1961 Land Rover Series II

The Kinlee Collection 2025 illustrates our vendor's lifelong devotion to improvement and nostalgia. Eclectic, yes, but each motor car represents an aspect of our vendor's personality. Having bought many cars from us over the years, we appreciated our vendor’s loyalty in 2023 to offer the first iteration of the Kinlee Collection.

Our vendor's appreciation of engineering started early, awarded Student of the Year five years running whilst ignoring the obvious distractions of 1970s college life, and success enabled him to indulge his passion for fast cars and turn-key classic Astons. He relaxes in the evening by planning a unique restoration of a project Land Rover, with the attention to detail for colour schemes and specialist fittings that most people channel into a one-off project such as a new kitchen.

What started off as a hobby has grown into a fully staffed private workshop within a dedicated storage facility. Once ‘specced’, each Land Rover is restored from the ground up, with bespoke colour combinations, panels individually painted, interiors upgraded with leather and specially sourced fixtures fitted where appropriate.

Finally, when asked by this consignor of the significance of Kinlee, our vendor referred us to his favourite song by The Kinks: I’m Not Like Everybody Else.

Introduced in 1958, the Land Rover Series II replaced the original, extremely utilitarian Series I, adding a degree of comfort, weather protection and even more rugged go-anywhere ability, which made it such a hit with farmers, explorers, rescue and emergency services, the military and just about everyone else.

First registered on 8th June 1961, this unique example began its rebirth when purchased by our vendor by 2019. Like all of our vendor’s Land Rover restoration programmes, this Series II was taken apart and rebuilt from the ground up based on a brand new galvanized chassis. To maintain originality where it counts, the restoration works included refitting refurbished parts where possible and new items as available, all sourced from specialist suppliers. The body was taken apart, assessed for refurbishment or replacement where necessary, and each panel individually painted in Welsh Grey before reassembly, encasing a new wiring loom and rebuilt mechanicals.

The dashboard, instruments and levers offer a sharply new-ish old feel to the interior with the seating superbly retrimmed in quality tan hides conferring a sense of luxury in what should be a utilitarian cabin. The subtly stylish rear wooden flooring with tan leather bench seating, is accessed by a tailgate fitted with matching woodwork. The new canvas tilt gives all weather options, whilst the cream-painted wheels have been shod with road tyres for another degree of comfort.

Other subtle upgrades that catch one’s eye when appreciating this Land Rover are the chromed housing for the illumination of the rear number plate and the glass sliding windows, a delight to use if accustomed to the Perspex fitted to the majority. Although largely immaterial the odometer, at the time of cataloguing, reads 8,080 miles and this special Land Rover is presented to auction for wider appreciation as much as bidder scrutiny.