1959 Land Rover Series II

Engine - 2.5L Diesel
Transmission - 4-Speed Manual
Suspension - Leaf Spring
Tyres - Olympic Steel Treks
Equipped For - Daily Driving & Offroading

Queenscliff local Will was kind enough to let us jump in the back of his classic 1959 Land Rover Series II to take a few shots while we chatted & cruised through Manly. It was awesome to see such passion for old Land Rovers in Will. Check out our q&a with him below.

Will, you’re turning into a bit of an old Land Rover collector at such a young age too! You already own a 72’  Series III and recently just picked up this Series II, how did you get your hands on it?

I know right I’m crazy! I was just scrolling through series landys for sale during lockdown and came across an ad that had just been put up with some average pics of a series 2 that had been sitting in a shed for a very long time. The price was seriously good so I gave the guy a ring and was the first to make a cash offer. Honestly, it was a bit of an impulse buy as I already had another project ex-army series 2a swb at that point, but I could never say no to a barn find series Land Rover!

What are your future plans for the old rover?

The car is a bit of a bitsa, the current engine is out of a 1968 landy, the brakes are the bigger v8 ones and the interior is out of an ex army series 2. I’m actually planning on swapping in a 200tdi from an early 90s discovery. It’s also getting a full respray in marine blue and a canvas hood. I’m hoping it’ll be quite the track weapon when it’s done (For a 61 year old Land Rover).

When you picked up the Series II what kind of condition was it in?

The car was up near Noosa in QLD and so I wasn’t able to go see it before I bought it, so the first time I actually saw it was when it arrived in a truck at my house. The condition was quite a lot worse than I had been told, it had a blown head gasket, bad chassis rust and no brakes... I almost crashed it into my garage when I first drove it! A friend managed to jump in front of the car and stop it.

What advice would you give someone looking to buy an old Series Landrover?

Make sure you do your research! Learn what goes wrong in these old trucks and how to spot it. There are actually a surprising number of them still out there, some in a lot better condition than others, so it’s worth waiting for one that’s relatively complete and doesn’t have too much rust. That being said they are incredibly basic cars and you can do almost every job on them with basic tools and a ‘have a go’ attitude!

Photos by Sunday Garage

Owner Will