When I purchased this truck, this is the information that was provided to me.  I purchased the truck sight-unseen and stuck it in my shop for a couple of months without looking at it closely.  This is what I wrote about it at the time.

This one is a 1970 Series 2A with a very interesting history.

 

It’s a factory (England) registered truck, I have a Heritage certificate for it; it recognized by the Dunsfold trust, https://www.dunsfoldcollection.co.uk/.../land-rover..., that was made and donated to the Ebasco Corporation and became the rolling office of Normal Tillford, who at the time was the head geologist on the construction of the Keban Dam in Turkey.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keban_Dam

 

The photos can be misleading.  First let me say that I only brought it home from PA and have not gotten into it, so what I am saying is what I learned from the PO Dave Depasque, and a limited visual that I have done.  A caveat regarding the rust issue:  the underside, chassie, interior floor boards are in terrific condition, however those exterior parts that we subject to the weather (I assume that prior to being in a garage for the last 15 years it was out in the weather) are rusted (door hinges, window rails, and most significantly and rust hole on the driver’s side bulkhead above the top hinge, see pic).

It is virtually untouched.  As far as I know only general maintenance has been done to it in all these years.  It sat in a garage for the last 15 years. My thought was to just do a mechanical refurbishment and leave the patina to preserve the history.  It is quite rust free (having lived half of it’s life in Turkey) but needs a repair on the bulkhead.  Mechanically it needs the brakes completely redone, and I would assume the swivels and hubs sealed.  The drive shaft is out of it; not sure what’s going on there, but I would put in a new clutch and see if the transmission brake needs any work.  I was told that the Diesel engine was in working condition.  I have (I think) all the parts that would be required to fix the brake system and lots of other parts.  I also have a spare engine, complete with everything hanging on it, and transmission.  I have a binder full of historical records for it as well as a Heritage Certificate. Beyond that I have not dug into it since I got it, and only have the word of the PO and the extensive work he did gathering files and records.

Here is the history:

Norman Ross Tilford, professor of geology at Texas A&M University and Executive Director of the Association of Engineering Geologists (AEG), died in an airplane accident on Nov. 13, 1997, while flying his Cessna 180 from College Station, Texas. Tilford, who was 62 years old, joined Texas A&M in 1985 with 30 years of international geology experience. Professor Tilford was en route Nov. 13 to Van Horn, Texas, where he was meeting his students for a field trip. They reported him missing on Nov. 14. Intense searching by the Civil Air Patrol proved unsuccessful, but two hunters found the plane's wreckage on Dec. 13 in a densely wooded area about nine miles west of Johnson City, Texas. Tilford apparently died on impact. "We have lost a good friend and colleague," says Christopher Mathewson, who is also a professor of geology at Texas A&M. "The engineering geology profession has lost a dedicated servant, Texas A&M University has lost a great teacher, and the Association of Engineering Geologists has lost an outstanding leader." Tilford was born in Moscow, Kan., On Dec. 14, 1934. He started his engineering geology career working on foundation geology with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Los Angeles. Subsequently, he worked in West Pakistan for the Harza Engineering Company. After he earned his master's degree in geology from Arizona State University in 1966, he worked for the Philadelphia Port Corp. and then joined Ebasco Services Inc. in 1969. Tilford was the company's head geologist when it constructed the Keban Dam in Turkey, one of the largest dams in the world at that time. Beginning in 1975, he served as Ebasco's chief geologist and traveled throughout the United States and the world as a consulting geologist. As a Texas A&M professor, Tilford was known for his incorporation of real life situations into his classroom teaching and on field trips, Mathewson says. Tilford focused on active tectonics, water resources development, evaluation of geological hazards, and site selection studies. He was a member of several associations and was particularly active in the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, the U.S. Committee on Large Dams, and AEG. He was a past President of AEG (1986), editor of the Bulletin and Environmental & Engineering Geoscience (1987-97), and was AEG's Executive Director since June 1997. AEG awarded him the Floyd T. Johnston Service Award in 1992.

https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/.../1998-AEG-Honorary...

You can see why Tillford was the quintessential Series owner.

A factory vehicle means it was never registered to a dealer, company or individual, it was made in England and shipped to Turkey for the Ebasco Corporation. When Norm Tillford returned to the US (North Carolina) he purchased the vehicle from the company, imported/registered in North Carolina (where it was actually registered as a Jeep). He was, among many other things a private pilot. He used to fly his family back and forth to AZ and NM and one time flying back he went down in the Texas hill country. They searched for a month and couldn’t find the wreckage. A month later a hunter found the wreck. Hi wife later wrote this tribute: https://www.geologistwriter.com/ven.../flying-into-the-ring/

This truck came from the factory with some features that are unique to the year (probably because it is a real late 2A): syncro gear box, alternator, main shift lever style (I was told it was only used for a short period of time); it also has a factory Capstan, roof rack, and military style wheels. 

As I mentioned the truck has a Heritage Certificate and is recognized by the Dunsfold Trust (VIN 274043G). It is a completely original LHD 2.25 diesel truck, right down to the last nut and bolt. No restoration has ever been done, just a few mechanical repairs (such as a replace alternator), Yes, it came with an alternator and not a generator. It’s low mileage (50K). It came from the factory as a utility, hardtop version, no headliner, no door panels, or dash pad, vinyl seat, jump seats, factory Capstan winch and roof rack, and it was set up for Turkey with LHD and European headlights. Among other unique features it has a shifter that was only used for ½ year prior to the S3. It’s been sitting inside a garage for years. It passed through several owners getting to me, but oddly none of them did anything except necessary mechanical repairs. It comes to me with a vast amount of files, literature, receipts and documented history thanks to Dave Depasque, whom I purchased it from, and who has done all the leg work to document this amazing survivor. After Tillford, it was owned by 2-3 and then purchased by Dave Depasque who put it in a garage for 15 years.