Working Vehicles
We covet our Land Rovers today, but they weren’t made to look at, they were designed to work. Alisdair puts both his eet to practical use
I’M not going to talk about this year’s problems, as we all know it hasn’t been a normal one. We’ve all done things we wouldn’t have done if the year had run a regular haphazard course that is everyday life. Instead, with repeated periods of enforced time on our hands, one thing many people did was work on their houses. I’m no different. With two supremely practical vehicles on the fleet – well, you can guess where this is going can’t you?
The first task involved the garden. Our house came with less of a garden, more of a celebration to concrete. If it involved using an aggregate that set over time, our garden had it, used it, or – who knows – attracted the stuff in the night. From my back gate to the back fence, there was around 450 paving slabs. I say was, because not long after we moved in I spent three very physical months with a pick axe and lump hammer, lifting concrete slabs, bashing up, yes, you guessed it, concrete underneath that, and preparing the ground to lay turf. I only stopped because in reaching one area, I realised there was a double layer of concrete underneath the slabs, thick enough I could park my Range Rover on it. ‘‘Oh yes’’, my neighbour, a no-messing, ex-special Boat Squadron Staff Sergeant told me, “they laid it, and I told them it wasn’t near level, so they lifted those slabs, put more concrete down and re-laid them the next day.” I wasn’t joking when I said the place was a festival of aggregate.
Against this background, having previously laid turf on around a third of the garden, I decided to clear another patch of slabs about 20 metres square. Could I get turf? First came no deliveries, then and a three week wait, at least. Summer came and went, and late September, I happened to see the local garden centre just received a delivery of turf. Not wanting the pantomime of waiting for delivery, I knew just the vehicle to collect it, that very day.
Which was how I found myself at the
garden centre, an hour later, loading 20 or so rolls of turf into the back of my Series I. At the till, I had the full spiel: “Would you like it delivered” (no, thank you); ‘‘Would you like a car protector” (I think I’ll be fine, thanks); “Are you sure your vehicle is safe for this load?” (I’m certain). Loading the car, I even had “Aren’t you glad you haven’t got a fancy car” (I refrained from throwing a roll of turf at the lady’s face for that oh-so-witty retort).
A full 63 years after it left Lode Lane, my little Land Rover excelled at doing exactly what it was made to do. I calculated I had about 400 kg of turf in the back, safely within the maximum payload, but quite a weight nonetheless. Steering was a little lighter and the rear tub sat about two inches lower, but back home I was chuffed with nothing but a slight steering weave to contend with. Turf unloaded – and laid – I simply hosed the 88” out. The perfect vehicle for the job.
One thing I must mention was that on the way over, whilst sat in traffic I noticed the occasional wandering, coughing idle had gone. The engine was rock solid, idling beautifully. Those NGK spark plugs seem to have blown all the crud out of the engine and aren’t as keen to foul as the previous Champions. Literally, it is almost like a different car.
My next job, a few months later, was repairing a shed roof. Best option being to recover it in OSB sheet, and re-felt it. Only this shed needed a fair bit of timber, meaning I needed a number of 2.4x1.22m sheets. Yes, deliveries were again disrupted, so I turned to my made-in-solihull options. The snub Series was no use for this, as the rear loadspace wouldn’t have the length. My everyday modern car wasn’t wide enough. That left my Range Rover Classic. Wide enough with room to spare, I’d just need to cut the boards down to stay inside the vehicle. But how to do that? Thankfully, the Range Rover comes with a fitted saw bench, just for the job. You may know it as the rear tailgate, but for ten minutes in late September, mine became an improvised bench, holding the boards whilst I ripped through it with a hand saw.
They may be thought of as a bona-fide Classic cars now, but you have to go a long way to beat the practicality of any Land Rover. But we all know that, don’t we?
Roll on the road trips in 2021, folks.