The Life of a Press Car
Press cars lead a hard life, no matter where they’re based. Sure, some motoring journalists are careful with them, but that doesn’t mean they won’t see some abuse over their lifetime. While these are maintained and repaired when needed, that doesn’t necessarily undo what it’s been through. It’s probably not as bad as rentals, but you get the picture.
In many ways, press cars see a lifetime’s worth of abuse in a shorter amount of time, maybe even more. While some are kept in heritage fleets, others get crushed, and others are retired and eventually meet their demise. The cars you see in gleaming press photos or featured in reviews don’t always have a quiet retirement.
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One for the Top Gear Fans
If you watched Top Gear extensively back in the day, you may remember a certain review of the Land Rover Discovery 3. Better known as the LR3 in the U.S., one of the two SUVs Jeremy Clarkson drove was taken up a Scottish mountain for an extensive off-road review. The challenge was to take it up a mountain where no other vehicle had climbed before.
Of course, the Discovery made it up, and it became one of the show’s more memorable reviews. As a funny postscript, Clarkson said that he had accidentally brought home the keys to the SUV while the rest of the team was still shooting B-roll of it, and joked that the Discovery had been left up there. That episode aired in late 2004.
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A Survivor
Of course, the Discovery made its way back down at some point. After all, it was one of Land Rover’s press cars, and BX04 CKN (the registration number) was even used in press materials. Not much was known about the SUV after it made the ascent, other than that it kept driving around for quite some time.
More recently, BX04 CKN was found and purchased by a client of RCM 4×4 Limited, a Land Rover specialist in the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It wasn’t in the best shape, but it had survived the last 22 years, including a drive up a literal mountain. If this car could talk, it would have quite the story to tell.
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A Brief Background
This particular Discovery 3/LR3 was featured on the show alongside another one that was filmed for the on-road segments. After the shoot, it was returned to stock (no nudge bar, winch, or all-terrain tires), which is how RCM 4×4 received it. It also looked pretty tired, but it appeared to still be running before the restoration began.
For those curious about the spec, it’s not something that was offered in the U.S. For starters, it’s a diesel, which America never got. Under its hood is a 2.7-liter V6 turbodiesel (2.7 TDV6) that made 188 hp and 325 lb-ft, so it wasn’t going to be quick by any measure. Clarkson also called the Discovery heavy, tipping the scales at over 5,000 lbs. It’s the norm for midsize EV SUVs now, but it was orbit-altering in those days.
That said, we do hope the other Discovery 3, BX04 CKP, also gets a new lease on life. While it wasn’t the hero car, it still appeared on film and is also part of automotive history. Besides, how often can you say you have a car that Jeremy Clarkson once drove?
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The Job
For its recommissioning, it was a frame-off job (these were still body-on-frame) and revealed over 20 years of muck and grime. There was also a fair bit of surface rust, which was thankfully caught in time. While we don’t know the full extent of the process, we’re assuming it has a whole bunch of new parts fitted.
For the final touches, we refitted the nudge bar and winch seen (and used) in Clarkson’s review. The nudge bar was new-old stock, while Devon 4×4 restored the winch. At the time of writing, the rejuvenation of BX04 CKN is complete, and it already looks like it’s ready to go back to the mountain it climbed 22 years ago.
Indeed, the new owners plan to take it back up there soon, which should make for an epic photo op. RCM 4×4 also said this Discovery 3 will be touring around some Land Rover shows, so if you’re in England (or based there), you could get a glimpse of this interesting bit of motoring television history. We suddenly also have the urge to take a look at old Discoverys for sale – totally unrelated to this, by the way.
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