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My venture into Land Rover Life started a bit later than most. I didn’t start driving until I was 30, and for most of that time a car was four wheels and an engine that got me to work. My i10 was fab, but it was never serviced and rarely had any work done to it, until it desperately needed it.

That all changed around seven or so years ago, when I went on holiday to the Cayman Islands. One of the activities we did was go on an Island Safari in a Defender 110. The driver was a very old school English teacher, and the island was fab. What got me though, was the vehicle. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I knew then that I wanted one. I loved the go anywhere attitude it had to roads, the noise it made and how square it was. Not a curve in sight! It was brilliant.

I am sure the rest of the holiday was good too, but it is the Defender that I remember the most.

Of course, upon getting home I did look into buying one but at that time, the price was too far out of my range. I never stopped looking, and the cool factor never wore off. To the point where on my 40^th birthday, my parents gifted me an off-road driving experience in a Defender.

This was amazing. I drove through mud, deep puddles and at some pretty crazy angles too. All while under the gentle tutelage of an instructor whose name has been lost to time now. We talked of course, and I expressed my love of Defenders, to which he responded that maybe I should consider getting a Discovery 2 instead. He said they were more comfortable to drive, the same engine under the bonnet and a fraction of the price. A fraction of the price you say? That got my attention.

Three weeks later, I bought Larry – a 2003 Discovery 2 Td5.

Since then, I feel as though I’ve been unstoppable. I sold the i10, and off I went. I had my first breakdown ten days after I bought the car while trying to cross the Pennines to get to Manchester. I’ve spent a great deal of time covered in dust, rust, oil, coolant and all manner of other grime since too.

Do I regret it? Not one bit.

I’ve met some lovely people, found a gang about as mad as I am and spent some cracking weekends in a field drinking beer and enthusiastically recounting stories with them. I even had the privilege to go around an offroad course in a new Defender.

More recently, I’ve explored Ruddland Rigg with the series 1,2,3 Club – Larry is a series 2 Discovery, and a modest bribe of baked goods seemed to do the trick. I have also bought a second Land Rover now – a 1977 Series 3 88, which shall be my restoration project.

Working on the Land Rover has also sparked a career change, as I am now a mechanic in training. I did not expect them to have such a dramatic effect on my life, but here we are. It’s been a wild couple of years, and I’d not change it for the world.