Earning your Keep

With more and more vintage Land Rovers being restored and kept as potential investments, you can understand why some of these relics are stored in garages and only being brought out for the odd sunny Sunday.

A Wolf is a rare Landy and something that could easily be stored as an exhibit in a museum. But that doesn’t mean you can’t fi nd some still being used as a proper Green Oval

However, you can still fi nd some rare metal being used as the versatile vehicles they were designed to be. A Wolf 90, for example, is one of the more exclusive military vehicles to be produced in Solihull, manufactured for a short spell at the end of the Nineties.

These were ideal candidates for the military, as they were tough vehicles that were bolstered further by heavy-duty components over the regular military Defenders. And with a 300Tdi engine rumbling away under the bonnet, rather than a breathless 2.5 NA diesel, it’s easy to see why these Land Rovers are sought after and retain respectable values. Peter Wales was in the market for a usable vehicle a couple of years ago, and that’s exactly what he found down at the Peterborough show.

‘Witham Specialist Vehicles, who specialise in the ex-MOD machines, were exhibiting down there and had a couple of Wolf Land Rovers available,’ says Peter. ‘The 90s were made in less numbers than the 110s, which makes it a little more exclusive.’ Because of their larger frame, the 110 models lent themselves to more applications, such as the WMIK versions, so more were produced as a result. But for collector, Peter, he saw the merits of having a Wolf 90 as a valuable addition to his fl eet, as well as being a dependable workhorse. ‘The attraction was the 300Tdi, meaning you can get 30 to the gallon in it and comfortably run at 60-70mph on the motorway,’ explains Peter. That’s not something you could do in most classic Land Rovers.

‘It’s used as a daily and helps with carting stuff about and any towing I need to do. I’ve used it a couple of times over on the continent.’ The Wolf that now resides with Peter was based out in Iraq after it went into service in 1996. It then came back in 2002 and lived over at the MOD base in Salisbury until 2007. Peter is the second civilian owner after its previous keeper just wasn’t using it. ‘It ticked all those practical boxes and I like the look of it, with the tyre on the side, the pickaxe and the camo netting on the bonnet,’ continues Peter. But rather than being his main passion, the Wolf is just an extra string to Peter’s fanatical Land Rover bow.

We’ve featured Peter’s two-door Range Rover previously, but also his Minerva, a Series I dressed up for Belgian service. The beauty of the Wolf is Peter can drive it to a show, all whilst towing one of his other classics on the back, killing two birds with one stone. ‘I have a Willys Jeep and the Minerva, so the Wolf is another military vehicle to add to the collection. I took the Wolf to War and Peace, and when people see the tyre on the side they start asking what it is - it gets a fair bit of attention itself.

‘I’ll continue to take it around the shows and I’d like to get the Wolf, Jeep and Minerva together at a show at some point – that would be nice.’ When the Wolf isn’t wowing crowds, though, the Wolf is earning its keep as a dependable workhorse Peter can rely on for all the eventualities he might face on a day-to-day basis. Whether it’s getting Peter about in the winter months or aiding him in towing another Land Rover to join the collection, this Wolf won’t be retiring from service any time soon.