Land Rover Santana 2500 WHAT IS IT?! 

Toughest little bugger I have ever known.

I seen a Lada in video going to Cape in Australia, tough drive. My neighbour had one in the 80s. Dear here too buy a basket case these days.

I won't forget. And thanks for watching!

I'm trying! Thanks for the encouragement!!

Hey You may not get this, But if you do - I would be interested to know what the Iranian Company is making these days - Are the Landrover / defender products still produced? I really would love to see a factory making Series 3 - Based trucks. cheers

@@cameronmurie no,it is not produced

Series III 88 rear quarter!

We do not swap engines or transmissions, no. Mostly because the majority of our customers are in the USA, and doing so would render the vehicles ineligible for legal import into the states under the 25 year rule. But also partly because I actually LIKE old Land Rovers. I don't typically want to make them something they aren't. I don't want a 200 horsepower vintage Land Rover, or a vintage Land Rover that feels like a Chevy Tahoe. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with wanting those things, but it is not my personal style. Is 86 bhp enough in a vintage Land Rover? For who? For what? Hahaha! I guess the answer is an age old one. Is 130bhp "enough" for a 1965 Porsche 911? Is 100bhp "enough" for a 1966 MGB? What about a Mercedes-Benz 300GD? In my mind, the idea of a 300 horsepower SUV with 20" wheels, an 8-speed automatic transmission and air conditioned seats is a decidedly modern interpretation of an "off roader." These old Land Rovers are not SUV's. These vintage trucks, whether we're talking about a Series III or a Santana 2500 or a Toyota 40-series or a Mercedes-Benz w460 chassis G-wagen, are not SUV's. They are off roaders. They all have varying degrees of on-tarmac comfort and capability, and those can vary widely, but none of these rigs were designed to sigh you to work and back in air conditioned comfort, or allow your wife to merge onto a crowded freeway effortlessly with three kids in the back. These are adventure vehicles, and every aspect of their original design briefs was skewed in that direction. So I guess if you're considering a vintage Land Rover as an alternative to, say... a Toyota Rav4? Nothing about the vintage Land Rover will be "enough." None of it. But if you're planning to use the vintage Land Rover in the manner it was originally designed to be used? Exploring off road, bopping around town, heading off into the mountains for some fishing, finding a secluded surf break no one else knows about? Then pretty much all of the original drivetrains in all of these different vehicles is more than adequate. The problems arise when an owner tries to hold their comfort, their acceleration, and their overall performance envelopes to the standards of modern SUV's. (But the exact same thing applies to a 1965 Porsche 911, or a 1966 MGB, or an Alfa Romeo GTV 1750.)

@@paulmisencik Totaly agree, thank you. Waiting for more videos 👌🏼

The 2500 2.5 diesel engine had 67hp just like the Land Rover 90 or 110 had on their 12J motor. That info is probably from wikipedia. Not even the Land Rover 90 (Defender) with the Turbo 19J (84hp)

They are lovable, for sure.

is it still good in 2021 ? im thinking of getting one as my first car

@@ayoubbouzerda8197 Mine is good but spares sometimes hard to find

@@lordpetergaskin6816 yeah thats the thing . I've heard this so many times that i'll find spares hard to find . Specially that i'm in a third world country. Thanks for the reply tho . You're a lucky man haha

1971 Maybe? 1981 would be a Series III. I made two videos specifically about this topic. One is here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qW4IR3Kc5_I.html and the other is here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WtZgH12KgQM.html

I don't see many of either one. They aren't really my "thing." But I've had a couple of pre-Cazorla 6-cylinders, and a couple Ligeros have passed through here over the years. Next time I get one of either, I'll do the tour, I promise!

The Super Turbo was a "Series IIIA" model, and not a 2500. It is basically a turbocharged 2.25L diesel, not terribly dissimilar to what Land Rover later did with the 19J, except 2.25L instead of 2.5L. And like the 19J it's not a bad engine, but relatively unloved. These were early days for turbocharging, and VERY early days for turbocharging diesels. They are not known for being refined or reliable, but they do make more power, and if they are well taken car of there is nothing too much to worry about. IN general, I think a Series III is almost always a better bet for most people than a Series IIIA is, whether turbocharged or not.

@@paulmisencik Thank you once again. I was under the impression that a Series IIIa was a 2500. My mistake. Was the IIIa shaped as a Series III or like the 2500?

​@@rewildingbushcraft9406 This gets a little complicated, especially because Santana never called anything a "Series IV." But they DID call something a "Series IIIA," and the IIIA is the Series trucks built immediately after the license agreement with Land Rover ended. 1983 through about 1986. Series IIIA's can be identified by their roll up windows (instead of the Series III split, sliding windows) and door pulls integrated into the door panels. They also had updated dashboards with slightly different gauges and with rocker switches instead of toggles. Some of the IIIA's were "big window" vehicles with no vents underneath the windscreen. But they had 2.25L Series III engines, 4-speed transmissions, recessed grilles like the earlier Series III and they did NOT have fender extensions. (There was also a "Super Turbo" model of the IIIA.) After the IIIA, Santana sold the "2.5" models, which were called "2.5DC" for short wheelbase and "2.5DL" for long wheelbase models. These had flat grilles like the later 2500, 2.5L engines, 5-speed gearboxes, but still no fender extensions. 2.5's were sold from about 1985 through 1988. (There was also a Super Turbo version of the 2.5, which was essentially a precursor to the Solihull 19J engine.) After all these? Then the 2500 models came.

​@@paulmisencikas ever, very helpful responses. So I'm wondering how the Cazorla fits into all this, and what your opinions on it are. I'm currently looking at a nice one from 1987.

@@rewildingbushcraft9406 The Cazorla story might be too long to type here, but I'll try to hit the high points. The Cazorla was a 6-cylinder model that Santana introduced around 1982 (when the license to build Series III's was ending) and it used the Santana-only 6-cylinder diesel engine that they had designed and fitted to select 109's earlier. (It's a fantastic engine, actually. Basically a 2.25L diesel with two more cylinders grafted on, it's smooth as silk and torquey.). The Cazorla also had a flat grille and rectangular headlamps, so it's, uhhh... distinctive looking. (I find them ugly. Sorry!) Most of the other bits were various late Series III stuff. I think overdrive and power steering were standard and I'm pretty sure they came with heavy duty driveshafts and axels, which can be tough to find these days. And although the engine is reliable and most internal parts can be found, the accessories like power steering pumps and such are essentially no longer available, so keeping a Cazorla running long-term can require some resourcefulness. But it easier in Spain than it is in other countries, that's for sure.

BOTH front and rear seating areas have less room, yes. The Santana 2500, despite having more comfortable seats and so forth, has the interior space of a Series III 88, not that of a Defender 90.

@@paulmisencik Thanks for the info. The one I'm looking at is in Cordoba so I haven't had a chance to get behind the wheel. How does the reduced interior impact someone like myself who is 6'-2"?

@@jreagle58 I suppose you can tell me when you drive it. I'm 6'1" and I feel like I'm pushing it on leg and knee room, and I'm a bit long waisted, which should actually help. But I drive them all the time and I'm basically fine. Not super comfortable on longer drives, but they never are no matter what size you are, and realistically, you should be fine.

Is a lot of work, i seen them done by someone else in the US. In which they installed coils in the front but kept the leafs in the back for better cargo. Or you can upgrade from regular leafs to parabolic leaf springs and the upgrade is very significant!

@@greatvidsviewsfreedom7316 ⬆️ This.

@@paulmisencik ??? You want me to remove the coil conversion blog info??

Dennys Rivero No way! Whatever helps people! The more info out there, the better!

@@greatvidsviewsfreedom7316 thanks...if it can be done, then am thinking...will give it a go and change to coil spings all together...in this part of the world getting spares for these classic cars is a challenge...so I think I am going ahead and modernize the whole suspension with parts from a defender

NO! It's very annoying, but they are not available. I have given some thought to making molds, but I am a small company and haven't been able to justify it yet. At the moment, if the flares for your Santana 2500 are broken (which is common), you have only two options. Repair them, or fit the flares for a Defender, which are readily available. Fitting the flares for a Defender is not easy. The fender opening is a different contour, and the Defender flares must be cut and recontoured to fit.

This is a perfectly reasonable opinion to have, and one shared by many, many people. I totally respect it. That said, I personally can’t leave anything alone. Hahaha! I have spent my entire life making absolutely certain that nothing I drive is stock, and I view pretty much every vehicle that passes through my hands as a kind of… “evolving art project.” Not only do I never leave anything stock, I can’t stop changing my cars around. Land Rovers, Santanas, Porsches, Lancias, Ducatis, Vespas, even MOPEDS. I can’t leave anything alone. I view every vehicle as a way to express myself. Some people like what I do, others hate it. I am TOTALLY cool with that, and don’t try to change anyone’s mind or convince anyone of anything. Because it’s a big, wide, wonderful world and there is room for all of us. Thanks for watching!