Series Land Rovers that were only build in South Africa!

Series 3S - R6 2.6L Petrol, 3.8L Diesel and 2.24L Petrol.

The Series 3S was distinguished from earlier locally-built Series 3 ’s because it had the flush front grill of the Stage I V8, a model which was never sold in South Africa. Only two body types were available from the factory, one being a pick-up which could be had with all three engines, and the other a 12-seater station-wagon which only came with the new six-cylinder petrol engine (known as the R6) and the new diesel.

The new diesel was a locally-built 3.8 litre 4 cylinder known as the Atlantis or ADE4 and came with a useful 73bhp (55kW) @ 2800rpm and a thumping 179 lb./ft (243Nm) torque at an incredibly low 1400rpm. The R6 engine had been developed from the E6 six-cylinder, itself derived from the overhead-camshaft four cylinder BMC/Leyland E-series engine.

In Britain that was as far as the E6 went, but the design was re-used by Leyland Australia who developed a long-stroke 2623cc version for conventional installation in the Australian Marina and the P76 saloon. It was this engine which was picked up by Leyland SA at the end of the 1970’s and redeveloped as the R6 for the local Marina, Rover SD1 and Land Rover. For South Africa it had an up-rated cooling system, lower noise levels and a new camshaft.

Both saloon and Land Rover versions for the 2.6 litre six cylinder had twin SU HIF6 carburettors and the same 110bhp (82kW) @ 2800rpm and 148 lb./ft (202Nm) of torque at 2200rpm. In the Land Rover, the engine came with an oil cooler as standard. Like the diesel, it drove through a four speed all-synchromesh gearbox of Brazilian design, which had slightly different first, third and reverse ratios from the British-designed models fitted to four cylinder petrol models. 

Both the R6 and 2.24 litre petrol engines came with Salisbury axles incorporating the familiar 4.7:1 gearing, but the diesel had Salisbury axles with a final drive of 3.54:1, exactly like the Solihull-built Stage I V8.

On the road the Series 3S in four cylinder petrol form performed very much like any 2.25 litre petrol Series 3. The six cylinder model was a very different case, however. The station wagon had a maximum cruising speed of about 130 km/h (81mph). Somewhere about 5000 examples were built before production stopped in 1985. By then the first locally assembled 110 V8’s had become available and the last of the Series 3S models lingered in dealers’ showrooms until 1986.