Land Rover Discovery Series I
The reason Roy Preston found himself with his Foxfire Red Land Rover Discovery is the same reason plenty of off-road fans found themselves with a Disco: the Defender was too expensive. “I wanted a trials car. I used to trial Land Rovers in the ’70s and wanted another go, but the Defender was too expensive, so I ended up spending £1500 on a Discovery instead.”
After initially dipping into the Discovery as a sensible and capable budget trials car, he now owns seven and runs the Project Jay Preservation Group, for those looking to rescue and run the Series I Disco – known within Land Rover as Project Jay. This 1991 V8 is one of only a handful of five-door prototypes built for Land Rover dealers following the launch of the three-door in 1989: the ‘G-WAC’ plate is a telltale marker of a vehicle originally registered to Land Rover itself.
There’s much more to the original Discovery than simply being today’s affordable classic Land Rover. The Discovery was a very different offering to the Defender – and even the Range Rover with which it shared a chassis, four-wheel-drive system and doors. It was envisaged to be more affordable and more utilitarian (if less aristocratic) than the Rangie, yet it was leagues ahead of the agricultural Defender for comfort and road manners. It was the happy medium in the Land Rover lineup.
If well cared for, they can handle high mileage. This example has notched up more than 200,000 miles. Yet the curiously coloured blue interior, which was designed with the help of Jasper Conran, son of Terrance Conran, cleans up nicely and still, to this day, looks pleasingly different and proves usefully functional. If you can find one with its original ‘manbag’ clipped to the central console, you’ll have a sought-after original feature.
To drive, the five-speed manual gearbox – complete with high- and low-ratio transfer box, and locking centre differential for proper ‘go-anywhere’ ability – is a little, er, characterful. But once you’ve found a gear in there, the 3.5-litre Rover V8 rumbles pleasingly and gives the Discovery a usefully amount of get-up-and-go low in the rev range.
More than that, the chief impression you take from spending time in the Discovery is just how much glass there is. After the heavy pillars and raked back body styles of SUVs of the 21st century, the classic Disco’s slim pillars, low waistline and tall roof, and even those additional windows just aft of the trademark roofline ‘step’, make it feel like you’re commanding an Orangerie.
A Land Rover isn’t a Land Rover without that all-empowering sense of indomitability, and even on a brief foray over some awkwardly steep grass verges, the Disco feels effortless.
The slow but predictable steering lets you know all about the grip on offer at each wheel, the pedals have decent modulation and it’s a car that feels reassuringly in control even at a challenging angle.
Sure, expecting it to feel anything other than ponderous on the road is like expecting your sofa to double up as a lilo, but there’s no doubting the honesty and character in every nut and bolt of the Disco.
Watch out for rust, which Preston explains is the number one reaper of Series I Discoveries, but if you can find a solid one, then this is a significant car in the history of Land Rover, one of the UK’s most popular brands.
1991 Land Rover Discovery
- Engine: V8, 3532cc
- Transmission: 5-speed manual, 4WD
- Power: 150bhp @ 4750rpm
- Weight: 1,925kg
THE HAGERTY VALUATION TEAM SAYS
- Hagerty value condition #2: £9800
- 2019 Hagerty value condition #2: £8500
- Hagerty 12-month value change: +£1300 (+15.3%)
Values of classic Range Rovers in both two- and four-door configurations have rocketed over the past five years, and we believe it’s about time the Series I Land Rover Discovery followed suit. Until recently, even the best could be bought for a few thousand, but in recent months, exceptional examples have achieved much more: in June, CCA sold one for £12,320. Our ‘Excellent’ guide price stands at £9,800 but is likely to be revised upwards soon.
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