Stage 1 spotting challenge

Anything else related to the Stage 1 V8
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Geoff
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Location: Leicester UK

Stage 1 spotting challenge

Post by Geoff »

I've just learnt from an article in the July issue of Classic Land Rover magazine that R J Searle Ltd produced a Stage One V8-based version of their Carawagon. Has anyone got one? Has anyone even seen one ever? Or even know if one still exists? This would surely be a very rare vehicle. There's a picture of one with the article and it looks pretty cool. Just tried Google Images and that failed to produce a single picture of one.
2 1981 Stage One 109 V8 SWs
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disco2hse
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Location: Auckland NZ

Re: Stage 1 spotting challenge

Post by disco2hse »

Never seen the mag. Any chance you can scan the article and post here, or maybe email me a copy?

There is one here: http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/Lan ... _cover.htm

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Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
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Geoff
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Location: Leicester UK

Re: Stage 1 spotting challenge

Post by Geoff »

Thanks for the picture Alan. The article is about RJ Searle generally and 8 pages long with lots of detail about Land Rover Carawagons including original brochure photos and plans of interior layouts (although the latter are reproduced rather small and difficult to see without a magnifying glass) It's written by John Carroll, the Editor of CLR, who I believe owns a Land Rover Carawagon. There used to be one just down the road from me here til a couple of years ago but not a Stage One obviously (think it was a Series 2A) I think I've said this before, but CLR magazine is available online:

https://classiclandrover.keypublishing. ... iew-issue/

Your picture doesn't look like the one in the article, which doesn't surprise me as the company would apparently make pretty much anything a customer wanted (no doubt for a price) according to the article, so there were probably a lot of variations. The one in your picture has a more usual Land Rover Carawagon arrangement of rear side windows, whereas the Stage One version pictured in the article has, in my opinion, more elegant windows. I meant to mention that it is referred to in the company's brochures as the 'Series 90' version (nothing to do with the Land Rover 90, just coincidence) The one in your picture is described as a 'model 80' - it looks like a Stage One (I'm looking at the rear exhaust pipe as much as the rear decal) but according to the article "by 1977, the Series III 109in was being referred to as the Series 80 and, later, a Stage One V8-based version would be known as the Series 90", so I'm wondering if your picture is either of a Stage One specially converted for a customer or maybe a kind of 'prototype' Series 90. In either case, how rare can you get?!! I wonder where it is now. Not in some scrapyard or broken up I hope. I can only imagine the freedom a V8-powered classic Land Rover camper would represent - as a boy and young man I had many happy holidays in my parents' camper van, but it was only an underpowered 1500 VW bus (Devon conversion) which not infrequently got mired and stuck, just on a campsite! (Mind you, I wish I had it now, if only for the value)
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disco2hse
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Re: Stage 1 spotting challenge

Post by disco2hse »

Thanks for the useful info. I was looking at the sticker and exhaust as well.

The website access is only available to paid subscribers and I can't afford that.

Pure speculation, but I wonder if that was one of the reasons that when the Ninety and One Ten were released, they did not use the numbers but were spelled out.

There's no plate on the vehicle in the photo, I notice. Maybe it was done for a car show or, as you say, for promotional/prototyping purposes? Wouldn't be that hard to pull off. Stick a Series III roof, side panels, with associated hardware on and a couple of cabinets in the back for the photos. Just don't look too close ;)
Alan

1983 ex-army FFR 109 Stage 1
2005 Disco 2 HSE TD5
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Geoff
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Location: Leicester UK

Re: Stage 1 spotting challenge

Post by Geoff »

Individual issues can be purchased online:

https://shop.keypublishing.com/issue/View/issue/CLR062

Postage to NZ appears to be £4.99. Given that it costs more than a pound now here just to send an A4 sheet within the UK, I doubt I could send photocopies for less. Granted you might not want to spend that kind of money unless it was info you were seriously interested in. I have a sub that costs me £36 a year. With the amount of free reading there is online, I have wondered about continuing it, especially if I find myself looking at articles about the same sort of thing I've seen times before, but I still like to have a physical magazine I can pick up and look at at odd moments. CLR is more to my taste/interests than other Landy/4x4 mags but I miss the humour in Land Rover Monthly, the first mag I subscribed to many moons ago now - you need a sense of humour to run an old Land Rover!

Just looked again Alan and individual digital issues do appear to be available, for £3.99:

https://pocketmags.com/classic-land-rov ... /july-2018
2 1981 Stage One 109 V8 SWs
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