Land Rover Series 3 - The Perfect Classic Car Daily Driver? 

I notice you didn't need to reset the ecu, recalibrate the wheel sensors, or clean the dpf filter before starting. A Series Land rover simple and still effective as a daily driver. The holes in the floor let the rain water out. I took my Series Landy on a 4,500 mile camping trip to the arctic circle in Norway in winter!

Lovely car. I have a Puma Defender 110 which is a great truck but the charm of Series vehicles is way nicer. Thanks for a great video.

That Defender has more Style than most cars on the road. 👍I wish she was mine.🇺🇸

Hi what type of diesel engine is in your land rover 3

If it’s not leaking you don’t really need to check fluids.

I have 1973 88" Petrol and I only paid $41 USD for the whole year and I am 16!

Hey, I’m a huge car fan and have been looking around the market for a first classic car as an only car. I’m 18 and willing to work on it myself. Love land rovers and was looking at all the series. Series 3 makes most sense. Just need expert opinions on daily use. Long drives but no motorway and looking for 88s

I had a 1978 series III diesel, limestone with the safari top. I tried to use it as a daily driver but, as you said, it's not suitable for long commuting. Sadly I had to sell it but I miss a lot my landy.

I've been using my S2 88 as my daily driver for the last 6+ months, no problems for me 😊👍🏻

Thank you for your honest assessment. I have a 109, use it daily. Parts and insurance are very cheap as you said. Great truck for DIY'ers. Thank you.

Have you tryed fitting crossply tyers instead of radial tyers, i have some on my t25 and makes a hella diffrence

Apparently my mom seems to be interested in this car since she was in.... high school?! lol I've been thinking about getting one of these later when i made enough positive numbers in my bank.

Did you fit the aftermarket safety belts and which ones dit you select?

Yes you can Daily drive them, I daily a 2a petrol , slow and noisy but if you can put up with it fine cars

We are about to cross the finishing line with our '79 series 3, she should be on the road by October fingers x.

A friend of mine took a series 3 left hand drive all round Europe in the 1980's. It ran faultlessly for thousands of miles. He went as far as eastern Turkey where he was stoned going through a village. All went well until he had a crash in Spain not far from the Santana Land Rover factory. He came back with a plastic grill saying Santana on it. We worked together fitting post office screens all round the narrow back roads of South London. I used to get to drive it. I can relate to the previous comment about other vehicles giving way to you. Being left hand drive was good as you could keep an inch away from parked cars and let oncoming traffic decide what they wanted to do!

I love my 1982 Series III but don't hate myself enough to drive it on a daily basis :-D

I daily drove a 1962 Series IIA 88 for years in the USA. I took it on long road trips to Montreal, Canada, and through many of the north eastern states in the USA. I put tens of thousands of miles on it and learned to adjust the valve clearances on an almost weekly basis and change the brushes in the generator every few months! I did all the work on it myself including removing the head to have new valves and springs installed.

Drove one in High school in the early 90's in the NE US when these were cheap to buy and parts weren't to expensive. Parts blew up when the RR started getting popular with rich folks. The 93' 110" and the 94' 90" Defender NA came to the US aiming to wealthy people. It literally changed the folks that still drove rag tag NA Land Rovers that were in small off-road clubs and trucks that were left over since the 60's and 70's in the US as they stopped bringing in the trucks due to regulations mid 70's. Those early days at events like at Rovers North or camp outs at Atlantic British were defiantly the golden days.

Many Thanks to share your Series 3 experience. Just bought a 82 model patrol. Fun to drive. On fast A roads or Motorways could be a challenge because keeping the car straight with a steering with much play requires some concentration. I wonder how you get on with the steering on a straight road at anything about 40 mph?

Fantastic video and very accurate, I just finished working on my series 3 and sorted registration yesterday. I'm loving it. I'm fortunate to have an 88 and a 109 so I'll be sharing the daily drives

I love driving my series 3 petrol 109 ragtop, but at 14 mpg on my 46 mile round trip commute I would be destitute if I used it as a daily driver. Still great fun in the sun though.

My 88" Series 3 (2.25 petrol) was an excellent daily driver. Drums needed adjusting every so often, but simple rugged and easy to drive.

I love those roof bars, whered you get them ?

I had a swb 2.25 petrol for a few years, and I miss it so much.

With the new defender the price of the old Land Rover models will go through the roof

Don't know how any one could use these as a daily drive cramped driving position. Steering wandering drink fuel gears clunking not for me but don't get me wrong I like what they represent and the nostalgia

Great video. I now know the colour scheme I want to do on mine. Looks perfect

I have a 58 petrol series 2 Safari wagon that I use every day. The comment here is correct that I rarely drive more than 5 miles each way. If I have to go 20 miles plus I use a different car, especially if expecting traffic. The controls are very heavy for stop start motoring.

My 67 2a 109 has been my daily driver for nearly 20 years, dog an I even lived in it for a year. Happy days. R I P pippy

Love it!

Another plus is these trucks won't depreciate !

I drove one as my commuter and general get-about for years. Every day was like heading out on holiday until I arrived at work.

to aser your question bot the free wheeling hubs if you use it a lot it will save you fuel but you need to remember to at lest once a month engage the hubs to lubricate the front drive chain otherwise it will knacker up the axles internals but is you are ether forgetful ore don't used it a lot don't bother because you might lost at most 5 mpg

61 LWB used daily. Stnd tyres and gearing. 200 tdi I put in last years has transformed it as the ol petrol engine was v tired. FWH are good especially noticeable at low speed parking full lock situations. Stick it in FWD frequently to spin the front uj's that flings oil up the railko bushes. Or they'll Seize

I've had a series three for nearly 30 year's and it's never leaked through the bulkhead like that, used to get a bit though the doors but not as extreme as yours, do you reckon there's a problem with the screen frame

Nice

I too have a 72 Series 3 88 Diesel with overdrive in Hardtop UK spec. I drive an FL2 daily though as I have a 70km commute. My work also requires Airbags and ABS to visit work sites. So I just can't do it in my 88. For the record, my 88 lets in more water than the canvas top on my Mini Moke. I haven't decided whether to try and cure the leaks or just live with them. The previous owner kept a sponge tucked above the windscreen corner to catch the leaks and he would wring it out after each wet journey.

Think if you fasten down your windscreen it might help with stopping some of the water getting in. Same as someone else on here I converted my 67 2a to a 200tdi with disco diffs used every day and get well over 30mpg and still got its original crash box. On a galvy chassis same as yours Biggest problem, people constantly offering me money for it my paintwork is no where near as good as yours and still had offers over 6k. Tho I do have hydraulics on it.

Useful thanks, enjoying the series 👍

Thank you for the great info, hopefully I'll be picking a series III up soon, your video's are very helpful and have a great friendly feel.

Rocky Mountain Parabolic Springs in Canada sells a spin on adapter. I was chatting with the owner when I picked up some parts. He says they are very easy to fit and make oil changes a snap. Nice guy, a bit slow to respond to emails, but a nice guy. Check them out.

I would daily drive mine if I could afford to keep the V8 fed. I get about 10mpg 😁 I am on classic rego in Australia to so that stops me too. But rego for a year is $46au and insurance is $99au.

I had a Series 3a and used it in central London as a daily driver....I used FWH all the time.

What kind of seats are these?

Great video... I'm 6' 2.... Will I fit, head room act... Or will I be ducking down all the time.. Seriously thinking of one , it would be handy to get the turf home and a bit of shooting here in laois and the slieve blooms

les jantes sont quand même très moches......

I have one with a 200tdi, defender diffs and ashcroft high range. Great everyday car. 30mpg. Keeps up with traffic.

I have a 109, upgraded with bigger engine, high speed diffs, high speed transfer box and 5 speed overdrive box. It also has a Detroit Locker installed in the rear diff so it’s permanently locked and drags the tyres on every turn. It has a terrible turning circle too, such that you have to plan your turns well in advance. If you wanna turn into a street you start making the turn two streets back from the one you want and if it’s wet you just pop the clutch and powerslide into the street. Interesting vehicles.

They do sell the screw on oil filter adapter but its bloody expensive

I drove two different petrol lightweights, one with range rover diffs, another with overdrive, as my only vehicle late 90's, early 00"s, everything from short rural journeys, to regular 50 mile round trips to Belfast etc. Always took a lot of continual maintenance,but we're generally very reliable. Although never comfortable or economical, so I happily moved onto a car as a main vehicle from then on and landys for weekend fun. That being said, every once in a while, if I have to press my current series 3 diesel into service for transport to work, it does so very satisfyingly.

Now that is a proper Landi.