In the recent ‘Open Roads’ auction in October organized by the house RM Sotheby’s an off-road vehicle was put up for sale and then purchased Land Rover Series III from 1984 in military version. Definitely a suggestive vehicle, which was valued between 11,500 and 23,500 euros with the clear intention of attracting fans of ‘war’ vehicles derived from commonly used cars.
The car was purchased for just under 12,000 euros, thus entering the range expected by the auction house, despite a detail that cannot be avoided. As you can see from the images, the car has been set up and kept in one hundred percent military outfit, as regards coloring, style and even armed equipment. However, the weapons on the Land Rover are only replicas, and in the United Kingdom, where the vehicle was located at the time of the auction, remain under the jurisdiction of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, which prohibits the modification of this type of object into real firearms.
The weapons were (re) produced by the British company Crossfire, in order to get the car the specific configuration of the Special Air Service. The special unit was created in 1941, stationed in North Africa, to carry out raids against the Axis lines; currently it carries out anti-terrorism and hostage rescue functions, as well as special military and reconnaissance operations. After all, it is assumed that the car was delivered new to the British overseas military forces; since then it has collected 65,462 kilometers on the speedometer.
The car is equipped with a 2.25-liter in-line four-cylinder engine and uses a four-speed gearbox. It has spare wheels and off-road equipment ready available outside the body; it was overhauled in 2020 to make it practically new with brake, suspension and of course engine service. One of the main strengths of the car is that it is perfectly usable on the road, with registration in 2010.
(images: courtesy of RM Sotheby’s)