Fam ily o w n ed b y en th u siasts sin ce 19 7 9

Oh Shenandoa
Story & photos by: Bob Whitely
[Bob Whitely, Elkton, VA, has owned his ‘73 Series III since
new. It’s transported his family and a ton of memories from
Baltimore to his farmstead in Virginia. Here’s his story
–ed.]
When I earned my drivers license at age 16, my mother bought
me a ’54 VW Beetle. However, the cars that really caught my
eye were the “beasts” parked outside of the Altmeus Esso
station in Kensington, MD, which doubled as a tiny Land Rover
dealer. My first drive in the Land Rover came 49 years ago,
courtesy of the dealership. They handed me a sales brochure
which, with its robust line drawings and clowing accounts of
Rover’s honest and practicality, really grabbed my attention.
In college in the mid-‘60’s, I drove a milk route and
happily, one customer owned both an 88” and a 109.”
I immediately named his stop “Jungle Wagon” in my route
book. The more I passed by his Rovers the more certain I
became that someday, I would own a Land Rover.
My wife, Joe Ann, knew of my obsession (she married me
anyway) but did not stop me from visiting European Motors in
Baltimore on a snowy day in 1973. Staring at me through
the window was a Marine Blue Land Rover Series III 88”.
During our test drive, I asked her if please, please, it could
become our daily driver. I raved about the fun we’d have
four-wheeling over mountain and shore, and carefully omitted
the stuff like low gas mileage and stiff, unyielding suspension.
“You have wanted a Rover for so long, so let’s buy it,” she said.
So on February 13, 1973, I gave the salesman $5,013.17,
fulfilling my dream of Land Rover ownership. Mine came with
most every Series III
option; not all proved
very worthwhile.
It took me only 10
blocks of city driving to
demonstrate the futility
of listening to the radio
while the Rover was
underway. A few months
later, I found the whitewall
tires offensive to my
aesthetic and reversed
them on the rims. The
folding side steps seemed to catch off road obstacles. Oh yes,
I realized my prized telescope would only fit in the car if I cut
a hole through the bulkhead behind the seats.
The Series III Rover came with the US-required “safety
dash” and thus, restricted airflow from the scuttle vents. So I
cut through the British Leyland-designed air vents to mimic the
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