Auction has finished
December 15, 2017 9:37 am | Auction started |
Location: Georgia
VIN: Inquire
Year: 1984
Make: Santana / Land Rover
Model: Carzola / Series III 109
Engine: 3.4L 6-cyl diesel
Transmission: 4-sp manual
Mileage: 38k kms
Drivetrain: 4WD
Ext. Color: Green
Int. Color: Tan
Key Features: No rust, new restoration work completed, many new service items recently completed, left hand drive titled in the US
The Santana company was founded in 1956 as “Metalurgica de Santa Ana” and, just like Lamborghini, originally manufactured agricultural equipment. Three-years later they reached an agreement with Land Rover, allowing them to manufacture the Rover Series II in other parts of the world. The large majority of the vehicles manufactured in these first years went to the Armed Police, Civil Guard, Ministry of Public Works, and Spanish Armed Forces.
Exporting their trucks to areas the Land Rover company couldn’t reach themselves, Santana realized they could grow their business in other ways . They supplied fully-built and completely knocked-down (CKD) kits to be assembled in Central and South America, North Africa and the Middle East, Morocco, Iran and Costa Rica. Because of this, Santanas didn’t get to enjoy the posh areas of Europe as much as Land Rovers did…and as a result Santana had to deal with complaints/failings at a faster pace. This eventually led to the evolution of many slight differences between the Land Rover and Santana models in the years to come.
Santana saw huge success with their military vehicle…so much so they offered a variant for civilian use. It was a development parallel to the Land Rover 1/2 ton British Lightweight, with which it has little in common. A number of improvements were introduced including a new engine block and suspension changes. The market for leisure vehicles was rapidly growing (think Jeep) and so Santana produced the ‘Ligero’ (Ligero = ‘Light weight’), a civilian version of the Series III ‘Militar’ lightweight-style vehicle. Soft-top or hardtop options were available, as were varied color choices. The arrival of new competitors, mainly Japanese, caused their withdrawal from the Rover market and the eventual contractual arrangement with the Japanese automaker Suzuki.
Today Second Daily is proud to present this left hand diesel Santana 109 wearing new period correct Keswick Green. It has been fitted with a new interior with seating for nine and shows approximately 37900kms on the odometer. It has received new interior door panels, door seals, shocks, glow plugs, brake slave cylinder, bumper corners, headlight bezels, seat belts up front, and carpeting. The body presents without dents and has only minor apologies inside such as a cracked dashboard and missing heater vent.
Outside the new paint wears well. The diamond plating is said to cover up nothing, the seller reports this Santana is rust free except for some minor rust on the door screw heads and some minor surface rust on some of the galvy capping. Door bottoms are reportedly solid. There are no reported dents or any that could be seen. No obvious mis-alignments can be seen.
The grill and lights have been changed out from original though you would never know that unless you knew that. Perhaps you’ve heard, “how can you tell the difference between a Land Rover and a Santana? You can’t, unless you can.” Inside hint, count the number of observation panels in the roof and windshield wipers…that will give it away.
The 7.5×16 Conforts over white 5-lug steelies look the part and show plenty of tread left. The rear mounted spare is a close-enough match.
Inside, seating is for nine, front (2), middle (3) and rear (4) jump seats. This 109 has received all new vinyl seating surfaces, carpeting, and paint to match the exterior. The floor pans show no signs of rust, and everything appears quite neat and tidy. The non-original wooden steering wheel adds a nice textured feel.
The headliner and trim all show well, some minor areas of imperfection can be seen but remember, this is a utilitarian 9-seater with 7.5×16 military tires outside.
This Santana is a great example of a light restoration done tastefully, not overdone with bespoke Sawtooth wheels and Puma dashes, but rather a few modern touches of improved seating in an otherwise sparse interior, along with an exterior staying mostly original and raw. If you’ve come looking for cruise control and fine leather stitching, we’re sorry but those are about $80k more than the current reserve set here. We also prefer this approach to the those builds but don’t let our opinions bias you.
Here is your opportunity to get into a rust free left hand drive 5-door Santana / Rover Series for less money than a rotted out NAS D90 good for only a title. This 109 has a clean clear title in the seller’s name and ships from southern Georgia (the state, not the country).
Register to bid now.
We are a boutique online curated auction house focused on featuring all the cool / classic / collectible / enthusiast / niche cars that we’d love to have parked in our own garage rotation. We list the cars that you submit and help you sell by providing the online auction platform, personally writing the ad for you, and pushing your ad out through all our channels and networks. Auctions run 24/7 online and the best part…there’s no risk at all because it’s free to list with us and you can set a reserve price.
Disclaimer: We do our best to represent the vehicle from the information provided but this should not be implied as an inspection. Second Daily is not the owner of the vehicle and therefore we recommend as with any online vehicle purchase, as a potential buyer you should either arrange to visit it in person for a personal inspection, or hire a professional service to conduct a pre-purchase inspection. The full VIN number is given here, as potential buyers, you can perform your due diligence to determine if this vehicle meets your standards. Second Daily is not liable for the condition or contents of the vehicle. Please see our Terms and Conditions for more information.
Auction has finished
December 15, 2017 9:37 am | Auction started |
NO disrespectful bashing or other forms of verbal aggression
NO use of foul language
NO attempts to share contact information in the comments
NO sharing of other outside websites or other personal promotions
FLAG comments if they are inappropriate using the FLAG icon in the upper right of the comment box.
THUMBS DOWN simply to say “I politely disagree”.
Second Daily Staff
Join The Discussion
14 Comments on "1984 Land Rover Santana 109"
What engine is in it? How is it geared? Is it suitable for highway travel?
Engine is 3.4L 6-cyl diesel, auction details have been updated to reflect this. Question on gearing is still outstanding.
They make highway speeds. It is a 4 speed manual. If that is not your bag then the LT 85 five speed manual is a direct fit. it was also an optional extra at the time. The LT 85 is famous for being used in land Rover V8 applications due to it’s strength.
Just heard from the seller on this one, he says he’s comfortable saying 55-60mph. And as GasDonkey points out…the LT85 is a direct fit. We just received about 100 high-res photos that we’ll be updating here soon. Currently no bids, so we may extend the auction given the photos are only being added today.
Does it run? I don’t actually see a statement that it does.
The seller reports it runs and drives well, no known issues mechanically. It received new glow plugs and new brake slave cylinder recently. We have requested the seller elaborate on this.
Many pictures and written details have been added.
Write up states suggests that seating is non standard. This is not true. Remember Santana were doing their own invents. This interior is pure original Santana from the period. It has been re trimmed but is otherwise stock.
We were referencing the front head rests…I’ve personally never seen that in an ’84 (maybe later)? Happy to be corrected here if I’m wrong.
Again Santana invents. You may be surprised to know that they are in fact exactly the same as can be found in the Suzuki SJ/Samurai. No real surprise seeing as Santana built those as well. Where they were sourced from before that is anyone’s guess but in the early 80’s Cazorla and Santana Special had them first.
well there you have it…we don’t explicitly state “non-standard” but we will call out the seating is original and simply updated with new vinyl to reflect this. Thanks for the education here, if you have any pics of an all original ’84 109 please share.
The pictures of the engine compartment show a disconnected air intake hose going from the air filter to the air intake manifold. Is there a reason for this?
We will check with the seller on this. He has a video of it running we can provide