Well I was just sitting here thinking in lue of the Discontinuation of the Defenders, our Discos that have been treated fairly will become rare also... Im wondering if their value will eventually start going up also? I know I can find them literally all over the price spectrum... and the fact the only factory fitted vehicles with this level of offroadness are upwards of 50k now! or around that ...we may be sitting on some nice Gems! not to mention parts! and more parts!

 

I know we saw the soaring of NAS Defenders as a result of the fact that they were actually a different animal than what the rest of the world saw and their numbers were ridiculously low. A little over 500 NAS D100's and probably under 10,000 NAS D90's makes them valuable simply because of their scarcity. There were about 35,000 NAS RRC's sold in over the course of nine years from 1987-1995. Again, the scarcity makes survivors more valuable.

I would venture to guess that Land Rover sold well in excess of 20,000 DII's each year the truck was offered in the US. That would mean that there were probably 120,000 models sold on these shores. Given the numbers, these DII's may, in fact begin to increase in value at some point but I think the Defender and RRC are the ones that will achieve real collector status.

The other thing I keep thinking of is how poorly certain parts of the DII are made. The frame is a disgrace. Anyone really thinking of these as collectors will have to face the inevitability of a frame swap. The other thing is the mess of an engine Land Rover used. The 4.0 was bad enough but the 4.6 is a joke. I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole. Again, anyone really thinking about value will need to think about installing a newer engine with top hats, ect. Otherwise, you're simply buying a time bomb.

Will DII's go up in value? Sure, eventually, survivors will. Are they likely to attain the value of Defenders and Range Rovers? I doubt it. I think, like a really nice TR6 and a Spitfire or an beautiful MGB and a Midget, there will always be a good bit of difference between the value of the Discovery and it's more rare stablemates.

 

Yeah... Well i love mine! Haha and as fast as these are crashed and smacked up shouldn't be long! Lol i did see some new galvanized frames and other fancy stuff but im not at that point! Lol but i have to admit... I want a defender!

 

I've owned and restored one of the last NADA Series III's imported by BL and was, at least according to the largest Land Rover dealer at the time, the first person to put money down on an Alpine white D90 in December of 1992. In the end, I passed on the Defender when it finally arrived at the dealer in late October of 1993. It came in with factory A/C and a slew of other options I thought WERE options. My needs had changed so I opted for a BSE '94 RRC LWB.

Yes, I like the D90. Nevertheless, for me, I always thought that a DI was more than capable of doing anything a D90 could do, all the while with more comfort and flexibility.

 

Yeah... agreed... and can get them for a good price! there is a BEAUTIFUL yellow one all kitted out and lifted but needs some work on craigslist in south florida here... they want 1700 obo ad if I had the money id obo them!

1997 Land Rover Discovery Series I

 

I still use a '95 DI as my daily driver. In fact, I've had either a '94 or '95 as a daily driver for at least the last 6 years. I am a firm believer in the KISS principle and for me, that means 14CUX Rovers. They are easy to diagnose and easy to fix. If I think about it, my favorite Rover in the almost 25 years I've owned them was a rudimentary 1985 carburetted 5 speed RRC I had for eight years before it rotted away from the inside out.

 

yeah id LOVE to have a carbureted landy! i too prefer mechanical watches and vehicles without computers but it seems they were designed to rust away to make room for aluminum ones with computers... what a bag of magic rocks we were sold! lol

 

You know how the saying goes with these Discovery; the DI body rusts off the frame while the DII frame rusts out from under the body.

 

Series LR's and Defenders are rising in value this side of the pond. Defenders are 'fashionable', don't know why but as for D1's and D2's far too many were made to become classics or valuable although technically they are far superior to Series or Defenders. If you own a D1 or D2 just enjoy it for what it is. The value of the spares is dropping in price also as LR main dealers try to offload their old stock.

 

haha yeah I was born JUSt shy of age to own the real 60s and 70s muscle cars and once I could afford them they were already expensive for a good non rusted version... then I went to 85 CJ7 renegade jeep for something to just keep forever.. but in Texas without A/C and the bouncing my kidneys around all day i sold it... now they are like 15k and more for a good copy.. i bought mine almost new 6k miles .. anyway I sold as I had gotten into car business then I had lots of cars lol then moving on.. saw the land rovers.. 90s land rover Defender 90 soft top in red! wow an adult jeep! well it was 45k still outside what i wanted to pay.. Then Disco came! I waited out the depreciation and BAM! I MADE IT! lol now I hear they may rust apart! hahaha mine is mostly used on road and I like riding on trails but I don't really do the mud with this one... its my daily driver... seems you can always find something else to add to it too! so long as I keep it.. its a pretty inexpensive truck to have! for the amount of pleasure it can produce!