LRM Classics
Vehicles, people and stories...
WELCOME to LRM Classics. This month we spend a day with Rick Watts, a builder from Hampshire, and hear how his enthusiasm for the marque has evolved over the past year or two. Rick was a passionate off-roader for a long time but his Land Rover habit has changed of late as he has become inspired by originality, provenance, preservation and investment. Rick has decided to curate a small, private collection of interesting vehicles that reflect his particular interests. It really is a case of A Collector is Born, and we at LRM cannot fault his initial acquisitions. We look forward to checking in with him again in future, to see what else has tickled his fancy!
Our second article this month comes from Nick Dimbleby and is accompanied by his usual stunning photographs. Regular readers will remember that a while back Nick was privileged to visit one of America’s premier Land Rover collectors and restorers, self-confessed Series Land Rover addict Ike Goss of Pangolin 4x4 in Springfield, Oregon, and had the opportunity to photograph several of Ike’s exceptional vehicles.
This month’s story concentrates on The Duke, a 107-inch with a fascinating history that also happens to be the last long-wheelbase Series I to come off the Solihull production line, back in 1958. It is a remarkably original survivor that crossed the pond in the mid-1990s to join an American enthusiast’s stable. After he passed away it was acquired by
Ike and is now a centrepiece in his amazing collection.