2013 Roll Call.

[Jason]

Anita, Tinkerbell looks grand in her new outfit:)

Del, I would presume its a privacy thing and nowt to do with the reputations of CA's

[Piglet]

What don't you trust about Club Arnager's then Anita???

Same pic with full number plate showing on FB!!!!

Del

LOL that's because I am naturally cautious by nature and don't fancy putting the reg number up when I've also given travel dates of when we'll be away.   My husband on the other hand is far less cautious than I am!    Plus of course CA is open to all and not just to "friends"      I trust you all, I wouldn't leave my beer with you, but that's a different story 

[Bob U]

   I trust you all, I wouldn't leave my beer with you, but that's a different story 


[/quote]now that is funny

[Lazy B'stard]

Land Rover thefts are at an all time high at the moment. Even the old Series are being taken away. So easy to steal as well, especially when the door locks don't work. Must fix that.

I really fancy going down to LM in mine. Having looked at the cost of getting there on the train with a bicycle, it's probably the cheaper option too. If I get the new engine sorted in the next few months I might trundle down. I wonder if there are any nice green lanes near Le Mans? Friday afternoon bimble with a hamper would be very pleasant.

[Piglet]

My Landy is probably worth just as much if not more than my 11 year old Saab!   

We are planning the gentle meander down the back roads, stopping en route there and back for camping stops (VERY tempted by a roof tent - except that a woman who sleepwalks really shouldn't sleep 2m off the ground!).  We're going Poole/Cherbourg in an attempt to minimise the fuel cost in the Landy!   When we come back, we'll head off to Silverstone for the GP.     I'm not sure I'd want to go much further in her!   

Just got to find some Tinkerbell GT (grand touring!) vinyls for her! 

[Lazy B'stard]

What crossing are you on Anita?

Jules has a spare Landy sized pitch on MB. I feel a road trip coming on!

Mind you, the haul down from Cherbourg is a long one. Caen might have been more Series friendly?

[Fran]

Mind you, the haul down from Cherbourg is a long one.

Not as long as the haul back up!!

 

[Piglet]

Portsmouth Cherbourg going out on Monday 17th, coming back the following Tuesday.  We're in Dorset so Poole is closer to us than Portsmouth and I think it was quite a bit cheaper when when we looked.  It's about 175 miles Cherbourg/LM but we're stopping halfway for two nights, getting to LM on Wednesday.   Go on, take Landy Power - you know you want to 

[BigH]

I've been reading this with eyebrows a bit higher than they should be really.

I've never really got the Landy thing, I mean I can see the classic lines, the history, character, and all that, but it's just the thought of driving them! I used to drive one as part of my job in the mid/late seventies, almost only off road, and it was from dawn to dusk, and it's left an indelible memory, not to mention unusual lumps.

I'm not sure where to start, but the noise is as good as anywhere. The gearbox sounded like a 2cwt mosquito banking in heavy air preparing for a straffing run, while our fillings were vibrating the engine banged, thumped and roared and was prone to some sort of mechanical Tourettes that had us reaching for earplugs or machetes, depending on what we'd been drinking the night before. If the driver even appeared to look like he was considering changing to low ratio, any passengers on board would immediately bail out, showing no regard to current speed, terrain or personal safety. One mechanical problem that was common, and easily capable of breaking thumbs, was that with no warning the steering wheel would develop the shakes of such violence and frequency that you had to let go of it for fear of injury. The Steering Tremors we called it, and weekly visits to Charlie the mechanic never ever fixed it properly.

And there was the floor (probably easily fixed I know), but going through water at any speed sent columns of water spurting up through rivet holes and then up your trouser legs, nostrils and anything else, - a bit like those pavement fountains you see in town centres these days. Windscreen wipers and washers were useless (although I can appreciate the charm here...). One of the worst driving experiences I've ever had was driving one of these bastards up the M20/M26, I would have gladly sold my soul to get out of it if I could have. I don't seem to remember any seat adjustment at all either, so whether the driver was a midget or a naturally talented basketball protege, they had to make do.

Ok, it was a while ago, and there was no such thing as classic status, maybe I'd experience something different if I was to give one a go now, but I can't help thinking if one pulled up outside for me, it would be a Pavlovs Dogs scenario and apart from the barking and whimpering I'd be having a go at climbing out the toilet window sharpish.

[Fran]

Controversial (but eloquent) as always Mr Big.

F

[Grand_Fromage]

I have to agree with the BigH on the subject of Landy Love..

Driven on high days and holidays or just for grins and giggles is fine, but from my youth, growing up with farm vehicles, I would prefer to spend a day riding on the old MF35 rather than a Series 2 landy. While I was still at school, the stockman would often be pressed to do the school run in a rag top SWB. I distinctly remember the bruises from bouncing around in the back of it.

[Lazy B'stard]

Oh I hear you brothers and sisters. I'm certainly not blind to their, let's say, shortcomings. As you drive them along you can certainly appreciate that they are basically unchanged from that rushed and cash strapped design when the country was on the bones of its arse just after giving old Hitler a good boshing.

But.... There is something about them. Firstly, my experience isn't sullied by having to use one back I the day as a job, a tool or workhorse. I have vague memories of bouncing around in the back of an old series back in the 70's as a small child. Therefore my memories are associated with fun.

Yes, they are agricultural, the suspension keeps my osteopath wealthy, the engine has as much gusto as a Mediterranean country's economy, the transmission whines more than a sacked girl band member, and it leaks more than Aunt Mables knickers, but so does every venerated British sportscar ever made. And we love them don't we? A big Healy is just a Land Rover that gets stuck in fields.

Thing is, those British sportscars are puffs. They don't like anything other than a bimble to a pub in the cotswolds on a Sunday. They just like to look good and that's all they manage to do. A Landy on the other hand will do just about anything you ask of it. It's like a character in a Ted Hughes Poem. Despite being waist deep in snow and ice, it will take your kids to school. It will take a winters worth of fire wood in one go, it enables you to go to the local Pony Club meets without out looking like a new money twat. It can be fixed with bailer twine and twigs. It will run and run despite the fact it's not seen fresh oil in a decade. You can get away with washing once a year and you don't have to fret about stone chips, scratches or car park dings. They are probably one of the greatest cars ever made. And they are British. Like Concorde, the computer, the Industrial Revolution, the Mallard, the Forth Bridge, Grensons and Yorkshire Puddings, they are British icons that everyone can be rightly proud of.

I've got fancy sportscars. I've had luxury. I've had leather seats. Sat nav. Power steering. Blah blah. It's all good. But I can appreciate the rustic charms of a fusty old Land Rover too. Every journey is an adventure. You can peer over hedgerows and marvel at how pretty this country is because you are travelling slow enough to take it all in. Try that in your low slung E Type and you'll be Mike Hawthorn in a flash.

If i have failed to convince you so far, may i offer you their greatest attribute?
Despite being sat just inches away, at anything above 30mph I can no longer hear my wife. That my friends, is reason enough to love a Landy. Heavenly peace.


Long live the Land Pig.

[Martini...LB]

Last year I drove the works landy. I used to think that everyone that drive one was a poser with their arm out of the window then I realised the reason for this was because there is no room in them.

Sorry but not the greatest and as far as field work goes I prefer a Ferguson tractor, put a link box on the back and there will be plenty of room for camping gear.

>Martini...LB

[BigH]

Good work Dr S, - I could hear the strains of Land Of Hope & Glory while reading that, and a tear worked it's way down my cheek.

I still think you're better off on the mtb though, with a couple of black bags, rabbit traps and rough cider.

H

[Piglet]

Oh I hear you brothers and sisters. I'm certainly not blind to their, let's say, shortcomings. As you drive them along you can certainly appreciate that they are basically unchanged from that rushed and cash strapped design when the country was on the bones of its arse just after giving old Hitler a good boshing.

But.... There is something about them. Firstly, my experience isn't sullied by having to use one back I the day as a job, a tool or workhorse. I have vague memories of bouncing around in the back of an old series back in the 70's as a small child. Therefore my memories are associated with fun.

Yes, they are agricultural, the suspension keeps my osteopath wealthy, the engine has as much gusto as a Mediterranean country's economy, the transmission whines more than a sacked girl band member, and it leaks more than Aunt Mables knickers, but so does every venerated British sportscar ever made. And we love them don't we? A big Healy is just a Land Rover that gets stuck in fields.

Thing is, those British sportscars are puffs. They don't like anything other than a bimble to a pub in the cotswolds on a Sunday. They just like to look good and that's all they manage to do. A Landy on the other hand will do just about anything you ask of it. It's like a character in a Ted Hughes Poem. Despite being waist deep in snow and ice, it will take your kids to school. It will take a winters worth of fire wood in one go, it enables you to go to the local Pony Club meets without out looking like a new money twat. It can be fixed with bailer twine and twigs. It will run and run despite the fact it's not seen fresh oil in a decade. You can get away with washing once a year and you don't have to fret about stone chips, scratches or car park dings. They are probably one of the greatest cars ever made. And they are British. Like Concorde, the computer, the Industrial Revolution, the Mallard, the Forth Bridge, Grensons and Yorkshire Puddings, they are British icons that everyone can be rightly proud of.

I've got fancy sportscars. I've had luxury. I've had leather seats. Sat nav. Power steering. Blah blah. It's all good. But I can appreciate the rustic charms of a fusty old Land Rover too. Every journey is an adventure. You can peer over hedgerows and marvel at how pretty this country is because you are travelling slow enough to take it all in. Try that in your low slung E Type and you'll be Mike Hawthorn in a flash.

If i have failed to convince you so far, may i offer you their greatest attribute?
Despite being sat just inches away, at anything above 30mph I can no longer hear my wife. That my friends, is reason enough to love a Landy. Heavenly peace.


Long live the Land Pig.

Amen to that 

I can't do the poetic stuff but for us (well KK), it's about the challenge of actually getting the thing there, it's about having something that you can fix with a can of WD40 and a large hammer, the transmission talks to you as you drive.

Plus dear old Tinkerbell towed something like 5 cars, 4 caravans a campervan and an AA van at a very muddy Silverstone Marshals GP campsite last year - lets see yer bloody modern car do that....

Proof indeed (if you needed it) that Old Girls can pull