Looking for an early Manual D1. How much is it worth? Is cloth seats vs. leather better? The 3.9L vs 4.0 better?

 

look for a 98 if you ask me
obd2
4.0
real u joints - no rag joints
only comes in auto
watch for rust on the C pillars
plan on working on the vehicle yourself or it can be a money pit
I think kbb values are $1500 depending

 

nothing more or less than an auto. Personally, even though I would prefer to drive a manual, I would skip on the D1 manual. The automatic transmission is bulletproof, the manual has a lot of problems like clunky shifts, spline wear, etc. Just look up R380 Manual Gearbox problems on google and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Like whiskey said, I'd go for a 98 or even a 99 if you can find one.

 

I personally would prefer the early Disco 1 with the serp belt dizzy 3.9 auto or manual makes no difference.

Some people really prefer and put a premium on the manual transmission. I wouldn't put a premium on it, but that is me.


For wheeling I will tell you Auto all day long. For daily driver it just depends on what youlike

 

I'm with you on the early DI's. I much prefer the simplicity of the 14CUX system to GEMS. I also, after owning and wheeling an '85 RRC 5 speed, feel an automatic is just plain better.

 

Wheeling the manual 110 is fun but auto is so much better.

 

I have two, a 96 and a 97 both OBDII both with cloth manual seats, manual transmissions and no sunroofs. The only accessory either had when purchased new was the CD spinner. I love the simpler trucks and would vote for roll up windows if you could find them. I think Land Rovers' effort to make/market the disco as a baby range rover in the states was a poor decision 20 years later. It probably sold a lot of trucks two decades ago, but they have aged poorly and one of the reasons is specifically because of the "luxury" gee-gaws. I've thought of both my trucks as goofy looking up-spec more comfortable defenders and found them specifically because they were as basic as could be found in the US. Sunroofs, seat motors...man those leather seats age horribly... just look at all the ebay discos. The disco II is just kind of more of a lot of the same stuff that ages terribly in Discos (even Besides the motor failure over heat slipped liner problem which made the I's questionable but the IIs positively scary). I cant speak about the trucks with distributors, but there is a definite, subtle quality improvement between my 96 and the 97 truck. no rotoflex in the 97. No external antenna in the 97. a lot of small things are better. Both had the seat bottoms fail almost on cue. The 96 had the dash warp problem that LR had figured out in 97. Neither truck has had overheating issues which makes me wonder if the additional cooling required by the AT robs some cooling potential from the factory system. Though I love the manual trucks, I know why LR didn't bring over or sell many manual transmission discos in the states... they are definitely truck-like and almost agricultural. Definitely a pain in the *** in traffic and not something their target demographic was wanting to use daily in the 90's. This makes them somewhat special in my opinion.

 

oh yea, both vehicles have over 100k miles with original clutch, and none of the second gear sycro whine/wear/fail that a lot of people have problems with... though that may be because I personally routinely skip second unless i'm in low range.... its just kind of sitting there unnecessary between two necessary ranges 1 and 3.