When Tom met Gerry
NOBODY in the factory paid any attention to the dapper little man in a suit wandering along the old Defender production line. There were always men in suits to be seen in the Rover factory in Lode Lane, Solihull, so no one noticed his glum expression. They didn’t even see him slip through a side door into a disused old building next door.
Gerry closed the door quietly and waited for his eyes to become accustomed to the gloom of the cavernous space, which was lit only by dirt-encrusted skylights in the roof. Cobwebs hung heavy with decades of dust, which also covered the assorted piles of rusty lumps of metal and faded fabric. To the untrained eye, it was no more than a heap of scrap, but to the man in the Savile Row suit it was exactly what he was looking for: inspiration.
Head of design at Jaguar Land Rover sounds like the dream job for any car enthusiast, but Gerry knew only too well that it could be a lonely place when you run out of ideas. That’s why he was exploring the birthplace of the first Land Rover, rummaging through the remains of decades-worth of aborted projects. Absentmindedly, he picked up a lump of grimy, tarnished bronze. Turning it over in his hands, he switched on the light on his iphone. There appeared to be some engraved letters, so he began rubbing them with his handkerchief.
It was actually the discarded steering box from a 1947 experiment to build a 4x4 with its steering wheel in the middle, but Gerry never got to know that, because there was a sudden blinding flash of light and he was thrown through the air, hitting his head against a steel chassis rail, which knocked him out cold. A minute or two later he came round – he could see there were the same dirt-encrusted skylights in the ceiling, but at floor level it was a very different place.
The building was now a hive of activity, with men hammering and banging bits of metal and shouting to make themselves heard above the din. All wore brown overalls, as well as collars and ties. Most had cigarettes hanging from their lips. Having assured himself it wasn’t a dream, and checking there weren’t any bones broken, Gerry got to his feet, dusted down his suit and headed for a man who appeared to be in charge of the rest.
Gerry was wondering how to introduce himself, but the man in charge spotted him first and beckoned him over. “You must be the new apprentice,” he said. “They said you were starting today. My name’s Tom Barton, but you may call me Mr Barton. You look a bit small for your age, and I’m not sure if we’ve got overalls to fit you, but I’m sure you’ll soon grow into them.”
Tom Barton? The name seemed familiar to Gerry. Perhaps he’d met him last week at a party? It was time he introduced himself.
“Pleased to meet you, Mr Barton. My name’s Gerry and I’m a designer,” he said. “A designer, eh? What do you design?” “Cars, Mr Barton.”
Tom smiled and shook his head indulgently. “We don’t design cars, lad,” he corrected him. “We engineer them. You’re an apprentice engineer now and you can start by brewing us all a cup of tea. You’ll find the kettle over there on that table by the notice board…”
Still dazed from his fall, Gerry didn’t argue, but did as he was told. While waiting for the elderly electric kettle to boil, he glanced at the notice board and his eyes alighted on the calendar that hung there. It was a 1947 calendar. Slowly it dawned on him: he had somehow travelled back in time and was now in the Rover factory just as the original Land Rover was being developed.
Of course, that’s how he’d heard the name Tom Barton before! Barton was one of the five group leaders hand-picked by Rover’s Maurice Wilks to create Rover’s answer to the American Jeep. And now he was going to work for him. What an opportunity! Here was his chance to help shape automotive history. He had finally found his destiny!
Gerry pinched himself hard, just to double-check that he wasn’t dreaming. Nope, it was still 1947 – nine years before he was born, to be precise. But he knew that he couldn’t just blurt out the truth to Tom Barton. That man didn’t believe in designers, so he certainly wasn’t going to listen to far-fetched tales of time travel. Gerry knew he was going to have to plan his next moves very carefully indeed...
Is it back to the future for our Gerry? Will he get his way and influence the future Land Rover? And can he persuade Tom Barton to become a convert to luxury 4x4s? You’ll find out in next month’s thrilling instalment…
“He couldn’t blurt out the truth to Tom Barton. That man didn’t believe in designers, so he wasn’t going to listen to tales of time travel. He’d have to plan his next moves carefully...”