Manila essence

IT’S always good to read about Land Rover enthusiasts in all parts of the world- like the Land Rover Club of the Philippines, which you featured in the June issue of LRM and which has 800 members. I’ll bet there are one or two British-based clubs that would welcome that sort of enthusiastic membership.

On my travels around the world, I have found that the more remote the country, the more enthusiastic its Land Rover fans are. Perhaps that’s because the folk concerned don’t have it so easy as their cousins in the UK, who I suspect take it for granted that it is easy to get cheap spares, etc.

Here in South America, there are plenty of old

Series Land Rovers in rural areas which have survived because they don’t rust in this climate. But parts are very hard to come by (as enthusiasts like me know only too well) so most enterprising owners cobble together all sorts of bodges to keep them going. Engine and mechanical conversions here involve parts from just about every automotive manufacturer in the world.

Me? Luckily my 1969 petrol Series IIA isn’t my everyday car, so when it does go wrong I have the luxury of being able to rest it until the parts I have ordered turn up. It may come as a surprise to you in the UK to hear that the same aftermarket companies that sell cheap parts to you do the same for me… but it takes a bit longer for them to arrive!

I’ve often heard it said that 75 per cent of Land Rovers ever built are still on the road, but I wonder how many of them are only still alive because of companies like Britpart, Bearmach and Rimmers making their upkeep realistically affordable? Just a thought.

Either way, all around this wonderful planet we Land Rover owners have a great love in common: our enthusiasm for the best vehicles in the world. So I raise a toast to the Land Rover owners of the Philippines (and elsewhere)! Salute! Martin Diaz, Chile