Member Since: 22 Mar 2018
Location: Peak District
Posts: 4
D4 XXV
Hi, I’ve been on the forum for quite a while but not had occasion to post anything interesting. Happy simply to read and absorb the many hints, tips, facts and humour you all seem to have in common. As I virtually share the gestation period and birth of Land Rover as a marque, now being the great age of 70, I was lucky enough recently to acquire an immaculate, low mileage D4 XXV first registered Dec 2014 and now bearing the rather swanky registration 1 XXV.
This is the 7th Land Rover I’ve owned since buying a 1963 Ser 2a petrol swb ht in 1968, which I and my girlfriend (now lady wife) loved, driving all over the UK and Europe until the practicalities of children, business and the looming oil crisis forced economy and replacement weirdly with a Citroen Dyane 6 which, after an extended period of cerebral adjustment and engineering disbelief that anything so flimsy could be so good, came to love this strange conveyance with almost equal passion as the old 2a. I know, I’m a tart, but things were tight and needs must, as they say. Had a few Citroens after that (all good, still weird though), plus Fords and company cars suitable for family and business, but never lost the draw of old LR beckoning from the hills.
We’ve always lived in the Peak District where LRs are ‘de rigueur’, but I have to say the little old Citroens used to plough through, or more likely skip over, the deep snow, seldom coming to much harm. And a Cit BX with top hydropneumatic suspension and snow chains was very impressive, especially when you need to use it every day.
But as economic pressures eased we bought an early 2¼ petrol 110 County in white as my wife’s school bus and horse tug and we seemed to have come home. Of course the bloody thing cost an arm and a leg in fuel, oil, maintenance and frustration. You want to see my little lady (5’0”) lifting a 750 spare wheel off and onto the back door - the language used to frighten the horses no end! It was adapted to unleaded using some crazy alchemy with what appeared to be lead fishing weights in a steel guauze bag in the fuel tank, that worked unbelievably well. That was replaced eventually with a black 110 County TDi that we understood had once been on the Sandringham estate. Then we got really posh with a new D3 SE in Arctic Frost. Later a new D4 XS in Galway Green plus a Freelander 2 HSE Auto SD4 in Black. All good except the MY10 D4 XS from new would, every now and then, smoke like the Red Arrows for 10 seconds or so then stop as if nothing had happened? Of course the lying ‘stealers’ maintained “Oh, we’ve never heard anything like that before”
So now after probably a million miles of driving on and off road in all weathers and now retired, tintent towing and suffering from a tricky case of big C which can, and does, turn nasty, we’ve got this paragon of the Discovery genre the XXV.
It is of course in Causeway Grey with Cirrus grey Windsor leather and has every conceivable extra that the D4 could ever have. I’m taking a night-school course to read and understand the handbook, all of which applies to this car! But it is a gem! I put the grandkids in black bin bags before they get in, only leaving their heads out to watch TV & DVDs on the headrest screens - not really but sorely tempted with the sticky little b*****s. It’s only got 17k on the clock and it seems superb in every department - apart from voice tags, but they were always a bit of a joke!
So give us a wave if you see 1 XXV swishing swankily south-westwards or anywhere for that matter. I may acknowledge with a lazily elevated digit if I can be arsed - No sorry, as a newbie I’m pushing my luck here! - I’d love to hear from anyone whose interested in my little history.
PS: A nice lady at customer relations at JLR kindly researched the details of the XXV for me and found that there were 1,510 XXV Discovery 4s sold globally, of which 216 were sold in the UK. She also sent me the XXV brochure PDF which shows them listed at an unbelievable £64,790!!! One Life... Get One!
LR History
Ser 2a Petrol 1960s ❤️
110 County Petrol 1980s 😊
110 County Diesel 1990s 😊
D3 SE 2006-9 😍
D4 XS 2009-14 😍
FL2 HSE 2014-17 🤫
D4 XXV 2017... ❤️💕💋
27th May 2018 3:33 pm
Red Merle
Member Since: 30 Aug 2014
Location: Liskeard
Posts: 7438
What a story, thanks for sharing
Very sorry to hear of the “big C”, but so many happy times relayed there too.
I no longer have a D4 myself, but it will always be one of the very best cars I’ve ever owned (along with 3 hydraulically suspended big Citroen’s, funnily enough ) and I hope to see 1XXV on the road one day 2011 - 2015: 3 x FL2
2015 - 2017: 2 x D4
2017 to date: FFRR SDV8
2023 to date: FL2 as a second car
2021 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200
2022 to date: Hinckley built ‘14 Triumph Trophy 1200 & sidecar!
(One of only two known to exist in the world!)
27th May 2018 3:44 pm
NavyDoc
Member Since: 11 Jan 2009
Location: Perth
Posts: 144
Photos please or else it didn’t happen. Sounds awesome.
27th May 2018 3:47 pm
mark the spark
Member Since: 22 Jun 2011
Location: southampton
Posts: 2477
Welcome to the club im running K4 XXV plate and theres 6/7 other owners on here (just do a xxv search )
Wanted D4 xxv but its on a clapped out audi in Reading last time i heard
All the best with your fight with the C. MY05 SE D3 Manual my first LR what a car
MY10 HSE D4 auto
MY14 XXV more buttons than the spaceshuttle
27th May 2018 3:54 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72787
Its still on the Audi but no tax, no MOT and no Ins.
XXV1 is on a 6 year old FFRR.
27th May 2018 4:29 pm
dgardel
Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: Greater Venice
Posts: 2025
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Red Arrows for 10 seconds or so then stop as if nothing had happened? Of course the lying ‘stealers’ maintained “Oh, we’ve never heard anything like that before” 
) and I hope to see 1XXV on the road one day 
