How I fell in love with Ken’s Landy
Owner Ben Wooldridge tells of his 15-year search for a very special Series III…
AS a child growing up, I have fond memories of a family friend, Ken, driving his beautifully-kept Series III, which was the genesis of my love of Land Rovers. Some years later he offered to sell me the SIII, knowing my attachment to it.
I was just 17 and still learning to drive and unfortunately at that point in my life, it was not to be and I turned down the chance – something I always regretted.
In 2005, we were fortunate to be able to use Ken’s Landy as my wedding car. It had been polished specially for our big day and looked fantastic. However, shortly afterwards he sold it on.
Over the years I always wondered what became of this particular Series III, which soon turned into an obsession, with years of searching sale ads and the DVLA website. Then, after 15 years, in February 2020 I discovered a recent advert from a Land Rover specialist in North Yorkshire who had recently sold the Series to a lovely chap called Rick. Following many conversations with the owner and some lengthy negotiations, I somehow convinced Rick to sell Ken’s Landy to me.
After waiting several months due to the lockdown and Covid-19 restrictions, I finally had the Land Rover shipped over to Guernsey. I was like a small child at Christmas when it arrived, certainly a special moment to be reacquainted with Ken’s Landy and it still looked just as immaculate as I fondly remembered it. It is standard and original and my future plans for it are to treasure it and hopefully use it to teach my daughters to drive and – who knows – one day even use it as their wedding car, too.