Landy-love island
Guernsey Land Rover Club gathers together for the LRM cameras (just before lockdown)
Guernsey’s brilliant Land Rover scene
WHEN LRM’S clubs editor, Dave Barker, suggested featuring Guernsey Land Rover Club as Club of the Month, members were eager to promote its activities to enthusiasts on the island and further afield. After all, it was a rare opportunity to see many familiar faces again. Guernsey being a relatively small island of 25 square miles, it was no easy task for the club to organise a 40-plus Land Rover convoy without causing mayhem, but soon afterwards on a Sunday morning they were meeting up on the slipway of the historic Fort Grey, on the island’s south coast. A wide and varied range of Land Rovers had gathered, including standard Defender 90 and 110s, Discoverys of all models and ages and even a Disco 1 pick-up. Range Rovers Classic two- and four-doors featured, as did a P38A and Range Rover Sports, while Series II and III (including a Lightweight) models were represented, too. This selection was a good representation of the Land Rovers to be found on Guernsey.
From the Fort, the convoy drove two miles to the Pleinmont headland, along one of the few greenlanes on the island before a photo stop at the infamous WW2 German naval observation tower. The convoy then headed for the club’s private off-road course, where members were keen to get muddy on the club’s first social off-road meeting of 2021, and photographer Ollie Stenning was on hand to capture the action.
OWNER Arnaud Lemoigne: I have a passion for Land Rovers and a real love affair for the P38A Range Rover. I have owned countless models over the past 18 years, from basic SE, Autobiography, ex-metropolitan Police, manual V8 to Vogue spec – and all V8s, of course!
I acquired Frank back in June 2019, when it was advertised for spares or repair due to a head gasket failure. I decided to keep it on the road and the owner kindly gave me his pride and joy, which I still owe him a case of fine wine for.
A top-end engine rebuild was achieved on my driveway with the help of a close friend. I then decided to make it my ideal off-roader/overland vehicle. After carrying out extensive research on websites and forums, I soon realised this was going to be a challenging experience.
I started the modifications with a plus 2 inch shocks and springs kit, plus 2 inch Defender blocks and 265/75/16 tyres fitted to 8x16 ET32 offset steel wheels, in extended wheel arches. Extended panhard rods and bump stops were fitted as well (both custom made).
I then found a Polish company (MP Off-road Service) who manufacture beautifully-designed P38A HD protection. They also supplied me with a front winch bumper, rear bumper and wheel carrier, tree sliders, fuel tank guard, shackles, and so on.
I felt the front end was looking bare, so I asked a close friend to custom build a bull bar, and also opted for a satin black vinyl wrap to the inner part of the bonnet. It now looks awesome!
In February 2020 I experienced a ten-day trip across the Yorkshire Moors, Dales and Lake District. Next trip on the agenda is driving across the Pyrenees (2022), but sadly due to Covid-19 we are yet to make concrete plans.
I hope this inspires other P38A owners with ambition to pursue their dream overland build. Frank is nowhere near perfect and is forever an ongoing project!