hi - i am considering purchasing an early 80's series 3 88.. primarily as a beach vehicle.. i suppose that wont help the rust issue, but i wanted thoughts on driving these cars 55 mph for about 10 miles each way on a highway.. would you be comfortable driving your children in that car, if it has been well maintained? i would put less than 2000 miles per year on this car. thanks for your advice.. i have been reading your site for awhile and appreciate the info from you knowledgeable people.

 

how old / big are the kiddoes? carseat size or bigger? that may be of issue.
check it over, WELL. or have a place do so. that will remove the "fall apart" fears.

 

I have drove series 2a's and 3's all over europe and into Africa as well. As for saftey as longs the the tykes are strapped in then there is no problems appart from any other 80's car. These vehicles are not fast and the kids wont appreciate it in later life when they complian about poor hearing and bad backs due to dad carting them around in a series Land Rover but they are fun and easy to maintain.

 

It should go faster than 55 if the engine is in good shape. I have a 1968 IIa 109 and I can maintain 65mph.

 

I have a 1981 Series III Diesel and have 235/85/16 size tires. I can easily cruise at 65 mph and have even pushed it to 70. But it seems most comfortable between 55 and 60. Drives great and at freeway speeds I have averaged 23-25 mph!

 

Heh heh. I think you meant mpg. I imagine the 88 will get up to 55mph, especially if it has the overdrive, but not sure if it can do it in 10 miles or not. Maybe if it's downhill. Seriously, I think it would be fine as long as the owner is really inspired by the vehicle. They're outrageously overpriced for the practical utility because there is enough demand from people that just love the "look." That look was cemented in many people's perception by motion pictures, and for as many it will really be the only thing that will look correct in their mind's eye, whether it's on safari, at the beach, at the cabin, at the hunt club or whatever. I mean, you'll never see a Land Cruiser in an Orvis or Barbour catalog.

If you really want it and have the means to acquire it, I'd say that you will come to accept its shortcomings and enjoy it for what it is.

 

I have a 1983 Series 3 109 County with a 200TDI in it and a Fairey Overdrive.
In this config, it'll run all day at 70mph, returning around 30mpg. Just don't ask me to stop it in the same zip code.

However, it is really noisy, lots of sound proofing to be done still. More importantly, if you're transporting the kids in it, my '83 doesn't have rear seat belts, I need to add those. The updated drum brakes in the 109's are about as good as drums get, which means that braking is still "exciting", I have a disc conversion on my todo list.

 

I am about to pick up a '78 Series 109 myself tomorrow, also with the Fairey but just the stock petrol 2.25 for power. We'll see how she does on the Autobahn tomorrow ... should be interesting, all right.

What are your plans for soundproofing? I am checking out this stuff for starters: Sound Control Insulation - Sound Damping Coating | LizardSkin

Has anybody here tried Lizard Skin for their LR? Or for any other vehicle??