Classic Discoverys

G-WACs were registered by the factory during late 1989 and early 1990. You may see or know of other Discoverys registered in the G3XXWAC and G6XXWAC series of registrations, they were all registered after the press launch in October 1989. Interestingly G194WAC and G195WAC were the first registered Discoverys as they were both registered on 6th September 1989 but to our knowledge and film footage these vehicles did not appear at the press launch.

Other G-WAC’s were registered by the factory during late 1989 and early 1990. Many Range Rovers also had G-WAC plates in the series of GxxWAC and G1xxWAC, these were not connected with the Discovery launch. Land Rover special vehicles division also had access to the G-WAC registration plates and many special builds were registered with random G-WAC registrations from the series.

Click on each vehicle to reveal a highlighted image and further information. By clicking again on the highlighted image, all the vehicles can be viewed sequentially.

Each highlighted vehicle displays the post date.  If you know of any updated information regarding a vehicle, or one not listed that may be of interest, let us know.

G451WAC - G535WAC

This section contains the known surviving vehicles used during the launch at Plymouth in 1989.

The G-WAC press fleet as it became known comprised of 86 cars registered G451WAC to G535WAC with the exception of G500WAC, which was not used.

G536WAC - G653WAC

More early factory registered Discoverys.  Used for staff, demonstration or development purposes.

G registered 5 Door Discoverys

Development of the 5 door Discovery was soon underway and the range extended to offer 5 door vehicles in 1990. During the development several 5 door Discoverys were registered on G plates.

Members' Jays

The Discovery 200Tdi, V8 and Mpi were in production until 1993.  Here are a selection of Jays owned by members of the Project Jay Preservation Group.

Camel Trophy Discoverys

The Camel Trophy ran from 1980 until 2000. Land Rovers were used from 1981 until 1998. Discoverys were used between 1990 and 1997. A selection of the G-WAC press fleet were taken back to Land Rover after the press launch and repainted Sandglow before being sent to Eastnor for selection trials / training for the 1990 event. Known press G-WAC’s that were treated to a makeover are G463/75/521/25WAC it is also believed that G494/532WAC were treated the same although no pictures exist (to date!) of these two vehicles.

Classic Discoverys
Classic Discoverys
Classic Discoverys

More factory registered G-WAC’s were used in the 1990 event in the USSR these are registered as G560/1/2/3WAC and again the 1990 event cars were used for 1991 selection trials and training. The 1991 event used 5 door 200 Tdi models. The event ran with five door 200 Tdi’s between 1991 & 1994. 300 Tdi’s were used between 1995 & 1997. The 1998 event ran with the new Freelander.

116" Discoverys

These were stretched Discoverys and a few examples survive. Some of these vehicles were Ambulances.

High Roof Discovery

Standard wheelbase but with a roof extension. 17 of these were factory built and converted for wheelchair users. Below (left) is one recently advertised for sale and has a factory K-HKV plate.

Classic Discoverys
Classic Discoverys

A similar conversion for the Dutch market (photo on the right) gave the Discovery a similar look, but these were completed by Ter Berg and made the roof higher to comply with legislation regarding Dutch vehicles being registered as a commercial vehicle.

Honda Crossroad

In October 1993 Honda rebadged and marketed the Crossroad when SUVs started to become popular. Honda bought the rights to the Discovery Series I from Land Rover and sold it in the Japanese market between 1993 & 1998.The partnership ended when BMW bought Land Rover. Some of them had also been sold into New Zealand.

With the end of the Crossroad in the Japanese SUV market due to the termination of Honda’s partnership with Land Rover, Honda ceased selling the Crossroad with the last ones registered in 1998.

The Crossroad had been marketed in Japan from October 1993 until 1998. Honda went on to use the Crossroad name on the next generation model which was not linked to the Land Rover Discovery.

Classic Discoverys