round but only for short
> journeys (its a 10/15 minute journey to the hills). Decent fuel
> economy would be nice but not vital (I'm used to running a 4 ltr TVR).
> What is vital is that I can fit myself, the wife, child seat and dogs
> inside. Is this possible in a series II or III? Do they have seat
> belts suitable for child seats? If not, can they be retro-fitted? Do
> you think I'd be better off with an early 90/110 or even a CSW? Can
> baby seats fit in these ok?
>
> Budget is not really important but couldnt afford a new defender so
> would have to be a series landy or early 90/110.
>
> Any advice gratefully received.
>
> Jamie