My Land-Rover's Career

My Land-Rover's Career (22-Jun-2007)

When I was buying the Landy, it came as a very pleasant surprise that nearly all the military documents for the car were still in the car, in a leather envelope bolted behind the front seats.

I am still trying to find out more about the vehicles via Land Rover's Traceability department at Gaydon, hopefully they will be able to help out with some details regarding the vehicle's registration, however, in the meantime I would like to put here the data I already have available.

The car entered the service with the Swiss Army as Land Rover Series II 88" Regular, chassis no. 144003035, engine no. 151013006 and after years of service was sold off to the person who did most of the driving with it. He had obviously preserved it in an excellent condition throughout the vehicle's service life and continued to do so while in private possession of the car. The car was used for light farm work, mainly short-distance driving from the farm to the pastures and back. It appears that the numbers on the tacho still show only what the car really has put behind it, i.e. the approx. 86,000 kilometres should be a realistic estimate, which is excellent if we consider that the vehicle is nearly 50 years old.

I have some records as to the movement, repairs and maintenance of the vehicle while it served with the Swiss Army. The records probably do not cover the whole service life in the military, however, they do cover the six years from 1960 to 1966.

I hope to put more dates and information on this page when I have more time to dig into what I have at hand.

His service with the Swiss Army (24-Jun-2007)

The Land Rover entered the service with the Swiss Army on the 17th August 1960 as a new vehicle. Its service number was M+98475 and it became part of the headquarters squadron of the Infanterie-Regiment 15. The person responsible was a Mr. E. G. (I would not like to disclose full details) born 1941, a farmer who at that time resided at Roethenbach i. E. Muehlseilen, Switzerland. He paid 5,000 Swiss Francs out of the total value of CHF 10,000. This, the most important part, is somewhat unclear - the job of a farmer with a military vehicle do not really fit together. But perhaps I will be able to explain later.

Together with other documents, I received the Motorfahrzeug-Dienstbuch (or Vehicle Service Book) with all dates and information regarding the vehicle's service life. With this in hand, I know that the car had the tacho repaired on 9th November 1960, with 24,500 km on the clock, or that the rear differential had to be repaired on 8th November 1966, after it had covered nearly twice the distance.

There is also a Fahrtenkontrolle booklet, listing each and every movement of the vehicle for the Army. On 6th March 1961 it took part in radio exercises, from 17th to 21st April of the same year it went every day to the shooting range, adding some 50 kilometres on the clock, from 15th to 19th May 1961 it was driven as a part of inter-army manouvres and on 8th October 1966 it took part in night exercise.

I also have the Betriebsanleitung (User Manual) for the vehicle, some insurance documents plus a summary of regulations related to Army service vehicles issued by the Directorate of Army Motor Pool Thun 2.

Land Rover Traceability (25-Jun-2007)

Today I received a letter from Land-Rover Traceability Systems department, saying that Land-Rover Ltd. built the vehicle I own and that it was despatched on or about 2nd February 1960 to the Swiss Army.

Heritage Motor Center (22-Nov-2007)

I wrote to the Heritage Motor Center to get a more detailed "certificate of birth" for my Land-Rover. This should, I hope, include more exact dates of production and despatch than the letter from the Tracebility Systems department, which mentioned an "on or about" date.

Documents for the car (24-Dec-2007)

The Christmas time finally allowed me to take a closer look at the documents I have for the car. I really don't know much about the Swiss Army or its regulation, but I do have number of documents to accompany the vehicle. They show the service life of the vehicle and something about the peculiar arrangements the Swiss Army have regarding some (or all?) of their army vehicles.

The vehicles are assigned to persons who take care of them and have a certain freedom of using them while off-duty. My Land-Rover "served" with a Swiss farmer, Ernst Gerber, being assigned to his care by the Armee-Motorfahrzeugpark (or Army Motor Pool), Thun 2. Every 15th January, Gerber was obliged to take the books together with him to the Motor Pool for inspection of the records. He was also responsible for repairs and the tyre-changes while off-duty (the warranty by the manufacturer was for 6 months or 5,000 kilometres). Gerber was allowed to use the vehicle together with his family, which meant his wife, kids, parents and brothers or sisters, or with persons employed by him or his parents. No other persons were allowed to use the car.

The vehicle was to be maintained in a condition ready for service at all times. Any accidents had to be reported immediately and in a prescribed format, no changes to the vehicle set-up were allowed. The service life started with the take over of the vehicle from the Motor Pool and ended with the expiry of the sixth year of service - during the six years the car remained the property of the Army. The vehicle would then pass into the ownership of the licence holder, Ernst Gerber. This explains why I have the documents only for the six years following the date of production of my Land-Rover. After the six years in the Army expired, Gerber was no longer obliged to record the inspections or the mileage.

The documents I have include an Ausrustungetat, or an inventory check of the vehicle, a Dienstmotorfahrzeug booklet, a service book of the vehicle, and a Fahrtenkontrolle booklet, where the mileage and inspections were recorded. I also have an insurance certificate for the vehicle, showing road insurance between 3th June 1988 and 31st December 1993.

British Motor Industry Heritage Trust Certificate (15-Jan-2008)

On 31st December last year I received the certificate I mentioned also above. This certified copy of a factory record (Certificate No. 2007/13004) mentions following details for my "Land Rover Series II 88-inch Petrol Basic":
Specifications: LHD, Export
Exterior Colour: Field Grey
Date of Build: 2nd February 1960
Date of Despatch: 10th February 1960
Destination: Swiss Army, Bern
Other Numbers: Label (line) number 2998

It appears from this record that the Land-Rover stood somewhere at an army depot for nearly six months before it was assigned to Ernst Gerber - or maybe it was assigned to someone else in the meantime.

The label (line) number is also an interesting detail - perhaps a factory variant number?

Letter from the first owner (19-Jun-2008)

I managed to trace the first owner of the Land-Rover in Switzerland, using the data from the military documents I had for the car. I sent him a letter with a few photos of the car and today came the reply:

I was very happy to receive your fax message sent to the Roethenbach municipal office and the photos of my former Land-Rover.

After I sold the motor in April 2007, I have always thought about whether it will find a good home. As for me, I was a farmer and for 2 years already I’m on pension, living at our family farm with my wife. In 1960 I was offered to serve in the military. I decided to become a driver. At that time I had the opportunity to buy an army Land-Rover for half the price, i.e. 5,000 Swiss Francs, under the condition that I will go through 17 weeks of basic training with five three-week refresh courses as a driver in the Land-Rover. In the grey Fahrtenkontrolle booklet you will find every journey I had to undertake while in the army, every place I visited. And you will see that it was nearly always myself who drove the Land-Rover. I was further obliged to keep the Land-Rover for 15 years before it was finally released from the military.

I owned the Land-Rover for 46 years, that’s until April 2007. I used the Land-Rover many years as an agricultural vehicle with a trailer. Later I bought a Subaru as a 4x4 vehicle for work and play. By this time I used the Land-Rover only very rarely, but I always kept it in my heart, clean and tidy. The mileage is correct, the mileage indicator was never messed with. The engine, gearbox and clutch never needed any repairs. The disadvantage of the Land-Rover was always the ignition, the interruptor and condensor in the distributor needed changing very often, as well as the spark plugs. This was why I was sometimes left on the road with a broken-down truck. I always filled her up with the expensive Super Plus fuel with lead.

One more tip for cold starting the engine – before starting it, press the gas pedal several times and pull the cold start knob out completely. This way the engine starts without any problems. As it was nearly always myself who drove the car, I always took good care of it. As you must have noticed, there is no syncromesh on the first and second gears and it needs a bit of care to engage the gears smoothly. When I became a pensioner, I had no further use for the Land-Rover. The motor was kept in a garage, which meant it wouldn’t stay in shape very long.

I sold the car in April 2007. The new owner gave the car a new coat of paint and three weeks later he sold it off to you.

It is a great joy to know that my Land-Rover is in good hands and appreciated. I wish you a lot of fun with the motor and all the best.

Friendly greetings from Switzerland.

I was excited to receive his letter and still have a few questions about the motor, so hopefully the correspondence will continue. Particularly the three photos from the summer of 1961 (see below) are of interest - the hood is different, there are some small flags on the grille and on the bonnet. Also, there is an electric plug visible just above the indicator lamps on the front left wing - there is no such plug on the vehicle today.

So, we'll see!