In this video we look at a time warp Land Rover Discovery 1 from the first year of production. We discuss its significance to Land Rover. To bid on the this car see below link www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165133503435
I worked for an outdoor adventures company when these came out. We massively overloaded the trailers they pulled and ran up n down the UK with them, through fields and out for 'evening entertainment' and never had any issues, they just took it. It's what started my proper affection for LR. Some xx many years later, was really stoked to be able to afford a D4 now, so awesome
Pragmatic, enthusiastic & comprehensive review. As a previous V8i owner in Dubai, & currently running a 1998 Tdi, about 180K km, in QLD which we bought new over a fax machine from DXB for delivery in Brisbane, Australia I can relate to your comments. The Conran interior was a game changer, we can drive 1000km+ from Brisbane to Sydney the same day & emerge with no aches or pains, even as an old fogey ! All we have had to replace was a water pump & a crankshaft, which due to crazy prices here we shipped in from a 4WD parts supplier in Halesowen. Love the turbo boost when it kicks in & we start accelerating uphill past all the dinky toys. The unique handbrake system caused an issue when a valet parker nearly jammed the lever as did not understand there was some play even though secure. The grippy handles can give rise to "golfball elbows" but 'er indoors made some sheepskin covers, cosy ! We specified rostyle wheels & a lockable cubby box along with ladder, roof rack, winch & window blinds. Had an upgrade a few years ago to include electronic braking, double battery, onboard air compressor, sensible lifted suspension & rear diff locks. All work done by our local LR experts at British Offroad in Forest Glen, Queensland. Now works as our camping car with a conversion in the back with 2 seats removed & tows a camper trailer. No flies on the TDi !! You are welcome anytime to come over & do a review ???
Watching this brings back memories of my first job with Land Rover in the mid 90's. 200tdi was a OK unit at the time. But that lt77 gearbox was bloody awful. The 300tdi was a massive improvement. Tailgate corrosion was common, oil leaks definitely, water ingress was also a issue. But overall great cars for 4x4 activity. 300tdi version are probably the best one's to go for in regards to refinement and interior design. Great video and thanks for sharing.
Great vid. We had a facelift 300 back in '95 with the two jump seats in the boot (hence the rear door opener). By then LR had started to increase the luxury with leather, a/c, airbags(!) etc. Good family bus.
My Aunt and Uncle had a top spec (GS??) 3.9 V8 Auto in a dark blue with 7 seats, God that was fabulous car to be in and the noise when it got given a boot full was just awesome!!!
We had a Disco 1 LHD Tdi and also a 3.5 EFI V8 auto. The most practical vehicle we ever owned. JJ had. 300 Tdi 5 door too. I am happy with my Disco 6 aka Defender . Great video Simon, many thanks. Non Stick Nick
Hi Nick - glad you enjoyed it ! I just saw the car on ebay and thought it would be a nice day out for me George - we even stopped for McDonalds on the way home !
Thank you for the review!, 30 years later and Disco 1 still is such an enjoyable and versatile vehicle!, I think Disco 1 and 2 (but specially 1) will be more and more appreciated in the future, and become a new classic. Yes, they need a lot of work and maintenance, but often they been abused with no mechanical sympathy, and lack of basic maintenance, and the work is part of the fun and the fully understanding and appreciation of the car!, Cheers!
In 1989, the name ‘Defender’ hadn’t been announced - there was the Land Rover, the Range Rover and then the Discovery came along. ‘Defender’ became the new name of the ‘Land Rover’ 90 and 110 in 1990. I bought a 3dr Discovery 1 in 1992 - my first new car, and it was absolutely superb. Alpine windows and the two sun-rooves (when fitted) made the interior light and airy, I think the Discovery was a really good car and probably did turn around the fortunes of Land Rover, keeping the company afloat and relevant in the face of increasing competition from overseas. Great review Simon.
Glad you enjoyed the video - I am sure it was a trip down memory lane for many people ! The car did feel surprisingly modern considering its age especially the interior design.
Absolutely love these videos- I learned to drive in a 2A that I fixed up with my dad, and still run a Freelander 2 as my daily driver. I always fancied one of these and can all but hear my missus grinding her teeth as I'm sitting cooing at this 😁
I owned a 3dr Discovery 200Tdi, a '92 model year IIRC, It had those bags in the back of the rear sits for the sunroofs, the car was awesome for onroad and offroad use, and yes once I used it to load a pallet full of rice bags, a total of 1200kgs in the back and still strong in the highway... I really miss it a lot... I will tell you that headliner sagging it is not original, looks like another layer over the original one and the sound of a 200Tdi is magical. Thanks for this video.
Nice video! My grandfather had a Discovery like the one you have in the video. It was the first car I drove at the age of 12 on a field! My grandfather had removed the rear seats and then you really could fit a pallet! Only had 150'000km when we sold it, too bad about that. Have a nice day!
My dear Simon. It’s was an ultimate delight to see this video. I have a discovery 1 300 TDI from 1997 and it’s an incredible machine. It’s my off road vehicle and every weekend we go for a family off road drive. Thank you so much for doing this historic video. I don’t know if you have an idea but your explanation is the best I ever saw on this vehicles. Absolutely marvelous. Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙏
That brought back some good memories, Around 1993 I bought a 1990 Blue one with the same stickers, but it had twin sunroofs, towel rails and even the little matching handbag that sat in the end of the tunnel. I then bought the cubby box for it. Then Rogers of Bedford converted it to auto after the gearbox and clutch gave problems. Other colours got silver steel wheels. I always liked the door over the split tailgate as having driven a Series 3 with drop down tailgate it was a right pain getting heavy stuff like engines in. But being single it was a bit wide if people parked to close. My young daughter scratched a few car bonnets opening it and misjudging it.
My first Disco was a yellow 200tdi that had been lifted and given the "Camel Cut". I probably only used it for a couple of weeks before discovering terminal rust. Still had my Ex-Military 90 , so took the Disco off the road to sort it. Sadly, it had more holes in it than a Swiss cheese and became uneconomical to repair. Bought a second 200tdi Disco that I ran for 6 months before settling on a blue 300tdi ES. I then had people offering me their Disco's left , right and centre like an ES V8 with gas conversion that had a ruined leather interior, spaceship miles and terrible bodywork, but I sold it on straight away for a small profit. Another V8 ES with only 20,000 on the clock - looked immaculate, but was rotten in the boot and body mounts. But it was snapped up by a neighbour to use off road. I had to give up the Disco bug, when I realised my house looked more like a breakers yard. Must have had around 6 or 7 go through my hands back then ! Absolutely loved those days.
My first Land Rover was a 97 Discovery with manual trans. Was quite reliable and I enjoyed driving it but the transmission broke so I sold it for parts. I then bought anther 97 with auto Trans and that was reliable as well. Don't remember why I sold it. Now I have a 99 P38 and a 2008 RR SC. Still happy with my Land Rovers.
Amazing video mate I love the old disco I own a 1996 Land Rover Discovery 1 300tdi 3 door with no sun roofs so comfortable to drive so far mine hasn't been the most reliable cost me a small fortune to fix but it does the job has amazing fuel economy
Great video. Interesting how they have carried the disco dna of tailgate, number plate etc thru the 12345 models. It was there at the start and no one noticed!
My first Land Rover (1995 my) of 2. A three-door Tdi 300 called the coupe! The second and current is a Defender. My third on the way is the new Defender......looking forward to reprising comfort!
Simon. Brilliant review and comparison. My first Land Rover a new 1994 3 door 300 Tdi, bought to tow a large twin axle caravan around the UK and Europe. Had it for 3 years apart from a gearbox issue in the first few months of ownership (thank god for the warranty) gave me no trouble at all on 70,000 wonderful miles touring and caravanning L651 OHP where are you now? Really hoping my new 2021 Range Rover will be as reliable and as much fun. Just travelled round Northern Spain for 3 weeks all good so far🤩🤞
They dont call you "Eurotoura" for nothing ! Like many cars of the era they had their problems but the simple well laid mechanical underpinnings made for overall good reliability and great for towing.
I watched this video because i think about buying a new, old car. Had several options like nissan, Toyota, jeep etc. But after this nice ad for the disco1 i will definetly see some discos aswell.
Great video, reminds me of my old 3 door discovery although mine had arguably the rarest engine of the discovery being the 2l mpi petrol, it was a great thing to drive and it would go pretty much anywhere it was pointed with no modifications except a reasonable set of tyres but I eventually sold it due to it developing a major oil leak and not needing a 4x4
All good! It was a great video. Since we never had the D1 in its original form in the US, it was interesting to see what changed in those 5 years. Keep up the good work!
Same clicks were in the Montego too and the same switches and clocks. Standard BL electrics. Very good interesting and a little bit different video! You could have a Simon and George on tour series viewing other interesting LR vehicles and you have the bonus of the tent for longer trips.
I should add that the Disco one used a lot of components of the Range Rover Classic. The original Defender shared some of that DNA with the Range Rover Classic, namely the coil suspension and A-frame in the rear. Also the early V8. So Range Rover Classic is the Great, Great, Great, Great, Great grandfather of the modern Defender and the LR 4
thanks for this - more interesting than hearing about the 101 problems with the new defenders - i have a 1996 NAS D1 SD - cloth manual seats no sun roofs - with automatic 4.0 v8 - all stock with 98K miles - they are a handful to keep up but love them - dream Landy would be a ROW 2016 Defender 110
Still got mine 3.9 V8 FXI, 350,000 km’s going strong, nothing beats when you plant that foot down, that engine bursts into life. Evoque always reminds me of hairdressers.
I would love to - I would love to get some young lads and girls and teach them some engineering / car repair.. maybe that will be the next chapter in my life....Right now super busy just keeping the business going in challenging times !
Hi Simon , great abs interesting video, the dash ventilation grills are out of a rover 800 series cars and the switches from Austin metro maestro etc . Regards mark
I recall a colleague with contacts in Conran mentioning that Japanese looking visitors to the Motor Show in '89 were slicing bits off the show launch vehicle's interior trim with razor blades to take home for analysis. Requiring frequent rebuild of the interiors, an established new product release issue in the trade.
Blimey that takes me back .. we had one from new in 1990, identical inside but blue with same graphics outside - there was one with a compass graphic. in the second week of ownership the injector return came loose in a fuel station - diesel everywhere - had to be towed out. Otherwise never had a fault - the rear doors drop. Was a great leap in 4x4 at the time. It replaced my Range Rover classic that had been stolen !!!! Replaced the Disco with a RR P38 for some luxury - but that felt underpowered and lower headroom plus the beginnings of electrical issues. Eventually changed that for a one year old LR Director's Disco 2 TD5 Auto ... which was superb in every way - great car, let down by the Dealer/service attitude.
@@L663 The Disco 2 TD5 had to have a new autobox in the first month - under warranty luckily and the rear airbags failed at 70k (bang on time). I argued with the dealer because they changed out the pump and it was flat on the floor next day - had directly told them it was the bags not the pump. Despite all that ... the TD5 was (for me) the best of the bunch - first with proper ABS traction control and could pull a full horsebox out of a muddy field where others were struggling.
Honda had a 20% share in Landrover at the time the Disco came out and as I recalled used some of their AC components or took their cues from it. Imagine if Honda had bought Landrover rather than BMW? Nice looking reliable English cars!! I will argue that the Disco 1 is the grandfather of the defender, because the new Defender share zero with the old, whether in parts or philosophy. I call it the LR 5 as in my mind it takes a lot of components and thinking from the LR4 which is the grandchild of the Disco one.
Those window seals are not easy to find these days, if it's possible to find any at all, particularly for the 3-door windows which are a different size to the 5-door ones. About 5 years ago I tried to find a set, and in the whole of the UK I found 3 right-hand seals in stock. I bought them all. Haven't seen any for sale since!
Just bought 2 Discovery 1 3.5L V8 manual 1991 & 1992 in excellent condition, in need of some TLC. Prices are going up here in Switzerland too and good cars is getting very hard to find.
You refer to the 90 and 110 range being called Defenders when the Discovery was launched. Actually was a little while after the launch of the Disco that the 90 and 110 were given the name Defender.
Ive just sold my last discovery 1 after 21 years of owning them. Had 3 all very reliable and good off an on road in standard form. Rust eventually killed them or I would still have one.
Looks in engine bay," There is some surface rust here", placing hand over full thickness corrosion and hole through which you can see the tyre 21;31. Fails to notice headlining has detached and is held in place with drawing pins!
My 1997 300tdi D1 is still my daily driver, in fact, it is my only usable car. It is the third D1 I have owned and if you are looking to buy your first D1 here are my recommendations. The first generation D1 (200tdi) has the best and most spacious interior, when Land Rover upgraded to the 2nd generation D1(300tdi) they put a deeper dash in, there by shunting the front seats back by about 2 inches. The 3dr, no sunroof versions have less rust. They all have some rust !! The auto gearbox cars tend to be the more luxurious versions, especially in the later models, and therefore have more electronics to go wrong. But manual gearboxes will have more problems than a correctly serviced auto box. Unless you are an off road nut don’t lift the suspension, it looks stupid, road handling becomes terrible, you can’t get into low car parks and access to the rear becomes difficult. Like any Land Rover it requires regular maintenance, so make sure you have a set spanner’s, a welder, an understanding partner and a healthy bank balance!
layout with stadium seating and two jump seats are straight borrowed from Russian UAZ 469b. I got both of them i could easly see from where LR took inspiration.
I have one of the last three door D1's a 300tdi 1998 model , I also used to have many years ago a G plate with the Conran blue interior , but rust killed it.
Having had RRC for 37 years when we added a Disco 1 to the family, you could see where the bean counters did their work, the difference was the same as getting out of our 1971 A suffix RRC into our 1991 RRC very different cars, the 4 door RRC and Disco have the same inner door frames is that true of the 2 door cars? it would be great to have some more content on older Land Rovers.
@@philholland163 thanks Phil, I am going to fit disco front door to my 91 RRC after the body shop has flattened out the design channel and painted it, just wondered if this could help save the old 2 door RRC. The disco doors are mint unlike the rest of the car.
Remember when land rover brought the discovery as an affordable 4x4 SUV against it's rivals, the Montero, 4 runner and trooper. Today it's more of a status symbol, basically a 7 seater range rover.
You raise a good point.... maybe there is a bigger "upper class" to sell to these days but Land Rover needs to have a product to offer the middle class family buyer....
Great video 3 things though. 1. The new Defender to me reminds me more of the classic Discovery than the old Defender. A family vehicle that is a solid off roader with some creature comforts. 2. The side graphics can be found on zengraphics.co.uk. They are affordable reproductions. So the quality might be a little different but for the money it is worth a look. Here is a direct link. shop.zengraphics.co.uk/search?q=Discovery 3. The Highlander name is used for a Toyota 4x4 and they are hopeless off road. They really aren't meant for off road but for moms. I live in the US and they are everywhere like the plague.
Thanks for your extra information on these points 1 - There are several people with the same view here - and to some degree this reflects that the demands of customers has moved on. There are rumours Land Rover have plans for more basic smaller Defender - lets see ! 2 - This is useful information for people restoring these cars ! 3 - Now you say it the Toyota Highlander is the one I was think of...
Brilliant video. One thing I have to say as you look at the new Defender alongside the Disco 1, is that the new Defender is the Disco 5. It follows it perfectly in looks, its value and target market. There are a few issues with the new Defender as there were many more with the Disco 1. But, one highlighted in this video is the fact that you cannot get a pallet in the boot with the new Defender. Even the Disco 3/4 you could get a pallet in the back. And the boot space in general was much larger. I was fortunate to have my youngen born while I still had my Disco 4 and placing a pram, suitcase and other things in the back was no issue at all. The defender on the other hand, much harder, but still possible. Would I swap my Defender for a Disco 4, no chance. Like The Disco 1, the new Defender is not without its faults but it is a land rover through and through, targeting that middle ground without question. The question is, should it be called a Defender, or should it matter, it’s a good car regardless.
Customers have moved on over the years and we demand more luxury / comfort / safety etc so any new Defender was going to be more refined. For me having the Defender badge means i can add the off road accessories and take it off road and it looks "authentic". Some off road Discovery's do not somehow look correct ? The rear door opening must be limited to increase body shell stiffness with bigger rear pillars.
The pointlessly varied range of vehicles offered today by Land Rover is testimony that the car industry exists primarily to make money out of the industrial processing of metal, plastic, cloth and leather.
HaHa at 4:43 even nature has a view on the new Defender. Flies love sh 1t … :-D My first LR was a 1991 D1 tdi 3 door with the ‘sand’ interior. I currently spend teach 4x4 driving using Disco 1 as they are so good off road yet comfortable. Never mind affordable in comparison to a proper Defender.
4:38 Quote “ why are all the flys on the stig? ” was I the only one thinking, because it’s sh** ;-) PS I had a 1990 Disco twenty plus years ago - good car, In fact I still own its engine in my 1968 S2a 109 SW
@@L663 Hi Simon, Yes, the 200tdi bolts straight up to the S2a chassis and gearbox with no mods. It’s a 109 so I needed to use Defender 200tdi manifolds to clear chassis (turbo mount is higher) It’s off the road at the moment, too many other projects (all Land Rover’s…)
To me a Land Rover is a Land Rover. Not a company. 🤣 English countryside to African bush. I remember the adverts for Land Rover trips to Morocco. Inches are for British patriots. In Japan TV screen size is in inches.
The D1 and D2 are great cars and really set Land Rover on a good direction ! Why do we like these cars ? who knows ? I guess its the same reason we like old houses and other weird stuff...we humans are not logical... we are emotional.
