Great Scot
Patrick Cruywagen declares the 2017 Scottish Land Rover Show the friendliest green oval event in the UK thus far
The Scottish Land Rover Show report proves to be one of the friendliest on the 2017 calendar
People who say that all Land Rover shows are the same have probably never been to the Scottish Land Rover Show. The 2017 version was only the second one ever and already it has the makings of something rather special. It might never be as big as the old Billing Show but the one thing that it did have in abundance were very friendly and helpful people. People who just wanted to chat about Land Rovers to anyone who had bothered to make the trek up north.
The show was held at the Royal Highland Showground which is right next to the Edinburgh airport runway, ideal if like me you were flying in for the show or if you are into plane (and Land Rover) spotting.
While the show took place on the Saturday and Sunday, many of the clubs and traders (myself included) arrived on the Friday for stand set-up. Now I know that people like to make jokes about the Scottish weather but there was nothing funny about the 27 degrees that greeted me as I stepped off the plane and walked towards the showground.
LRM had our usual magazine stands and I am happy to announce that we took in a record number of subscriptions over the weekend. So don’t you dare call the Scottish Land Rover Show a wee show. Maybe it was the free Leatherman that we were giving away to those who signed up? Those that did not make it up to Edinburgh for the show please don’t fret as we will have the same subscription deal at the Kelmarsh Land Rover Show. See you there.
While this might have been just like any other Land Rover show with its arena (manned by the much-loved and event regular Diana Tigwell), auto jumble, trade stands and well-represented club areas, it was the tartan and the Scots that helped take things to a whole new level. When I had to arrange Land Rovers for our stand all it took was one call to our Scottish correspondent Bob Weir. We had the required three vehicles on our stand a good 12 hours before the gates opened to the punters.
Fortunately the Saturday was not as sizzling hot or else we might have had a few overheated V8 engines. Michael Bruce, the popular President of the Scottish Land Rover Club, kicked off proceedings in the arena with some incredible sounds from his bagpipes. But Michael is much more than melodic hot air and throughout the weekend he impressed us with his driving skills, while expertly steering his competition Series I 86in through the tough 4x4 course in the arena. Obviously it was painted Scottish Blue – and yes, it did have a massive Scottish flag on the back.
Few know this but the arena announcer Diana began her Land Rover off-roading career in Scotland by taking part in events hosted by the
Scottish Land Rover Owners Club (SLROC), so for her this was a homecoming of sorts. The SLROC happily occupied the arena several times during the show, much to the delight of those in attendance. Their driving demos were informative and entertaining as co-commentator Bob Webster expertly explained what was going on as the Land Rovers successfully completed the various obstacles. For me one of the most impressive things that they did was build a 1954 Series V8 hybrid from scratch, it only took them a few minutes! It was like watching someone build a Lego model in fast forward mode.
A bit of fun was had at the end of each day in the arena with the YRM Jousting Championship. SLROC stalwarts, Dougie Thomson and Dave Hunter, took on the role of knights in shining Land Rovers. Horses were substituted by raw Land Rover horsepower. The crowds cheered whenever the Land Rovers passed within millimetres of each other.
Anyone who has travelled in the outback of Scotland will know that nature and bad weather can quickly stop a Land Rover in its tracks. 4x4 Response also took to the arena to demonstrate what they do when things go wrong as a result of the forces of nature or any other accident. The biggest arena highlight was the Flatdog Twist Off presented by Dan Claydon and Chris Wing. LRM did a Facebook live video of the final and at one stage we had a few hundred people from around the world watching it! I have to admit that it was better watching it live.
When the arena quietened down there was more than enough to see and do when taking a stroll around the Royal Highland Showgrounds. One of the local dealers, Pentland Land Rover, occupied the space opposite the LRM stand. While the two Series Is and Defender 90 on our stand attracted their fair share of attention the