1957 Land Rover Series I 88'

Registration No: SXF 102
Chassis No: 111-7-00850
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. The 88" chassis was offered from mid-1956 model year, in preparation for the diesel variant.

Chassis ‘00850’ was manufactured new on the 10^th October 1956 and despatched on the 6^th 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.

For more information, please contact:
Paul Cheetham
paul.cheetham@handh.co.uk
07538 667452