I bought an ignition switch for my 1973 Series 3 (Pertrol). Our hosts have a similar model as the one I got, but mine is from Lucas. Looked all around the usual suppliers, and they all show this model fits Series II, IIa and III. Lucas is the supplier for LR, so pretty much "genuine". I was hoping we could rule out bad parts. This is definitely the one everyone's telling me goes into this car.

So, I open up the column and dash today and this is what I see:
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Am I missing something? These look completely different. The Lucas one on the left - and every picture online - look like they should fit in the dash, just through the sheet metal, like in the II'S. But, I have a column ignition.

Before you Series II guys say anything, YES, the Series III came with column ignitions! Looking at James Taylor's book "Land Rover Series III Specifications guide" on page 74-77 is basically what I got. Bone stock.

But all the parts suppliers keep trying to sell me Series 2 ignitions. They "fit" in the same way that ANYTHING fits, if you're willing to drill out a hole in your dashboard and rewire. Not my idea of a direct parts replacement.

Looking at the later Defender and other column ignition switches and they start to look more like what I have. Again, what's going on here? This is not a hybrid car...the dealership photos from 1973 look exactly like what I have (I didn't monkey around with anything). I'm starting to think Series 3 is closer to a Defender than Series 1 or 2. Like, I'm being led to wrong parts. It's crazy making. This part is not a direct replacement.

Anyone have any ideas? Am I finally loosing it? So confused...