MY FEEDLY: For Sale: An Adventure Ready Land Rover Series IIA

Of all the classic Land Rovers that were built the Series IIA is arguably the most popular, it sits between the earlier Series II and the later Series III, long before the Defender came along with its flush grill and fenders, coil spring suspension, and fancy-pants one piece windscreen.

Perhaps the reason for the popularity of the IIA, sometimes written 2A, is that it featured in a number of hugely popular films and documentaries like Romancing the Stone and Born Free, helping to embed it into the public consciousness.

Fast Facts – The Land Rover Series IIA

The Land Rover Series IIA is most easily distinguished from the later Series III by the fact that the headlights are inset next to the grille and not fitted to the fenders, though some later Series IIAs did have this arrangement.
As with all Series Land Rovers, the Series IIA was offered in both long and short wheelbase versions, typically abbreviated as SWB and LWB, and it was the first Land Rover to get the option of a straight-six engine.
Unusually, Series Land Rovers have bodies largely made from aluminum alloy panels, as steel was in short supply in the years immediately after WWII.
All Series Land Rovers used body-on-frame construction and various parts could be quickly removed if not needed, including doors, the tailgate, and the roof. The windshield can be folded down if needed.

How Land Rover Actually Began

The story of the origin of the first Land Rovers is the stuff of legend in four-wheel drive circles. In the time shortly after WWII ended Britain was overflowing with American Jeeps, one of which ended up on the farm of a man named Maurice Wilks.

Wilks was using the Jeep for general farm work, not unlike a tractor. Along with his brother Spencer Wilks he designed a very simple new vehicle that incorporated the best features of the Jeep as well as some tractor functions, like a PTO (power takeoff) for powering farm equipment.

Spencer and Maurice Wilks with an early Land Rover prototype. Image courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover.

As it happens both Maurice and Spencer were senior figures at the Rover Car Company, and so they titled their new creation the “Land Rover.”

The Series IIA Appears

Series Land Rovers were built over four primary generations in a huge variety of styles, Series I, Series II, Series IIA, and Series III. The Series I was the first generation vehicle, it had a spartan design but performed its duties well, and quickly became an unexpected bestseller for Rover.

The Series II came next, this was a slightly more refined vehicle and a little less agricultural, but still very much a Land Rover in every sense of the word. The Series II would only stay in production for three years from 1958 to 1961 when it was replaced with the Series IIA, which would then stay in production for 11 years from 1961 until 1971.

The Series III was the most refined of all the Series Land Rovers, though it should be noted that I am taking some liberties with the word “refined” here. These were still tough four-wheel drives designed to work for a living.

The Land Rover Series IIA Shown Here

The Land Rover you see here is a 1964 Series IIA that has benefitted from a comprehensive restoration, and a number of upgrades to make life a little more comfortable for the owner – all without compromising its abilities off-road of course.

The interior of this vehicle benefits from the addition of leather upholstery, a modern stereo, checker plate floors, upholstered doors, and windscreen demisters.

It’s a short wheelbase version of the model fitted with the correct 2.25 liter inline-four cylinder petrol engine. Power output was a somewhat humble 72 bhp and power was fed into a manual four-speed transmission, then into a transfer case to either all four wheels or the rear wheels only depending on what was required.

Both high and low range were offered, and the vehicle rides on live axles on leaf springs front and back with stopping handled by four wheel drum brakes.

This Land Rover is now finished in an eye-catching red, it has a black leather upholstered interior, ands the floors have protective diamond kickplate guards. An alloy bulbar has been fitted up front with a Keeper winch and twin spotlights, there are also alloy sill guards fitted, and a four-point alloy roll cage.

Inside you’ll find a classic Land Rover heater and windscreen demister, and a modern JVC stereo head unit – a feature the original examples were never offered with.

The vehicle is now being offered for sale by RM Sotheby’s on the 7th of October in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The price guide is $40,000 – $50,000 USD and it’s being offered without reserve.

If you’d like to read more about this Series IIA or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.