Gary Pusey
“It was very special to be in the city where the Land Rover was launched to the world 70 years ago”
It’s certainly been a busy few months for the Toad! Until this summer, its longest journey since I acquired it a few years ago was from Hampshire to Bicester and back, so the decision to drive it to Amsterdam to join the Land Rover Series One Club’s pilgrimage to celebrate the 70th anniversary felt like a pretty big deal – made even bigger by adding a drive from Amsterdam down to Maastricht afterwards. The thought crossed my mind that in fact this might be the Toad’s longest journey ever…
Full service and check-over done, I worked my way through an extensive list of spares to take with me and these joined the litre of coolant and the litre of oil in the back, plus my standard touring tool bag. I also made sure my continental breakdown and recovery insurance was bang up to date, although I was desperately keen not to have to use it. For reasons I couldn’t avoid I had to leave home for Harwich on a Friday, which meant the horrors of the pre-bank Holiday weekend M25 were unavoidable. I gave the Toad and I plenty of time and left home in the early afternoon, but the 145-mile journey still took over six and a half hours. Luckily for LRM Editor Patrick he missed this part of the journey, having wisely decided to meet me at the ferry terminal.
It was a baking-hot day and in the stationary motorway traffic fuel vapourisation was a problem with the tell-tale rattle from the fuel pump, and at one point I found myself on the hard shoulder for ten minutes until normal service was resumed. Harwich was eventually reached in good time for the overnight sailing. I felt I’d earned that first pint and a decent dinner!
From then on the drive was a delight, as was the weekend in Amsterdam which was masterfully arranged by the club’s Andrew Cross. It was very special to be in the city where the Land Rover was launched to the world exactly 70 years ago, and it’s always a wonderful thing to be among fellow enthusiasts.
The Sunday afternoon drive south to Maastricht was to allow us to spend the following morning with the Houben family to chat with them about their lifelong interest in Land Rovers and to make the most of the opportunity to inspect their collection of over 30 very special Land Rovers, in preparation for one of our Land Rover Legends features. What a delightful bunch they are! Enthusiasts to the core with an enviable collection of vehicles. I had wondered whether they might be a bit dismissive of the Toad, given their incredible focus on factory-correct restorations, but they were as interested and fascinated by the supercharger and the Toad’s many other delightful little details as they would have been had I rolled-up in a pre-pro!
Other than the initial problem on the M25, the Toad didn’t miss a beat throughout the weekend, despite the soaring temperatures, and we surprised more than a few folk on the main roads with our 70 mph cruising speed. Just half a litre of oil and a couple of coolant top-ups were all that were required on the 805 mile blast, and I have acquired a newly-inspired confidence in the Series I’s appetite for long journeys.
So much so that I gave it another opportunity to warm its tyres when I drove it to World Land Rover Day at JLR’S Classic Works at Ryton, where a great deal of time was spent with the bonnet open, once word got around regarding what was inside the engine bay! I was having such a good time that I set off for home a couple of hours later than I’d planned, and the final hour and a half of the journey was in total darkness. Luckily the previous owner saw fit to install a Marchal spotlight up-front, which happily compensates for the next-to-useless headlamps and could probably pick out a Heinkel at ten thousand feet. I find one of the biggest challenges when I’m driving my old Land Rovers and Range Rovers at night is the overwhelming intensity and brightness of the modern LED headlamps coming towards me, which all but overpower the warm glow from the old Lucas headlamps to the extent that keeping tabs on where the road ends and the verge begins can be quite difficult. Or maybe my eyes are just getting a little dimmer with the passing years… Anyway, Patrick was sufficiently impressed with the Toad during our Amsterdam adventure and he suggested I drive it to the new Land Rover Legends show at Bicester Heritage at the end of May, and park it on LRM’S stand. And that’s where it sat throughout what was a wonderful and very enjoyable weekend, parked alongside fellow contributor Alisdair Cusick’s Series I. It was tremendous to meet so many LRM readers and the two Series Is certainly proved to be a popular attraction.
With just over 2000 miles of trouble-free Series I motoring under my belt this year, and no more lengthy journeys planned, the tilt and the hoops have come off again and I’m looking forward to spending the rest of the summer topless, pottering about locally and visiting several of our local classic car shows and pub meets. The Toad has earned itself a leisurely summer after its earlier exertions, and so have I… ■