“We were pulled over by the police once and they told Dad either to speed-up or get off the motorway!”
DURING THE Dunsfold restoration, which was completed in 2017, Philip returned the cab metalwork to standard and installed factory-specification seats, which means that unfortunately Paul is, like his father, just too tall to drive the car in standard configuration, but Philip offers a quick tour of the village with Paul in the passenger seat. Paul decides not to take his old seat in the back, and remembers that even as a lad there were times when his head hit the roof, but Paul is grinning from ear-to-ear when they drive back into the yard.
“The smell, the sound of the engine, the distinctive tyre noise… it could only be a Land Rover and it all brings back so many memories,” he says, and the childhood recollections come thick and fast.
“Our holidays were slow and leisurely affairs,” Paul remembers. “Especially when we were towing the caravan. We were pulled over by the police once, in Holland, and they told Dad either to speed-up or get off the motorway! Typical of Dad, he asked them which of these options they would recommend, given that he was driving as fast as he could!
“On one of our trips to Switzerland to visit some of Dad’s family, the car kept overheating on the mountain passes. We’d stop for a while, and then set off again until the temperature rose once more. Eventually, we were driving with the bonnet propped open.
“Our caravan used to fishtail a bit, and I remember after one long trip we found that the sidewalls on the new Avon tyres on the rear of the station wagon had split, as a result of the continuous lateral flexing.
“We were late trying to reach our chosen camping site in France one year, and as it was getting dark Dad just decided to pull over and park in a small town. We awoke in the caravan the following morning to find that we were surrounded by stalls selling fruit, vegetables, cheese… we had parked in the middle of the site of the weekly market.
“Dad was also a big fan of steam locomotives, and we would regularly visit preserved steam railways like the Bluebell and the Severn Valley in the station wagon. We also visited steam sheds and museums when we were on holiday on the continent. Dad also built an amazing model railway at home, which was featured in various magazines at the time.”