1996 Eco-Challenge Discovery XD

Ash

Well-known member
Jun 11, 2005
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Orlando, FL
Thanks Kyle, those were interesting reads. I ask because the truck in the above Ebay listing has landed in my shop and I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is. I spoke to an individual I consider highly knowledgeable on the field of Land Rover Special Vehicles and he had a few interesting points that bring into question the authenticity of the truck, but that I also haven't seen demonstrated anywhere in the few photos I've been able to dig up. According to him, the Eco-Challenge trucks were built using ROW body assemblies that lacked roof rails and were only equipped with R380 transmissions. I'm inclined to believe him, but I haven't seen a single one out there without roof rails and this truck isn't showing any signs of being a ZF conversion. There's a lot of differing information out there and I'm just trying to make sense of it all.

-Ash
 

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
562
Seattle
The garden variety 1997 XD Disco had no roof rails. I drove one just a couple weeks ago. The low profile SD rack sits very close to the roof. It's a nice setup. The XD I drove also had the usual ZF4 auto.
 

Ash

Well-known member
Jun 11, 2005
595
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35
Orlando, FL
That's my understanding as well. According to a post on ExPo:

...there were 500 Disco XDs made in 1997, 250 came to the US, and 250 ROW. All were built from SDs, pulled off the line. They are known to be faked, by repainting an SD, but look for the absence of roof bars on a real '97. I say it that way, because, there are 40-50 (Real) XDs from '96, and they did have roof bars. 28 were used in the 1996 ECO-CHALLENGE in British Columbia. There are a few good pictures on the net.

Maybe they're not out of place on this truck. I reached out to one of the guys from CTOC to see if he can do anything with the VIN, so hopefully he comes back with something.

-Ash
 

The Rover Shop

Well-known member
Aug 5, 2015
66
0
Ft lauderdale
Resurrecting this post...any new eco challenge owners out there, or know any more for sale...I recently purchased one of the original eco challenge trucks to my “collection” and want to see how many are left ofnthe original 28..??