My first memory of Land Rovers dates back to the early to mid-70s when I was around five years old. I recall sitting on the center above the gearbox in my grandfather’s Land Rover, surrounded by shiny green paint as we bounced across the North York moors towards Whitby. Given the date, it was likely a later Series II or early Series III. My grandfather later traded it in for a brand new three-door blue Range Rover. My first Land Rover experience happened before I was born. In the winter of 1968, my mother had to be ‘rescued’ by a local farmer as she went into labour. We were taken across the fields to the hospital because the roads were impassable due to drifting snow. So, you could say my involvement with Land Rovers has been longer than my life itself!

During my teenage years in the Yorkshire Dales, Land Rover encounters were sporadic but memorable. Whether it was being rescued by local farmers when the school bus was blocked by snow or being thrown around in the back of them as part of the local Mountain Rescue team, Land Rovers were always there. However, owning one had to wait until I had a family of my own.

A familiar site to a lot of Land Rover owners – Their pride and joy in pieces.

For us, a Land Rover met several pressing needs. My parents lived in the high Yorkshire Dales, and we needed a vehicle that could reach them in all weathers. Additionally, when my wife’s family visited, we often needed to take two cars everywhere. Not wanting to go down the route of a bland modern box, I suggested a 110, which could carry up to 12 people depending on the configuration. After much searching, we found a 110 Station Wagon with seat belts for nine, a 200TDi engine, a robust roof rack, and a new MOT. We bought it just in time for a planned camping trip to Robin Hood’s Bay. Ten days after purchase, it was scrapped.

We had made the classic mistake of buying the first one we saw without knowing enough about what to look for. Luckily, it broke down before it could kill us or anyone else. The garage showed us all that was wrong with it, from rotten seat belt mounts to a paper-thin rear cross member, questionable brakes, a rotting bulkhead, and a cracked cylinder head. It was not worth the cost, or risk, of repair so it was scrapped.

Bob, as he’s called, on family camping duties!

However, at the garage, there was a somewhat grubby-looking ex-police white 110 having its engine changed from a petrol 2.5 to a 200TDi. After discussions with the garage owner, we went back a month later to collect what has been our family adventure vehicle for nearly 15 years. In that time, we have replaced the bulkhead, chassis, gearbox, clutch fork (fit a heavy-duty one, people!), and numerous miscellaneous parts. It has let us down twice, but it has also taken us on countless adventures, from caving trips to annual dinners to camping trips far and wide. I have made friends in the Land Rover world, learned a, miserable, lot about maintaining them, and enjoyed countless hours driving or sitting around campfires ranting about them.

Recently, we acquired a Series III and met a whole new group of Land Rover owners. But that’s not my story to tell.

So, what’s next? Well, it looks like my clutch master cylinder might be leaking, so that’s a job. The bonnet release catch is very stiff and won’t operate on the pull cable. I have a leak from the fuel tank when it’s full, and the glow plugs never got wired back up after the chassis change. We have a camping trip planned to the South of France, a green laning trip to the North Yorkshire moors, camping in Derbyshire, helping our eldest child move house, trips to the dump, and anything else this Land Rover life throws at us!

You may think Bob is a Defender, but no! He is pre-Defender, so he’s actually a Land Rover OneTen.