LARA PLATMAN, NTH COTSWOLDS
@PHOTOFEATURE
OCCUPATION: Photojournalist, author and photo consultant
MY DRIVE: Series IIA, ‘Big Red’
FAVOURITE DESTINATIONS: My local farm shops, the Classic Motor Hub in Bibury, and Caffeine & Machine
DREAM LAND ROVER TRIP: The Scottish Highlands
HERITAGE CARE FOR A HERITAGE VEHICLE: As a photojournalist and motorsports enthusiast, Lara loves to take her Series IIA, Big Red, to weekend events – ‘When they’re happening!’ she laughs. ‘Day to day though, our usual trips are to the local farm shops. It’s great parking her outside, she’s always a conversation starter.’
Having owned Big Red since 2014 and doing a complete restoration, Lara is very focused on everyday enjoyment and proper care. ‘When I got her, she’d been kept under a glass canopy and her paint was all crisped up. The restoration was both structural and cosmetic, and I’ve been caring for and enjoying her in equal measure since. Part of owning a heritage vehicle is keeping it in good nick, and I’ve been discovering some heritage methods for doing this.’
Owners of soft top Land Rovers will know the struggle of keeping a canvas in good condition, especially in a British climate. Lara found that the usual application of dubbin didn’t quite cut it last summer, and she’s looked out some alternatives to ensure a proper waterproofing coat this year.
‘The incredible thing about the Land Rover community is that you can always dig out these treasures,’ Lara explains. She’s found an old Army bulletin recipe for waterproofing the canvas, which she plans to try out this summer. ‘It involves paraffin wax, boiled linseed oil, olive drab paint and gasoline. I’m either going to get a great waterproof coating or blow myself up! I might leave out the gasoline…’
It’s the blend of chemistry and history that appeals to Lara in using these old methods. She cleans the canvas with the ‘Bette’s Bar’, a coconut soap formulation by Mangle & Wringer which is made by hand.
‘A new canvas might only set you back £400 but why replace something when you can clean and restore it?’
NEW ADVENTURES:
While Lara doesn’t take Big Red too far from home, she does have her eye on a dream trip to the Scottish Highlands. ‘I’d love to go not just for a couple of weeks but a sort of secondment, get a little croft and work up there. I’d even bring Mr Darcy the cat!’
Lara has a real affinity with the Highlands and Scotland generally, having produced two books about historic Scottish crafts. When writing Harris Tweed: From Land to Street, she spent seven months living on the isles of Harris and Lewis, photographing the artisans and their work. She was also a contributing photographer to Charles Maclean’s book Spirit of Place – the distilleries of Scotland.
Closer to home, Big Red was recently featured in Town and Country magazine, photographed with Eve Hewson for the cover story.
Lara says that Big Red has meant so much more to her than just a restoration project or a countryside run-around. In many ways, it’s been an escape and a comfort.
‘The car has been everything, really. If I’m having a bad day I can get in, with my cup of tea, and it’s a happy place. I don’t have to go anywhere; I can lie in the back in the sun with a book. Last summer, when the pandemic hit and I had lost all of my photographic work, I would sit in my car and think to myself: I’ve made this car, and whatever happens, I have this.’
‘A lot of Land Rover owners are so attached, and when someone has to sell, it’s usually not out of desire but necessity. And as a community we understand that attachment.’
A PERSONAL CONNECTION: