Land Rover Series 2a 1967

Description:

This is a very rare Searle Safari 88 Carawagon, a Land Rover approved conversion carried out by RJ Searle of Sunbury on Thames, who later became Carawagon International. The company started out as a boat builder, then moved into campervan conversions with the growing popularity of campervans in a post-war Britain. It wasn’t just Land Rovers that they converted, they converted many more vehicles including Bedford Vans and Range Rovers. Searle did not just stop at converting vehicles into campervans, they also converted standard vehicles into more upmarket versions of themselves, giving them a touch of luxury as and where needed. Rovers, Land Rovers and Range Rovers to name just a few vehicles got the Searle special treatment Only around 12 of these are known to exist. This one was supplied new by RJ Searle so was converted directly from the production line. It carried UK registration  SPF6F.  It is powered by the 2.3 petrol engine. Not much is known of the early history other than what can be learnt from the service book which is that it was maintained by the same firm and that by 1979 when all the service vouchers were used up it had covered 23,778 miles. A UK history check shows the road tax expired in 1984. It is believed the car had a long term lady owner who brought the car to Ireland with her around that time. It appears that a full ground up restoration including a new chassis was subsequently carried out  but there are no records to detail the work carried out. Two service stickers from 1996 and 1998 show  mileages of 67,000 and 75,000 respectively.The last owner purchased the car at a country auction in Bagnelstown, Co Carlow in 2004 and reregistered it on the current number at that stage. He has only covered a further 6000 miles in that time. Sadly the bed conversion is missing the rear cushions though some tasteful rear seats have been fashioned out of oak.Car comes with its original literature pack containing the operating and maintenance manuals. There are also some copies of Searle’s information sheets and history check.The car is currently registered in Southern Ireland. No VAT or duties are due on importation. We will provide NOVA certification and assist with reregistration in UK.  The vehicle now has an MOT dated to 17.07.2017