Thread: When did your love affair start with Land Rover?

I just liked them the simple design and the rugged practicality, liked the idea of a vehicle that would go anywhere and could be hosed out when it got dirty. I liked the fact that I could remove the roof and fold down the windscreen in the summer.

I wanted one!

My first experiance with one happenned when I joined the local CFA at St Andrews in Vic. It was this one.


It was bought as a tray and modifyied by the brigade, I believe the previous owner used it to collect dead livestock from farms.. It was proberly the slowest fire truck ever built. Had a Rover six that had done a lot of miles, the cabin was too small for anyone over 5 ft and it didnt stop or steer all that well.

The best bit was it went anywhere, steep gullys across the sides of hills on rediculous angles. We used to get her into places where none of the other local fire trucks could go. Her main job was to set up as a quick fill and supply water from dams or tanks in an area with no reticulated water.

During the Ash Wednesday fires she was the only truck left in the ST Andrews, Hurstbridge Kinglake and Dimond Creek area all the CFA owned trucks were off doing their stuff we moved her down to the Hurstbridge Fire Station so it was located in a central place for the surrounding townships.

The next experiance was when I purchased a series 2 short wheel base for $ 200.00 this was used on the property to collect fire wood and other work on what was a very steep 20 acres, supplied the firewood for 10 years and only got bogged once when after too many beers and managed to fall into one of the Dams on the block. Didnt drown it moter still running but on way too much of an angle to back out.

We recovered it the next day with the fire truck pictured below.
Many years passed and I now have the Disco but still have fond memories of the first 2.

Originally Posted by clubagreenie

I remember catching heaps of whiting and one day my old man hooking on to something huge that ripped his gang of 4 hooks apart so they (the old men) spent the eve with beer and soldering irons building the mega hook to go back. Don't know if it was the same thing but the next day caught a huge (6' plus) spanish mackerel who had the ast laugh when we all got sick probably from the mercury in it.

I think this post is in the wrong thread. It should be in the "When Did Your Love Affair Start With Fishing" thread.

Dave.

It started for me back when i was in Kindy and dad had a series III troopy. Used to go to the beach in it in Coffs Harbor.

Always loved them from then, been infected ever since.

Got sick of getting my old Kingswood (first car) bogged so a couple of months later found my dream car. A series 2a ex army L.W.B that did me for 4 years as a young fella and only needed a bit of tinkering here and there.

Can't quite say I was born in one ...................... my earliest memories of travelling in a motor vehicle actually involve a Standard Vanguard (the one with the round back, before the Spacemaster) in the Flinders Ranges before there were many roads there.

But not long after that, I learnt to drive in Series 1 and 2 Landrovers in a part of the NT that is now within the boundaries of Kakadu. Back then, it was a series of mining leases owned by a company called "United Uranium", with a couple of operating mines (gold and base metals at the time) and a huge exploration crew working anywhere between Rum Jungle in the NT and Mary K in Queensland. All the company vehicles were Landrovers in those days - there simply was nothing else that could handle what was asked of them. My parents had an Austin Freeway Station Wagon, but this was usually parked up and only used on holidays or the odd shopping trip to Pine Creek, Katherine or Darwin when the road was open - the rest of the time the Landrovers were used for everything.

We recently found some old photos from those days, including a few interesting ones of Landrovers at work in some pretty horrible conditions. Will have to see if I can scan some of them to electronic format (most of them are slides, so I'm not quite sure what I need to get them into electronic format).

Have had numerous Toyotas since those days, but always keep coming back to the Landrovers - I just like a vehicle with some "character" rather than just driving "white goods" all the time (even though I'm getting a new Prado 150 diesel for work next week).

When I was at university I got a vacation job over the 1959-60 summer doing field work with the then Bureau of Mineral Resources (now Geoscience Australia). This involved daily driving one of four Series 1 86/88 hardtops with extra fuel and water tanks.

Following this, when I needed a four wheel drive in 1962, I obviously bought a ex SMHEA 1956 similar Landrover. This was replaced the following year by a (also ex-SMHEA) Series 2, in turn replaced by a 2a 109 diesel. Then I went to PNG and had a Cessna 180 instead of a car. After returning to Australia I ran Citroen Ds until I needed a four wheel drive in 1990 for the farm we had just bought. The obvious answer was an ex-army 2a, which I still run. When we were planning to move there, in 1993, I bought a 110, which, again, I am still running. I expect these two will see me out.

I used Toyotas extensively in my employment from 1965 on, but have never felt any desire to move that way.

John

Way back in 1959 I drove my first Landrover, a Series 2 88" canvas top.
It belonged to the Army and I was a very young Private in Balcomb Vic.

That's when the love affair started, but it was a few years later that I next drove Landrovers (2A 109 utes) on the farms where I worked.

Marriage and a few kids kept me away till the early 70's when I bought a 2A 109 van which I kept as the only vehicle for a few years. My wifes medical problems meant that I had to leave the fold for a number of years but I managed to pick up a 62 Ser2 88" as a basket case for a slab of beer to use as therapy for me.
It took about 18 months to get it up and running and was used as MY runabout, she had a Sigma, for fishing trips etc and after my wife passed away the Sigma went and was replaced by a 79 Ser3 109 6cyl.
This was followed by a 78 2dr Rangie, then sold the Ser2 and the 2dr Rangie and replaced both with an 89 Rangie Vogue for a few years.We inherited my second wifes mothers car for a couple of years but the call was too strong and a 99 Disco TD5 joined the household, followed by an 83 Series 3 Trayback.

So over the years I've owned 7 of them and not planning any more additions or alterations at the present.

Disco Denmark.

Originally Posted by Mr Whippy

I think this post is in the wrong thread. It should be in the "When Did Your Love Affair Start With Fishing" thread.

Dave.

Don't these two just go hand in hand,,