The Elusive Left Hand Drive
Mac Mackenney | 8th Apr 2010
Expedition progress is going well. We now have 43 sponsors supporting us on our record attempt from London to Cape Town, ranging from external roll cages, fuel & oil, shipping home, food and tyres, to name but a few. What we don’t yet have is the elusive second left hand drive Land Rover!
Following interest from both Channel 4 and the Discovery Channel, the 10,000 mile dash through 20 countries and across 3 continents in support of Help for Heroes will be filmed by Limpet Productions, who include former BBC Top Gear camera crew.
To this end, we are searching high and low for a second left-hand drive Discovery Td5 with manual gearbox so that the film crew can document our attempt at beating the current time of just 13 days 8 hours 48 minutes.
The base vehicle will be extensively modified to cope with the extreme conditions that it will have to encounter, but ideally we are looking for an early model Discovery 2 of the basic S or E specification that doesn’t have the air suspension at the rear. An aftermarket coil spring conversion can be fitted though, so all models can be considered. Full service history is preferred, but not essential as long as the vehicle is sound and has been previously owned by someone who respected it.
I’ve even approached owners of vehicles that I have seen asking if they would consider selling theirs! Left hand drive Discovery 2’s are as rare as hen’s teeth in the UK, but I have seen two in the last couple of months. One is parked outside a small tile and bathroom shop near to where I live and I popped in to have a chat with the owner. Although initially he was a bit put back by a stranger enquiring about his Land Rover, he very kindly came to see me at home to discuss how he might be able to help. Unfortunately his vehicle had 360,000 kilometers on the clock, which is a bit high, but bodes well for how reliable the engines seem to be.
We have many people helping us on this, including Peter Rushforth from The Left Hand Drive Place, but if you know anyone who has a left-hand drive Discovery 2 for sale, please contact me directly on +44 (0) 7764 600 601.
HOMEPAGE :: London to Cape Town
Other blogs by Mac Mackenney
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Expedition progress is going well, but what we don’t yet have is the elusive second left hand drive Land Rover!
6th Apr 2010 Mac MackenneyLand Rover World offer to Help
I had an email from the Editor of Land Rover World magazine today with an offer to help us .
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Other London to Cape Town 2010 Blogs
1st Apr 2010 Steve MackenneyFaults worth knowing about
After our day with the Army I found out what were the most likley faults on the Discovery Td5.
28th Mar 2010 Chris RawlingsBDR on my new Land Rover..maybe!
I wasn't sure what to expect of the day really, or what the Army would think of us and our expedition.
28th Mar 2010 Steve MackenneyTV Chef keen to help
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25th Mar 2010 Steve MackenneyGood to be on the team
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22nd Mar 2010 Jim AllenThe tricks, the tools and a very can do practical approach.
We started the day with tea and cakes, so I knew we were onto a winner!