Land Rover Monthly – October 2019

40 LANDROVERMONTHLY

DUNSFOLD

DIARIES

WITH PHILIP BASHALL

S

HOULD I beworried that I’m

now twice as old as the

original LandRover

Discovery? As mentioned last

month, I’ve just celebrated

my 60th birthday, and this

year the Discovery turns 30.

My own milestone involved afew beers on

the Bluebell Linesteam railway, but Land

Rover put on a slightly more lavish

Discovery 30th knees-up during the

GoodwoodFestival of Speed, when it

invited journalists to samplevarious

examples from the model’s history.

The Dunsfold Collection issometimes

askedto loan significant vehiclesfor

events like these, andwe supplied three

important Discovery 1sfor static display

at the country hotel that JLRwas using as

a base. They included both theearliest

survivor and the last oneoff the line:

a 1988 pre-production V8, and a 1998

example, also a V8.The thirdvehicle is

nicknamed the ‘Schizo Disco’ and isa

former motor showexhibit thatwas

brilliantly dressed up as aCamel Trophy

competitor on one side and aregular

productionvehicle on theother. Itwas

built to publicise the introductionof the

300Tdifacelift, but infact is a 200Tdi that

was modifiedto look like the new model.

I rememberseeing Schizo revolving on

a turntable during the 1994 NEC Motor

Show, one side looking like afi lthy-dirty

Camel Discovery and theother likea

pristine showroomstar. It started life asa

200Tdi body-in-whiteto whichpainted

panels from a usedCamel were attached

on one side, with accessories such as the

winch androof-rackcut exactly in half

down thecentre-line of the vehicle.A

contact whoworked in LandRover’s tool

room at the timetold me that asecond

vehiclewas built using the left-over

Camel parts but itseems to have since

disappeared.Schizo runs and drives, but

there is no proper wiring loom as such,

and no doors on the production-spec side

• nor aB/C-pillar, either.
  The 1988 pre-production Discovery
  actually drives very well, although its
  legality as aroad-goingvehicle is
  somewhat questionable because it is
  registered as aRover Montego and wears
  a 1984 plate, B62COH! This was common
  practiceback in the day, when LandRover
  would tryto hide the true ageof a
  then-secret new modelby giving it afake
  identity, something thatwouldn’t be
  allowed now(although itwas certainly
  happening as late as 2000, when
  Dunsfold’s L322 RangeRover pr otot ype

Discoverys

oldandnew

Philip has been busy with the oldest

Discovery this month – and the newest

was registered on a 1995 ‘N’ plate and

described as a ‘Fleet’ model on the V5).

Interestingly, B62COH also has anEfi

fuel-injected motor, but production

Discovery V8swere of course fi tted with

carburettors for thefi rst year orso to help

set them apart from thecontemporary

RangeRover.

Then there’s the 1998 last-of-line

Discovery, fi nished in arather insipid

colour called Charleston Green. Discovery

VIN numberswent a bit bonkersat this

time and there areseveral vehicles that

have later numbers but whichwere

defi nitely builtearlier. This onewas

officially the last oneto leave the

production line andwas gif ted straight to

the British Motor Industry HeritageTrust

at Gaydon, but they decided they had no

room to keep it and itwas auctionedoff

just four years later.

I think it may have been boughtby

Southern Counties Garages in Cr awley,

Sussex, because their name is on the

registr ation plates and itwas ne ver

registered whileat the BMIHT. Itpassed

through anothercouple of owners before

I bought itfor the Dunsfold Collection but

remains invery good condition and with

only 33,000 miles on the clock. Itwas,

howeve r, fi tted with an LPGconversionby

THE DUNSFOLDCOLLECTION

is notyet opento the public but is

hopingto establish a permanent

museum.You can help make thata

realityby becoming aFriendof the

Collectionfor an annual subscription

of £35. Visit dunsfoldcollection.co.uk

to see more.