What vehicle is this?

[Steve W-O]

Is it for certain?

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

I'm missing something here - looks like a fairly standard 2a or 3 with a tropical roof that's seen plenty of service and local repairs - although I can't make out if it's got square headlamps in the wings and on a second look there could be headlamps in the Series 2 position and the square lights could be in the grill...so what's supposed to be odd?

Edited By Martin Harris on 27/04/2012 08:23:16

[Rob]

Thats what it looks like to me aswell, bit of a bitsa like many landrovers of that era.

[Stephen Grigg]

And no spare wheel

[avtur]

Possibly a Land Rover copy, a Spanish motor company called Santana make Land Rover copies, one of the differences I've seen in the past is the headlights ... a possiblity maybe?

[Andrew767]

Santana had double headlights i think and are newer than that....Come on Steve, enough cruelty....Spill the beans.

Andrew

[Aaron Stevens]

is it a austin? i know they made a gypsy that looks like a landy

[Eric Powell]

It`s a fairly standard Landy 2a series fitted with series 3 wings so that you have got extra lighing at the front end ,

fairly common mod .

[avtur]

Posted by Andrew767 on 27/04/2012 19:23:35:

Santana had double headlights i think and are newer than that....Come on Steve, enough cruelty....Spill the beans.

Andrew

The double headlights have been a distinguishing feature in the UK, but I'm lead to believe Santana produced other lighting options elsewhere ...

[Steve W-O]

OK, not really any mystery, except nobody there knows what a Landrover is, and those who do (4X4 club) say they have never seen one there.

When I took the photos in 2008, I didn't think anything of it, just thought it was a Landrover, having worked on them and driven them a lot. The fact that lights etc were different didn't mean anything, as many vehicles are modified.

When we were going to visit last year, we were talking about what vehicle to buy to get around in and as we were intending to visit a quite remote location, a 4X4 was going to be essential. The normal Toyota Hilux double cab came up, but it doesn't hold many people. I suggested a Landrover, and asked the wife if she had noticed average prices. She asked what was a Landrover. So I said ask your family to have a look. Back came the message that there was no such thing. Oh yes there is, I took a picture of the road in Malaybalay, and there was a Landrover parked in it.

Showing them the pictures, they said it was a Toyota. I pointed out the differences, and ir was still a Toyota with parts taken from a Jeep!!!

I then contacted a German chap in the city (Cagayan de Oro), who is a member of a local 4X4 club, and he said he had never seen a Landrover there, nor had any of his friends.

There are several things that make it more unlikely, the import duty on used cars is very high there, making it very expensive to take a car if you were relocating, also you are not permitted to drive a RHD vehicle on the road, which would discount a few origins, and if they are so rare, where would you get spares?

The more I looked at the photo, the more I wondered what it really was, and the more I became convinced that the basic shell at least was definitely Landrover.

There is a very good chance that only the shell is Landrover, as it would be no challenge to them to fit Jeep or Toyota engine, transmission, suspension and steering, but it still niggles me, if nobody there knows what is where did it come from?

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While I was writing the reply, I received an email telling me there is a very active Landrover club in another part of the Philippines, but they are almost unknown in the area this one was, and they doubt if it is all genuine, as they are usually owned by very well off people who can afford them as a hobby (not many people there even own a car)