Dream or nightmare
RICHARD HALL bought his first Land Rover, a Series III, just after his 18th birthday and has since owned, maintained and restored these vehicles for over 30 years now. He runs a small Land Rover repair and restoration business in Norfolk and every month he lets off steam in LRM.
LT must be more than three years now since old Land Rover prices started their rapid ascent into the upper stratosphere, with the 'entry level' price for a running, driving and roadworthy Series III rocketing up from around two grand to somewhere north of five almost overnight. Some of the froth seems to have come off the market lately, and the casualties are starting to limp into the Norfolk Garage – vehicles whose owners paid a very large sum of money in the belief that they were buying a 'blue chip' classic whose value could only continue to rise.
This is not a new phenomenon. As a student back in the late 1980s I ran a succession of cheap but entertaining cars. Among these was my first Land Rover, a Series III Lightweight about which I have written before, and which almost bankrupted me. A couple of cars and another Land Rover later I was down to my last £100, but salvation came in the
