Land Rover Legends: Part Nine
Pioneering Land Rover preservationists, the Houben family owns one of the most historically-significant collections in the world. This is how it came to happen…
This month Gary Pusey talks to the pioneering Land Rover preservationists, the Houben family
THE LAND Rover Series One Club’s Amsterdam Pilgrimage (celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Land Rover and its launch at the Amsterdam Motor Show in April 1948), provides an excellent opportunity to join the birthday celebrations before taking the long way home via Maastricht to meet the Houben family and hear their story first-hand. And since we’re driving a 1949 80-inch we’ll also be arriving in something perfectly appropriate!
The Houben Family’s passion for Land Rovers goes back almost as far as the birth of the Land Rover itself. As the 1940s rolled into the 1950s, Huub Houben was still a young lad and there was nothing he liked better than spending time with his uncles, Alex, Pierre and Zef, on their farm near Kerkrade in the Dutch province of Limburg, close to the borders with Belgium and Germany.
At that time it was real, old-fashioned horsepower of the four-legged kind that still reigned supreme on the farm, but Huub’s uncles were forward-thinking farmers and were always keen to attend the local agricultural shows and markets so they could keep abreast of new developments and ideas in farming. It was at one such show in nearby Valkenburg in 1952 that they saw their first Land Rover, a brand-new 80-inch which was displayed for sale by dealer Parkgarage Maastricht.
“My uncles were very impressed,” says Huub, “even though they couldn’t drive! By the end of the day, and probably fortified by a few stiff drinks, they ended up buying the Land Rover. They had a plan. Alex and Pierre would use the Land Rover on the farm, and Zef would use it to deliver the milk. Back on the farm, though, while Alex and Pierre had soon mastered the novelties of clutch, gearbox, throttle and brake, Zef decided he couldn’t cope with it at all and stuck to the horse!”
The Land Rover was quickly doing sterling duty on the farm and for the first year or so it was used as a tractor. This was, of course, how Rover itself had been promoting its new vehicle: as well as a towing and delivery wagon it was also a mobile power plant for a wide range of machinery, and a four-wheel drive tractor. And, believe it or not, it was also advertised as “a fast and economical” vehicle on the road. “It was never economical,” Huub laughs. “The Land Rover would use a lot of petrol in a single day of ploughing. We’d start the day with a full tank plus at least one 20-litre can, and it would all be gone by the end of the day! My uncles also used it to haul loaded trailers full of sugar beet or potatoes from the fields, often pulling up to four tonnes.”
Eventually, one of the brothers obtained his driving licence and the Land Rover was registered for the road. It became a maid-of-all-work for the whole village and was regularly called upon to recover stranded cars and lorries, especially during the winter months. It was, after all, the only
Land Rover for miles around: it would be another year or so before neighbouring farmers saw the wisdom of Land Rover ownership.
“I was 12 or 13-years old when my uncles bought the Series I,” Huub remembers. “But almost immediately I was allowed to drive it around the farm in low-box. I suppose that was when the seeds were sown for what became a lifelong interest and obsession for my wife Fieny and I, and it is wonderful that our three sons, René, Eric and Rolf, share that passion, too.”
Huub had always told his uncles that if they ever decided to sell the car then he would like the chance to buy it, but they always replied that it was too useful and would never be sold. Then one day in 1971, without Huub’s knowledge, the Land Rover was sold and disappeared off to Spain and Italy on extended holiday trips with its new owners. It changed hands again before Huub at last had the chance to buy it, but by then it was in a very sorry state and the asking price was five times what his uncles had sold it for just a few years earlier. Huub declined, and the vehicle was bought by a garage and fitted with a recovery crane in the back.
So it was not until 1976 that Huub was able to buy his first Land Rover. “I’d heard that one was for sale that had been laid up in a barn for many years as a result of engine damage, and went to see it. It probably wouldn’t have mattered what state it was in because when I saw that it was a 1952 80-inch I knew I had to buy it,” says Huub. And the 80 became the first of what would be many Land Rover Series I purchases, rebuilds and restorations over the following years.
Although parts were very hard to come by in the Netherlands in those days, the engine was rebuilt and the 80inch treated to a very non-original coat of Rover P6 yellow paint to match the colour of the locally-made canvas tilt: the family’s interest in correctness and authenticity would only comelater, astheirknowledge, expertiseandconnoisseurship grew. When the 80 was finished it became their second car and was used for trips out on high days and holidays, for towing vehicles to the garage where Huub worked as a motor mechanic, and to help his brother Frans, who was a blacksmith. The family blacksmith business goes back several generations and the family still owns it today, firingup the furnace occasionally, but this time it’s to re-temper Land Rover springs rather than make horse shoes, and the rest of the building has been converted into an exceptionally well-equipped Land Rover workshop.
It was a chance encounter with a customer who came into the smithy one day that undoubtedly nurtured Huub’s growing interest in correctness, because it turned out that the customer had made the tilt for the 80-inch and was able to share with Huub the vehicle’s entire history.
“It was sold new by Parkgarage Maastricht in 1952,” recalls Huub, “the very year that my uncles bought their Land Rover from the same dealer. It was used as a hunting vehicle in Luxembourg and got its first rebuild in the 1960s. In fact, the first owner later came to own the local Land Rover dealership. The 80 was sold in the mid-1960s to a horse trainer who looked after the Dutch Royal Family’s horses. He once drove it to Munich and back in a day, towing a horsebox! He replaced the Series I with a Series IIA in the early 1970s, and the 80’s next owner was a builder who used the Series I to access remote building sites in the hills and forests of the Ardennes, where he was building new holiday homes. He was the man who eventually put the car in the barn when the engine gave up the ghost.”
Perhaps most importantly, though, the discussion about the vehicle’s history eventually allowed Huub to recover the original registration number, which is just as important to
Dutch enthusiasts as it is to those in the UK. This first 80inch is still in the family collection today.
In 1983 a second Series I was acquired, and like the first it was a 1952 80-inch. This time, the rebuild focussed on restoring the vehicle to factory specification. René, Eric and Rolf were now old enough to muck-in, dealing with the various smaller jobs under their father’s supervision, and Huub had made new connections and contacts in the Netherlands as well as the UK, Belgium and Germany, which meant that sourcing parts became much easier. The result of the second restoration was very pleasing, and led to a decision to rebuild the first vehicle so that it, too, would be to factory specification, and this was completed between 1985 and 1987.
“With each restoration our knowledge grew,” says René, “and we tried to do a better job each time. We had discovered the wonderful network of Land Rover enthusiasts and restorers in the UK and other countries, and these, together with the many specialist parts suppliers that we found, proved to be invaluable. We made many lifelong friends.”
The next Series I to arrive in the growing Houben collection was a Minerva. These were locally-built in Belgium to fulfil a military contract there, and were based on CKD (Completely Knocked Down) kits shipped from the Land Rover factory to Minerva’s plant, where they were assembled and given steel bodies with distinctive sloping front wings, a unique grille and a rear fixed panel rather than a tailgate.
One day in 1989 Fieny, Huub’s wife, answered the door at the family home to find a friend on the doorstep and an 80inch on a trailer behind him. The vehicle was known to the Houbens, having been owned for the previous ten years by the local Land Rover main dealer. It was now going to be disposed of, and the obvious home for it was the Houben’s growing collection. Fieny said she would get Huub to call her visitor regarding the car, but when Huub returned home the 1950 Series I had been left on the drive anyway! It was in totally original condition, and was happily added to the fleet.
A year later, the Houbens found a 1949 Series I for sale in Belgium, which had spent its recent life as a towing vehicle for a coach company, bringing stranded vehicles back to their workshops for attention. “It turned out to be only the fourth Land Rover imported into Belgium, and had been muchmodified by the coach company,” says Eric. “Nevertheless, a 1949 was too good to miss so it was duly taken back to the Netherlands and we restored it to original specification, although it was a big job!”
This was the first vehicle the Houbens took to a Land Rover event in the UK, when they attended the National Rally at Eastnor in 1993. In fact, this was the first time they had been to the UK, and the first of many subsequent Land Rover-oriented visits which continue to this day.
Like many fans of the Series I, the Houbens were keen to add a very early vehicle to their collection, ideally a 1948 model or perhaps the Holy Grail – a pre-production vehicle from among the 48 that were authorised to be built by the Rover board in September 1947. In the mid-1990s, both wishes would come true.
Firstly, at the end of 1994 an early production vehicle was advertised for sale in the Land Rover Series One Club’s newsletter, and enquiries revealed it to be chassis number R860333. It had been dismantled by its owner in Surrey with a view to a restoration, which was never started. “We telephoned immediately we saw the advertisement,” says Rolf. “But someone else already had first refusal on it. After a nail-biting weekend of waiting, we were told it was ours if we wanted it. We did, and left with a van and trailer to collect it. The owner, Brian Alder, became a very good friend.” What followed was their toughest restoration to date, requiring the fabrication of a completely new bulkhead from sheet metal and a great deal of other work.
A year later they were tipped-off by a friend in the UK that the Holy Grail might be available. This was pre-production
“With each restoration our knowledge grew and we tried to do a better job each time”
Land Rover R32, a vehicle they knew of and had seen at that year’s Billing Show. It was in excellent condition, and they bit the bullet and bought it. Meanwhile, the chassis-up rebuild of R860333 was continuing, and was finally completed in 1998, two months before the Land Rover 50th Anniversary celebration run to Samedan in Switzerland. “We drove both the newly-completed 1948 and pre-pro R32 all the way to Switzerland and back, a total distance of 2850 kilometres, and both vehicles performed faultlessly,” says Huub, with justifiable pride.
You might reasonably have assumed that the acquisition of a pre-pro might have been the icing and the cherry on the cake of their collecting habit, but in no time at all another extremely rare Series I would join their stable. This was a 1952 80-inch welder, which the UK owner delivered to them in Rotterdam. With a sound chassis and body and fullyworking welding equipment, all it needed was a repaint. The family have since maintained it as a working welder, and rather charmingly it has been sign written with the logo of their grandfather’s old blacksmith business.
In 1996 a Tickford Station Wagon came to the family’s attention and this was also too interesting to ignore, despite the fact that it was located in Poland! Eventually a selection of photographs of the car arrived courtesy of the seller, but first impressions were not encouraging. The vehicle seemed to require so much work that even the Houbens were having second thoughts. They shared the photographs with one or two other well-known restorers in the UK and were encouraged to take on the job, given the impressive results they had achieved on the other vehicles in their collection. Lengthy negotiations with the vendor ensued before finally the Tickford was delivered to the Polish border for them to collect, and the vehicle finally arrived in the Netherlands in November 1996.
“At the time, we were very busy with several other projects so the Tickford was put to one side, work on it not starting until 1998,” says René. “The restoration was as tough as we expected it to be, and the original engine could not be saved. Luckily, much of the coachbuilt timber body frame was in pretty good condition, but the body panels were dented and cracked and required a vast amount of work to repair and straighten. In fact, several body repair specialists who initially agreed to take on the work eventually declined, once they had seen what was required.
“In the end, it was one of our neighbours who runs a car repair and bodywork shop who agreed to take it on, with the involvement of all of us. All the glass needed to be specially made and hardened, the original panes having been badly damaged when the car had been sandblasted at some point in its past.
“Many small components unique to the Tickford were missing,” says Eric, “but other Tickford owners and restorers in the UK including Philip Bashall, Andrew Bullas, John Taylor and Ken Wheelwright very generously loaned original parts to us so that we could arrange for copies to be fabricated. The Tickford was finally completed late in 1999 and we visited the Land Rover show at Ross-on-wye in the UK with it the following May.”
By now, the Houbens had a well-earned reputation for superb restorations to exacting standards, and since then many more vehicles have been acquired, some of them saved from the brink of extinction. Fascinating tales abound, such as the chance find in Switzerland when the family were looking for something else and stumbled upon RHD Series I number 155 in bits in the back of a garage. Several vehicles have also been found in Germany, including a very early and very rare pre-1500 1948 left-hand drive vehicle.
Then there’s the ebay find of another Series I whose owner had already sold it for scrap, together with other junk in his shed. “The scrap man took everything else but didn’t have room for the Land Rover, and he was supposed to come back the following day,” recalls Rolf. “In the meantime, the owner’s neighbour called by and offered to buy the Land Rover for 50 Swiss Francs. This made the owner wonder whether his neighbour knew something he didn’t, so the owner decided to put it on ebay to see if it was worth anything. We won the bidding. He was amazed when he discovered we had come all the way from the Netherlands for it. We had to shovel a metre of snow off it before we could load it up. When we got home we changed the battery and put in fresh fuel, and it fired-up instantly after 20 years in a shed in Switzerland!”
Another wonderful vehicle among the many in the collection is an example of the Tempo. “These fascinating vehicles were built in Germany on rolling chassis delivered from Solihull to fulfil an order for patrol vehicles for the Bundesgrenzschutz , or West German border police,” says Rolf. “In the immediate post-war years Germany was banned from constructing military vehicles, so they had to look elsewhere for a suitable vehicle. Rolling chassis were ordered from Solihull and bodies were constructed by the Hamburg firm of Herbert Vidal to suit the needs of the BGS, but using steel rather than aluminium.”
“We generally work most Saturdays and two or three evenings a week. We could easily spend all our time here. ”
René points out the host of locally-designed modifications to suit the force’s requirements, including the high waistline and doors, the lockers in the front wings, and the twin fuel tanks in the rear. “They are impressive and refined-looking vehicles,” he says. “We even managed to find our Tempo’s original border police registration number and it’s fitted under the Dutch civilian number plate, but so far we haven’t found out much about its history.
“We’ve spent a lot of time tracking down the very rare bits of special equipment they carried,” continues Eric, “including the correct radio and the antenna which was mounted on a hand-cranked telescopic mast on the rear of the vehicle. We’ve also found the correct wing-mounted blue light and the megaphone, as well as lots of other kit.”
But we are surrounded by a host of fascinating vehicles, each with a story to tell, some looking mint and immaculate and others wearing the patina of age with pride. In recent years the collection has expanded beyond Series I vehicles and includes a wonderfully-original example of the Series II (only 53,000km from new) and a beautiful Series III (new in 1980, its first owner put just 15,000km under its wheels before it was laid-up in his barn). “We came across them by accident, really,” says Rolf. “They were too good to miss and we couldn’t say no!”
And just to show that the family’s enthusiasm for Land Rovers extends beyond the Series vehicles, there’s also an early two-door Range Rover and a Discovery 1, and a pristine example of the Heritage Limited Edition that was introduced in the final months of Defender production. Inspired by the early Series I vehicles, its familiar shape and pale green paint ticked all the boxes and it was bought from a dealer in France and eagerly added to the collection.
There are also two examples of the Defender 50th Anniversary model. “One is totally unique because it was fitted with a Td5 engine from new,” says René. “The customer who bought it new from the main dealer wanted a 110 with a V8 and automatic transmission, so the dealer took these out of the new 50th Anniversary and replaced the engine with a brand-new Td5. We later saw it for sale and bought it.” And as you would expect, the family’s daily drivers are all Land Rovers and a 1987 90 sits alongside more modern Defenders.
We are intrigued to know how much time the family spends on caring for and restoring the vehicles in their collection. “We generally spend most Saturday’s and two or three evenings a week,” agree the brothers. “But we could easily spend all our time here.”
Like all of us, they are intrigued by the imminent new Defender and hope it will be a vehicle that meets the same needs that were met by the Series I back in the day.
“The first Land Rovers were simple to use and to fix and drove anywhere, so they were immediately popular among farmers, hunters and people that needed a simple, goanywhere vehicle,” says Huub. “There’s still such a market today for a small, basic 4x4 but since the end of Defender there isn’t a Land Rover that meets this need, so people buy other marques. I really hope that the new Defender meets this need.”
Philip Bashall of the Dunsfold Collection is a wellregarded restorer and expert on the marque in his own right, and first met the Houben family over 20 years ago. “The quality of their workmanship and attention to detail is excellent and they put huge effort into achieving factory authenticity in their restorations,” he says. “They have been regular visitors to our Collection Open Weekends and Shows for many years now, and always bring something interesting from their own collection. They are also very modest about their achievements – and they’re the nicest family you could ever wish to meet!”
Following Brian Bashall’s death in November 2016, Philip and his brother Chris wanted to create something that would commemorate their father’s pioneering efforts in the world of Land Rover preservation and conservation, and the Brian Bashall Memorial Award was established soon afterwards.
“We intend to award it annually to individuals, groups, companies or clubs that have made significant contributions to the preservation of Land Rover history and heritage,” says Philip. “Chris and I decided that the inaugural award in 2017 would be made to the Houben family. They are respected throughout the world for their restoration work and without their foresight and efforts over the last 40 years many rare Land Rover vehicles probably wouldn’t have survived. What they have done and continue to do is precisely in keeping with Brian’s vision and ambition when he founded the Dunsfold Collection in 1968.”
Today, there are well over 30 Land Rovers in the Houben collection. And the most important one? They all agree that it’s the 1952 80-inch that started Huub’s passion . After Huub decided not to buy it in the 1970s, the vehicle disappeared off the radar until, in 1985, it was bought and very sympathetically restored by an enthusiast in the Netherlands, retaining its original chassis, engine, gearbox, wheel rims and most of its rather dented bodywork. Huub became aware of it and the new owner, Popko Biel, became a good friend. In 2008, at the Land Rover 60th Anniversary celebrations at Epen, Popko offered the Series I to Huub, and the circle was completed.
“I was delighted that I finally owned the Land Rover that I had driven as a boy, the one that started what has been a lifelong interest in Land Rovers and given the whole family a great deal of pleasure,” says Huub. “And when we dismantled the engine to rebuild it in 2009,” continues René, “we found the word Houben painted inside, from when our father sent it away for reconditioning in 1959!”
“Without their foresight over the last 40 years many rare Land Rovers wouldn’t have survived”