Beach Brick: The Wagon You Can’t Help but be Seen In

This 1971 Land Rover Series IIA is a hot-for-yore millennial’s wet dream, nestled between an imagined, carefree, “things were just better” past and a fantastic present where a 20-something can afford one of these fashionable Brit-boxes. It’s a revisionist history and rose-tinted present we can play along with.

This go-everywhere auto comes to us by way of the folks at Cool & Vintage of Lisbon, Portugal. It’s a simple name, and a simple idea: essentially, a used car garage — but cooler and vintagier. Their model isn’t just to buy, build, and trade on the classic car market; they’ve committed to documenting and creating a lifestyle around their endeavor by taking the autos, using them, and highlighting their potential producing beautiful video and photographic content in the process. It’s a welcome change from the “move units” style of marketing that’s typically associated with used cars.

This particular Land Rover was restored four years ago and was outfitted with Wolf Wheels, BFGoodrich Mud Terrains, black mohair canvas soft top, black vinyl seat upholstery, and a few contemporary creature comforts like a built-in USB charger. OK, maybe “a few” is exaggerating; there’s a USB charger — everything else is difficult to operate, loud, old, and slow, but the challenge of ownership is part of the allure.

The Series IIA is notoriously tough, and according to the crew at Cool & Vintage, “three out of every four [Series IIAs] ever built are still on the road somewhere in the world.” The retina-searing orange paint, a special-order factory option, makes this one hard to miss, and certainly helps prevent you from getting shot in the brush.

Though the design of the Series IIA basically amounts to a brick with half of another brick stacked on top, it remains one of the most iconic 4×4 designs in history. It is utilitarian design at its finest, completely devoid of ego (well, at one point it was), and lusted after by anyone with bit of taste, eyes too big for their bank account, and an inclination to get away from the grid.

This article first appeared in issue 025 of Iron & Air Magazine, and is reproduced here under license
Words by Gregory George Moore | Images by Ricardo Lopes & Daniel Espírito Santoe | coolnvintage.com

Sidecar Subject: 1971 Land Rover Series IIA Engine: A larger 2,285 cc, 2.3-liter diesel engine (code 10J) was debuted in the Series IIA Land Rover. Many parts were carried over from its petrol counterpart, but a stronger forged crankshaft and different pistons were required. Max power output from the 2.3-liter diesel was rated at 62 hp at 4,000 rpm and 103 lb. ft. at 1,800 rpm. Chassis: Classic Land Rovers like the Series IIA were built with box-welded frames and aluminum alloy bodies. Body configurations ranged from a short-wheelbase soft-top to a five-door station wagon. Production: During Series IIA production, Land Rover built its 660,000th vehicle, 70% of which were built for export markets. In export markets like Australia, Africa and the Middle East, Land Rovers accounted for as much as 90% of 4x4s sold. Sales of utilitarian Land Rovers peaked from 1969 to 1970, with around 60,000 vehicles selling annually. Timeless Design: The Series IIA is regarded by many to be the most true-to-form and rugged of the classic Land Rover variants.

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