Model History

Thanks to the Land Rover Discovery, we have Defenders. The Defender started as the “One Ten” in 1983 and the “Ninety” in 1984. Around 1986, Land Rover started an underground project code named “Project Jay” which was to be another off-road SUV in the Rover lineup. Sales for the Bronco, Wagoneer, Patrol, and Land Cruiser were taking off like Marty McFly in a DeLorean and our British friends in Solihull wanted a piece of that.

Introduced to the public as a 1989 model, the Discovery platform was borrowed from the more expensive Range Rover at the time and only initially available as a 3-door.  The 5-door version would come to market a year later in 1990. This prompted Land Rover to change the One Ten and Ninety name to “Defender” to reduce confusion of the incoming little brother. The U.S. would wait 4 more years to see the Disco. This first generation ran through 1998 until the Discovery II was introduced.  In 2004, DII production ended and for us Americans, so did the Discovery moniker. In reality, the LR3 is just the 3rd iteration of the Disco and same for the LR4. We have no idea what the new Discovery is or why it’s called such, so we’ll just leave that right here. We’re classic lovers, and have been saying for years that you really should start storing away nice examples of the Discovery. As the Range Rover Classic market has already exploded and prices well on the rise, the Disco is a not-so-well kept secret anymore.

Car History

Second Daily Auctions is proud to present this first generation 1996 Land Rover Discovery SE7 with a hard to find and highly desirable manual gearbox. The seller reports this Disco is absolutely rust free and pictures corroborate that statement. This one is the SE7 which denotes 7-passenger seating with the added jump seats in the rear (2+3+2). It is equipped with Air bags, ABS Power Brakes, Leather / Power seats, Fog lights, Driving lights, Power windows, Power door locks, Power mirror, CD / AM / FM, Dual Power Sunroof, Headlight washers, Tow hitch, Rear bumper step and Dual Air Conditioning. It has an added Terrifirma lift with Goodyear Wrangler MT/R tires. It was recently serviced with new oil and filter, has a clean CarFax and will ship from New Jersey.

Exterior

Outside the Altai Metallic (silvery bluish) paint wears quite well and shows a high gloss finish. We can see no evidence of clear coat peeling or rust from the pictures. All of the plastics and seals appear in good shape. The front grill area shows some larger gaps and possible misalignment and slight color difference in the lower trim plastic below the headlights, though no accidents were reported. The wheels arches, door jambs, and door sills all look very clean and free of rust. All of the decals are intact, marker lights appear to be without cracks, as do the windows.

It appears from the pictures there may be evidence of touch-up painted areas, particularly in the door arches, B-pillar and rear door sill. The seller has confirmed that areas have been “refreshed”. As always, we encourage any potential buyers to visit in person or order a PPI (through LemonSquad for example).