MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
My neighbour asked if I could help him with his Series One Land Rover. It’s gearbox was making unhealthy noises.
I’d randomly seen it first years ago in town. I was struck by its originality, battered panels, chipped green paint, field repaired but complete. It had period stickers from Zimbabwe on the rear. No one was around, I took a couple of pictures, and forgot about it. Until I happened upon it’s owner who happens to be a neighbour.
He said he had bought it from a forester who had worked in Zimbabwe, he had bought it from an African mechanic who had cannibalised other Land Rovers to keep it running.
As I lifted the hinged panel under the passenger seat to get to the gearbox I noticed and gasped that it was painted a pale blue.
My gasp needed some explanation. I relayed what I remembered of this video clip.
Oxford was painted a dark blue - Cambridge a paler blue.
When I was under the floor, I noticed the whole underside was the same pale blue. No one would respray the underside a different colour.
The First Overland was in ‘55, our understanding is that my neighbour’s is a ‘57. Cambridge was last seen in Morocco.
Land Rovers would be routinely stripped for parts in Africa. It made us both pause for a minute and ponder the what ifs.