The record
This long-wheelbase hard-top Series IIA arrived at British Railways' goods yard at Stewarts Lane, Battersea, in 1964 and was worked hard as a yard runabout until it was auctioned out of service. After a spell with a farmer — its 'blue period' — it was rescued in a sorry state in the 1980s by railway enthusiast Jim Barnard, who bought it for £350 and spent almost ten times that on a chassis-up restoration, returning it to the original British Railways livery and fleet numbers. Traces of that scheme, the first national livery used on BR road vehicles and main-line coaches and known to rail workers as 'blood and custard', were found under the blue repaint. For reliability Jim fitted an age-related Perkins diesel and reconditioned gearbox, with Series III seats and wing mirrors, and for thirty years the Land Rover appeared at heritage railways — most often the Bluebell Railway — gathering adornments such as station totems inside the cab and the Stewarts Lane 73A shed plate on the bumper. It is now displayed by the Land Rover Heritage Collection, which values it for its story rather than as a concours exhibit.
The registry's model is a Series IIA 109 hard top in crimson and cream with the BRITISH RAILWAYS totems, fleet number B1347 S, 73A plate, black plates, bonnet spare and black wheels.
