This car feels rather less prim and imperious than its name, The Admiral, might suggest.
It’s dark blue, but there’s nothing dark about its character. It’s a restomodded Series 3 Land Rover named after its Admiralty Blue paint, which was used in period by Royal Navy on its posher staff cars.
This car is a one-off, one of three self-commissioned specials that Kent Heritage Works (KHW) of Tunbridge Wells will build in a typical year around its normal restoration and commissioned-modification works. But if you ask, they could build you one like it. This one is £195,000; in the frankly bonkers modern world, I was left a little surprised that it wasn’t more.
Its starting point is a 1976 short-wheelbase (88in) Series Land Rover, whose chassis and body get stripped and restored, with the rear bulkhead moved backwards to improve room in the cabin. Finish and trim are, it’s fair to say, improved, including leather and wood to bespoke luxury standards. Mechanically it’s interesting.
KHW took a same-period Rover 3.5-litre petrol V8 and sent it off for some tweakery. It returned with a reground crank, rebored cylinders, new pistons and new high-lift cams, and it has had Holley fuel injection, different ancillaries and a custom stainless exhaust added, resulting in 250bhp and 220lb ft of torque.
This engine being quite spiky in a manual with lots of transmission shunt, here it drives through a torque-converter automatic ‘box to calm it down a bit – an older ZF unit with four speeds, because that way it can retain the high- or low-ratio, rear- or four-wheel-drive options of the original vehicle, driving during my test in RWD high-ratio mode.
Brakes are (thankfully) uprated with Defender discs on the front and Freelander 2 discs on the rear, because they bring an electronic parking brake – one of a few subtle tech upgrades, like a fridge and a decent hi-fi. A less subtle one is the central touchscreen, which KHW’s chief, Cliff Smith, having spent 18 years working for Apple, has designed to be of brilliant clarity for controlling the heated seats and windscreen, plus CarPlay of course.
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