OVERDRIVE

Other interesting cars we’ve been driving

Old Land Rover, youngtimer Audi TT, and brand-new Jaguar F-type driven

NO, IT’S NOT MINE. And no, I’m not about to buy it. This delightfully ‘patinated’ Landy belongs to Octane contributor Simon De Burton (pictured right), and lives with him and his family in deepest Devon. It is the archetypal workhorse Land Rover, scruffy but much loved, and during a recent visit to Simon’s place he suggested we go out and have a play with it.

It’s probably kindest to say that this 88in SWB Series IIA has evolved since it left Solihull in 1964. There’s a 1.9-litre Peugeot diesel under the bonnet, from a deceased Leyland-DAF (Sherpastyle) van, and a replacement halfchassis was fitted 15 years ago. The latter is painted in gold Smoothrite, I suspect because Simon happened to have a tin on the shelf in his tractor shed, although he claims it’s because it shows up incipient rust better than black.

The bulkhead has been replaced, the brakes overhauled, both doors changed… Simon assures me that, despite appearances, the Landy is very well looked after. ‘It will always start, no matter how long I leave it, although I do tend to use Easy Start to get it going because the fuel pump leaks down when it’s not run for a while.’

His Landy actually drives very well, it has to be said. Overdrive gives a heady cruising speed of, ooh, 50mph, while a new Series III steering box means that you can obey with confidence the unwritten country-dweller law of never slowing down for oncoming traffic in a narrow lane – only grockles do that. ‘I’ve driven to London a few times,’ shouts Simon above the combined whine of overdrive and all-terrain tyres, ‘if not very comfortably.’

We take the scenic way back via Trendlebere Down, which was once the main route to Simon’s remote but impossibly picturesque village. Parts of the track get rocky, and Simon recalls once holing the sump here on a Hyundai Santa Fe press demonstrator, but the Landy never falters. It’s been lifted a couple of inches, which helps, although it rides on standard leaf springs. No coils or fancy parabolics on this baby.

The Series II earns its keep by hauling logs for the woodburner and towing Simon’s 18ft clinkerbuilt Orkney boat. Should the nuclear apocalypse ever hit, I suspect the two things you could rely on to survive would be cockroaches and Simon’s Series II.