Why I Love Lucy
Robin Cunningham has created his ideal Land Rover for life. Meet Lucy, his Series III Lightweight
One man’s love affair with a Lightweight
EVERYONE loves a Lightweight but none more so than 72-year-old Robin Cunningham from the walled city of Derry in Northern Ireland. He has owned Lucy, his 1983 Series III Lightweight, for eight years now and five of those have been spent turning Lucy into his dream car: a more userfriendly Lightweight.
Robin had his first Land Rover experience when driving trucks in Australia as a 23-year-old. Back then he bought an early Series II before joining the New South Wales Land Rover Club. Once back in the UK Robin went Land Roverless for several decades as family and work demands took their toll.
Eventually wife Christine relented and allowed Robin to again pursue his Land Rover dream. He soon acquired an early Discovery 1 300Tdi as the family runaround.
“It had some parts from a 200Tdi,” he recalls. “Eventually it was changed for a Discovery 2, which Christine just loved. She cried when we traded it in for a Range Rover L322 4.4 V8 diesel. I loved it but Christine hated the auto box and so after four months it went and was replaced by a Freelander 2. Christine was happy again and still drives it today.”
As we walk out of Robin’s bungalow in Derry towards Lucy, who is parked on the street, I cannot help but notice his rather tidy garage with a Triumph GT6 standing proudly in it. We quickly pop in. “I’ve spent the last three years refurbishing it,” explains Robin. “Sports cars are my hobby and this was a large project for me.”
I notice a ticket from the Billing Show from the 1990s stuck on the wall. Alongside it is a faded old picture of a Series III Military Lightweight taken by Nick Dimbleby. It seems as if Robin was always destined to own one. We make our way to his Lightweight. It’s anything but original but Robin has created something practical to drive that he absolutely dotes over. Is that not what Land Rover ownership is all about?
Prior to my visit Robin had mailed me a five-page list of all the jobs he has done to Lucy over the years. Like me he is obviously very good at doing deals or hiding receipts. Robin has a great afternoon planned for our photoshoot. The sun is out and we cross the border into Donegal for a circumnavigation of the popular and pretty Inishowen Peninsula.
“From the moment I became aware of the Military Lightweight I wanted one,” says Robin. “To me they are the prettiest Land Rovers ever made. My wife’s Freelander 2 is a boring car in comparison. I prefer the classics and enjoy driving the Lightweight. Old vehicles are like a disease without a cure.”
We are travelling along one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the world, which forms a part of the popular Wild Atlantic Way tourist route. I ask Robin to tell me the story of Lucy the Lightweight from the beginning . . .
Robin purchased the Lightweight from someone on the Land Rover Addict website, eight years ago. Lucy had spent the first 13 years of her life serving in 40 Commando of the Royal Marines before being demobbed. According to Robin her first civilian owner looked after her really well and had her undersealed. When Robin purchased Lucy she had very
little rust. “The bulkhead is original as is most of the chassis,” he says.
“I have to make it clear that I have absolutely no interest in originality. I like to develop the vehicle as I go along,” explains Robin as we stop on a deserted white beach.
Lucy was originally Olive Green but Robin painted her in a desert camo colour as you don’t want to be running around the streets of Derry in a military colour, for well-documented political reasons.
Even though he tinkers on his beloved sports cars Robin admits he is not a mechanic and so he has used Rory Carson for some of the bigger jobs on his Lightweight, including a 200Tdi engine conversion. “The original 2.25 petrol engine was doing 12 miles to the gallon and I could not afford to run it,” he says. “I enquired all over the place for an ex-discovery 200Tdi and eventually found one just down the road. I paid £700 for it. Rory and I did not only use the engine. We also transplanted the wiring loom and diffs. This helped up the gearing by a third, though the speedo reads a third less than it should.”
The new engine was a revelation. Suddenly Lucy had all this extra power and could now easily pull Robin’s boat or caravan. He now calls Lucy his “Lightweight for life”. However, he is quick to admit that if he ever did sell it for something more comfortable it would be for a Range Rover Classic 300Tdi auto.
As we continue our journey along the peninsula, Robin and I discuss some of the major jobs he has undertaken on Lucy over the years. When he purchased Lucy she had no MOT and had been living on an estate in Scotland for several years. “My first task was to make it safe and get it through an MOT. My to-do list grew very quickly.”
Robin had to make it more usable on long journeys. So a new set of tyres were fitted and then all the military
equipment removed. A new Weber carburettor helped to further improve fuel consumption.as already mentioned, a new 200Tdi engine and paint job were a priority and quickly done. Now that it was going faster and further Robin installed disc brakes all round to improve stopping power.
These vehicles can be noisy and to prevent deafness on long journeys Robin undertook an extensive soundproofing exercise. This included under the bonnet, in the engine bay and in the cab area. The latter was treated to black leather trim. In fact, the whole of the interior was stripped out and Robin began from scratch.
The dashboard has been customised for his non-military needs and the dark brown mohair hood gives it a stylish finish. “I can now throw my muddy spaniel in the back and not have to worry about a thing. I enjoy my wildlife photography and Lucy gets me to ideal places to do just that,” says Robin. Lucy is only used locally and Robin does about 10,000 miles a year in her.
We leave the coast and start to climb up the Gap of Mamore, a steep winding pass in the Urris hills. I ask Robin if Lucy might’ve been used by British forces during Northern Ireland’s Troubles?
“Maybe during the early years, but she is not bulletproof and would’ve been quickly pulled from service,” says Robin. “Someone recently told me that the people living on the Bogside referred to the Lightweights as ratjeeps. I never knew that.”
“The one thing I do remember from those days is how every Tuesday night when the music TV programme The Old Grey Whistle Test would come on the BBC, the IRA would decide that now was a good time to start a gun battle. I love my rock music so this obviously upset me.”
We stop near the top of the pass and I take a walk around Lucy while Robin lights up. I notice that the military sidelights have been removed and replaced with NAS Defender lights. Gone too is the NATO tow hook. It has been replaced with a standard one. The rear bumper looks newish. I take a look underneath. The chassis and underbody have been painted with black coach paint. It also has a custommade stainless steel exhaust.
In fact, the closer I look the more I notice that Robin has just about tinkered with everything in his quest to create his dream Lightweight. The sidelights have had an LED conversion while the headlights have been replaced with a Halogen system for better light quality when driving at night. Robin has opted for Wolf wheels with 205/80/16 tyres. The wheel arches were extended to house the wheels and tyres.
To ensure that he can go anywhere in Lucy, Robin has fitted a steering guard and several recovery points on the chassis and spring mounts. To complete the aggressive off-road look he modified a Defender front bumper and installed that.
I like the door tops from Rocky Mountain Spares that he has fitted with the door bottoms from SP Land Rover. They just look the business especially when you have to manually slide your windows open to take in some fresh air. To help with getting in and out of Lucy he had some customised heavy-duty side steps made.
Most of these big jobs were done years ago but Robin continues to make modifications and improvements to his rolling project.
“It might not be as comfortable as a Defender but it does all that you ask of it. It’s so practical. You can drive it up that mountain if you want to. I spend every evening of my life in the shed, tinkering on my cars. I don’t watch TV, my cars are my TV.”
It’s time to head back to Derry. Lucy starts up first time. Like most of the Irish, Robin has one helluva sense of humour. Some might argue that you need one if your daily driver is a Series III Lightweight.
I like Robin and Lucy. They make a good couple. I have the utmost respect for him. He had a Land Rover dream. That faded picture on his shed wall tells me that it was to own a Series III Lightweight. Now thanks to Lucy the Lightweight, Robin is living that dream. Good for him.