The company where I work had its annual strategic planning meeting at Traders Point Creamery, a working dairy farm with a restaurant and meeting space that’s a short drive from our northwest Indianapolis headquarters. I have a photo of our management team among the cows to prove it, but what really caught my eye was this Land Rover Series III.
Outfitted as it is, I assume it’s used to ferry visitors on tours of the farm. Getting up there must be a challenge, though.
I’m betting the little ladder that lies on that ledge under the third row seat is key to the onboarding process. Sitting in the third row while this Land Rover is in motion must give quite a feeling of hanging out.
Up front, things are really rough. Based on its RHD configuration and the out-of-date license plates still affixed fore and aft, I’d say this was an import from the UK.
And given the lack of Indiana plates, this Land Rover never sees the mean streets of Indianapolis. By the way: if you’re ever in Central Indiana, this dairy’s chocolate milk is to die for.
Not Aussie plates I’d guess ex UK nice truck though I drove a new SWB hardtop back in 73 I bet this handles badly fully laden.
It’s a UK registration, Q was used for ex military, imports,kit cars and rebuilt vehicles.Looks like an Army green paint job
Interesting to know that UK plates decode like that.
Thanks. Fixed!
Wow, I can only imagine the rear weight bias with a full load of passengers. Cool find, JG. Next time, you might suggest that management might bond better during a trip in the Rover.
I will have to get up there to Traders Point. I have heard about it. Chocolate milk is one thing, but how is the ice cream – there is the real test.
I’ve had their ice cream in their restaurant. It’s good, but not as good as the chocolate milk.
It looks like it would fall over in a slight breeze.
Clearly inspired by the renowned designer Tex Avery.
Love it! As always the doors sag, but otherwise a pretty good example, before the addition of the seating and crap roof.
I have owned two Series III Land Rovers both of which I bought in the UK (I’m English!) and exported to Grenada in the West Indies, one in 1991 and the other in 1997. Wonderful, capable vehicles that will do practically anything you ask of them, and are simple to work on. But – be mindful of the amount of gas and oil they will consume!
At their most impressive? Take ten people, a very large cooking pot (now empty as the contents are in those ten people and a good few others), two large coolers with a lot of ice still in them, all the associated bottles and cases (Grenada still recycles all glassware associated with having a ‘beastly’ cold beer), and faced with a very steep hill to negotiate from the beach, engage ‘Low’ and first gear, let the clutch out slowly and let everybody enjoy a slow climb without any involvement of the driver except steering.
Yes, it’s really a road-going tractor.
Love ’em, but glad that nowadays the quality of the roads here mean we can all drive around in Suzuki Vitara/Escudos – Escudos because they’re imported directly from (RHD) Japan.
That ‘Q’ plate it’s wearing is an indicator that this Landie is an amalgam of various bits and pieces preventing it from being issued with a model-year specific number. You see a lot of kit cars in the UK with ‘Q’ plates. As to the letters ‘JWY’, the ‘WY’ part indicates that the old beast was registered in the West Riding of Yorkshire, oop north. Although I’m a Scot, I grew up in this area not far from the American base at Menwith Hill and I remember lots of US cars belonging to the locally-housed staff being re-registered with ‘WY’ and ‘WU’ plates. I can particularly remember a ’66 two door Impala, a ’64 two door Falcon, a ’67 Plymouth Valiant, a ’67 Mercury Cougar and a ’65 Chrysler New Yorker because as a thirteen year old kid I washed every one of them, allowing me to cadge a few rides as well! Fuel allowance for the folks living in north Leeds and having to drive the 20-odd miles to the base every day was 4 measly gallons a week, then they had to buy the stuff at UK prices. 4 gallons a week just about allowed the Chrysler to start up and reverse out of the drive a few times, a fact ruefully commented on by the black sergeant whose pride and joy it was. The Valiant was probably the most UK-friendly of the bunch in terms of size, performance and economy and was a good match for my father’s Mk 111 Ford Zodiac automatic.
Sorry for meandering off the thread. Ooops.
Loved it. Thanks for adding color.
If it were necessary to apologize for such posts on threads like this I wouldn’t even be hanging around here….
My thanks to pfsm and Jim Grey for that! I’d like to add, almost 50 years after the event, that all these ordinary working military or ex-military American families on a budget, Democrat or Republican, black or white, Jewish or Christian, east coasters or west, were a thoroughly decent bunch and without exception fine unofficial ambassadors for your country. I remember them all with much fondness and genuine affection. And I liked their cars as well!
I cant imagine the passenger load could be any worse than a full load and towing a heavy trailer (tow ball load), but obviously could be better. Lots of 6×6 ex army LRs being sold off at the moment…