LAND ROVER’S 70TH
It’s beaut and windless and I’m surrounded, encapsulated, gobsmacked ( just a lit tle bit) by Land Rovers! Lots of them, old ones, mostly. The oldest is 70 and as good as new. There are 160 of them, from 1948 to current and from all over New Zealand, with only a couple trailered unfinished projects. I’m at Methven Domain on Sunday March 25 for a celebration of Land Rover’s 70th anniversary. There’s tidy rows of Series Ones, Twos and Threes showcasing their various wheelbases – 80”, 86, 88, 107, 109, all the leaf-sprung models. Most are dressed in factory hues with a few personalised or in military drab. There’s also an original unpainted 107 Safari in naked, shiny, alloy bodywork. Plus four or five bright red Land Rover fire engines dressed with hose-reels, pumps, and levers standing slightly aloof from the mass.
Rangies and Sports too!
An amazing line of immaculate early Range Rovers look bright, taut, proud and shiny on their coil springs. I’m surprised to find there are three rare CSK Rangies on site, each black and mint. They were a special edition named after Charles Spencer King the LR founder. Lots of Defender 90 and 110 models and Discoverys glisten. There’s a few Freelanders and late model Rangies and Sports too. There’s a 130” bearing a huge removable camper that dominates the vehicular skyline. Not to mention a couple of trial/ winch-comp vehicles on big knobblies and bristling with ‘stuff’. It gets personal too. I reconnect with a series 2 109 inch five- door to which I fitted a Rangie 3.5 V8 many years ago for a friend. I have to crawl beneath it and slide a hand over the chassis
rail to feel for the scallop I arranged for left bank exhaust clearance, to be sure of it.
‘Landed gentry!
A side of the domain is dominated by a line of twenty or more immaculate classic Rover cars gazing at their 4WD brethren. The gentry facing the hooligans, perhaps? Or in awe of LR’s success and continuing production? In fact the Rover company predates Land Rovers by many years, having begun making bicycles from 1884 and cars from 1904. The event was organised by a mix of enthusiasts from the Rover Car Club and the Series One Group ( these now being amalgamated) – and the Canterbury Land Rover Owners Club. It proceeds smoothly with lit tle fuss. There’s driving tests, winching and demonstrations happening in the show ring. Vehicles are judged, prizes from sponsors awarded. There’s no blaring PA system so its relaxed and easy to chat, catch up with old friends and make new ones. CLROC have their well-manned tucker caravan in full swing issuing trad saussies or bacon butties with proceeds going to local charity.
Week-long event
The week-long event has trips and visits arranged throughout the area. I joined a run up Mt Hutt to the skifield then to Coleridge power station for a guided tour of the powerhouse and its intake at Lake Coleridge. Next day they were to visit a high country station for a 4WD run. Previously they’d floated a Land Rover across Lake Hood – wrapped in a tarp, an outboard clipped to the tailgate and with four happy occupants ( and a dog). The Methven Guardian published a photo of it next day. A Land Rover speciality was always practicality. The Series and Defender models lent themselves to modification. Body parts can be easily removed, swapped or altered. Spare wheels could be on the bonnet, inside or hung elsewhere. A range of excellent winches, power take-offs and other factory accessories were available, many of which were on display.
Unique artefact
A unique Rover artefact periodically howled to our Sunday attention. It was a Rover turbine-powered portable power unit from c.1956. It’s a gas turbine producing 45kw ( 60HP) driving either a 500gpm fire pump or a 115V alternator as an aircraft ground power unit. Two items got my special attention, one was a S1 with a rare factory hydraulic winch, the other was a 110-based military ambulance converted to a camper. The winch vehicle belonged to a Stephen I’d met previously. It transpired that he was also one of the two drivers that bulldozed the Mt Hutt skifield road in the early ‘ 70s. While our group were on the mountain he gave a talk about that with its rockfalls, swamps and extreme weather. It was nice to have him on the road with us.
Nor’wester blows in
Any skier knows how hard it can blow up there in a Nor’wester and one was building that morn so we were under strict orders to be off the mount by lunchtime. I’d left my main camera in the porch at home so had to use the pocket-cam that was luckily in the truck. It struggled with the combination of gale and heavy overcast, even held against a vehicle or pole was dodgy – that darn wind waggled anything above ground level including me. So the dodgy photos are mine, and the nice sharp ones were taken by Chris Parkin!