This last month has been pretty quiet on the Land Rover front, so instead of frantically mechanicing one of the cars and writing about it, I decided to look back on the year. It’s been a year of firsts in many ways.

In January, I bought my first classic car. Harriet as she is now known. I remember the excitement of that first drive home and the realisation that I really shouldn’t have done so. I had no idea how to drive a vehicle that old, but I loved every second of it. I got up to the dizzying heights of 55mph – going downhill – and the grin never left my face. Of course, the joy soon turned into ‘what on earth have I got here?’ when on closer inspection I found a myriad of issues and challenges. Holes, rust, bonkers wiring and cracked tyres have kept me on my toes since. It has been a steep learning curve, which is still ongoing, but I have learned so much and regret none of it… only that I can’t drive her around safely yet.

In February, I took Larry and Dave green laning for the first time with the series 1,2,3 Club. I have a series 2 Discovery, so it was allowed! There was a substantial amount of mud, some slippery slopes and a rather precarious cliff. The hills were steep, some of them were rocky. I think for me though, the best part of this day was driving along Rudland Rigg and admiring the spectacular views when Dave turning to me and saying, ‘I get it now!’ I believe that was the start of something rather wonderful.

Above – Debbie’s first greenlaning trip was a Eureka moment for hubby Spare Dave.

Spring saw us back at Market Harborough, with a flying visit to Gaydon, and Malvern. The first there was driving Minty. Nothing spectacular you say? I’ve never had to double de-clutch before! I also got to sit in a 101 Forward Control and saw HUE 166 too.

Summer saw some interesting and unusual electrical gremlins appear on Larry. Oil was tracking up the injector harness loom and into the ECU, so for the first time ever, I took off his rocker cover and did some tinkering. A new loom, new injector seals and general replacement of some worn parts saw Larry’s fuel economy boosted just in time for a trek down to Devon.

Autumn was pretty quiet, aside from removing yet more components from Harriet to prepare her for the new bulkhead. I’ve never taken any car to bits before, let alone an old Land Rover! Progress goes well though, and it looks like the winter months will be spent designing a new wiring loom – another first. Things were looking positive!

One cold morning, after driving to work, I noticed that very distinctive burnt pickle stink coming from Larry’s front end. It smelled a lot like burnt clutch. As far as I know, his clutch has never been changed so is pushing towards 22 years old. His gearbox is also very crispy on a good day. I had hoped it would last until Harriet was on the road, but such a wish was destined to not come true. I’ve booked in some hardcore workshop time for January – another first.

The last firsts of the year include for newer Land Rovers! I drove a 2021 Discovery Sport back from Duckworth in Market Rasen for someone. I found it to be very cosy, but the automatic gearbox felt sluggish. The other is a 2017 Range Rover Autobiography V8, but more about that in the new year…