Anyone got a really old Land Rover ....

[MuffinMclay]

.. and can you fit child seats in them?

How old is the LR? If its got lap belts then forget it. If it's the 3 point harness then it'll be ok. Tell us about the LR anyway.

im usre you probbaly can (good friends of mine have 2 old landrovers (that they use for proper off-roading!)

Can see no reason why you couldnt, so long as you have forward facing seats and a 3 point belt would help.

Dp watch out for buckle crunch though

dh says: wtf is buckle crunch?

its when the buckle rests on the structure of the car seat (ratehr than the material seat belt resting on the car seat)

it means in a crash there is lots of pressure on the buckle (which its not designed for) so the buckle breaks open and then (during the crash ) the seat is obviously not strapped in cause the buckle has broken

Thnaks for that!
Will check that in the morn.
Pretty sure i dont have any buckle crunching going on tho...

I don't know quite how old the LR would be. Dh's boss is selling off his collection of old LRs cheaply as part of a very acrimonious divorce settlement.

It suddenly occured to me that this might be the solution to my current car problems, other thread (have Audi estate that I want to change because it keeps developing expensive problems many related to driving on rural roads).

I would use it once or twice a day to go 2 miles up the road with the dog, 1/2 dcs, and a double pushchair, and once a week or so to go to mother and toddler group and/or the doctors.

I can keep the Audi for a year or two, until we don't need pushchair space, and use that on proper roads.

Are they really hard to drive? I've never driven a car without power steering etc? I'd be going very slowly, if that makes a difference - never more than 20mph one way and 30ish the other.

Some car seats have alternative routing for seatbelts which are on stalks (which yours will probably be in the LR) to avoid buckle crunch.

I am assuming that it is forward facing seats we are talking about here not sideways ones?

It would be one forward facing carseat and one baby seat.

Sorry, I mean forward facing seats in the Landrover. Some of them, especially older ones have benches in the back which mean you travel sideways.

Sorry, being dim!

I assume so, but would need to check.

I would love an old landy... but they don;t go that cheaply, they are quite sought over... where is DH's boss selling them?

West Country I believe. Not sure I should say exactly where in case his wife is an MNer.

Califright,

I'l just put my anorak on and say that Land Rovers didn't become defenders until 1990. Before that they were just Land Rovers and if you want to get realy geeky then it was LR series 1, 2, 2a and series 3 from 1948 to 1983. Then in 1983 you got the 110 and later the 90. Then, in 1990 the 90/110 was renamed the defender 90/110 and also re-engined with the 200 TDi.

Have a 1956 series one ...and not a hope of putting child seats in them ...

I had a 1967 (SII I think) and currently have a Series III from the early 70s. I did have a baby seat in the front of that one but I would not have DCs in the back on the bench seats.

If you're a good mechanic then an old Landy is OK because you can fix most things with a sledge hammer. But they are very unreliable, particularly mid-70s Series III. I get through a lot of tyres too. And the insurance is high even though I can only do 70mph max downhill and wind assisted.

You could fit another 3pt harness to the middle front seat but I'm not sure you could still reach the gear stick with a child in the way.

I only drive mine when I'm on my own now. Otherwise I drive MNs favourite 4x4.

Is LL hiding on this thread?