Rovers Magazine Summer - Rackspace Hosting

around his Jeep, looking at pulling angles and directions.
I would have to right it first. With the Jeep on its side,
finding the best place to attach my kinetic rope and
shackle was a cinch. I reached up to the right rear spring
and connected it to my rope with a shackle. I positioned
the Rover, selected low range first gear, and pulled
sideways on the Jeep. It tumbled over and bounced
mightily on its coil springs. While the 6” lift had
undoubtedly caused his car to lean wildly and tip over, it
also allowed him to back out of the ditch successfully with
only a crumpled front fender for damage. The Rover had
proven its mettle. Stiff upper lip and all that, I returned to
the cafeteria for dinner.
Later that month another glorious moment arose with
the arrival of a box from Rovers North. In addition to the
requisite parts for an ignition tune-up (points, plugs,
condenser, rotor, distributor cap) I had ordered a new hand
crank, as I had left behind the one that usually resides in
the QE I. A crank makes finding the high spot on the
distributor cam lobe much easier than relentlessly tugging
on the fan belt.
Many classmates equated my white hair with “senility”
or “uselessness”; several mouthed the word “dementia”
when I claimed that the Rover could be started with a hand
crank. Wisely, I chose a weekend evening when I had been
selected as chauffeur to demonstrate this procedure. If
successful, I was confident I would not have to purchase
my own beers that night.
I turned the key to “on,” pulled out the choke slightly,
set the hand throttle a bit high, and inserted the crank into
the front pulley. I gently turned the crank clockwise and
when I felt compression release at the 3 o'clock position,
moved the crank to its lowest point on the arc. Loosely
holding the handle, I pulled it up and slid my hand off as
it went over the top. The Rover gently throbbed to life as
I raised my arms just like champions do in the Olympics.
The “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” that followed validated the
Rover’s awesomeness and my own belief that I could leave
my wallet at home that night.
Next, on a Sunday morning run to Dunkin’ Donuts,
John Kurtz, Minneapolis, MN, and I spotted two women
in a new Jeep Wrangler, dangling a stuffed lion out the
window. We waved it down and got Kristen Welch, Chester
NH, and Jenny Bronson, Henniker, NH, to agree that a lion
really belonged on the spare tire of a Land Rover. Their
Wrangler looked ordinary beside the Rover.
When the need for another weekend diversion from
the month-long course reared up, a quiet afternoon spent
performing an ignition tune up and general maintenance
on the Rover proved the perfect antidote to excessive
studying. For the African instructors and students at the
Solo School, the Rover elicited fascinating stories about
their lives spent around or through Land Rovers.
The message is, of course, get behind the steering wheel
and share your Land Rover with the world at large.
They’re waiting for you!
Actually, so are Jeep owners. When I returned home
to the island town in Maine, I found myself in my Rover
driving behind our mechanic in his old Jeep Wrangler. As
he chugged up a hill he tapped his taillights several times
to get my attention. When I waved, he dangled a tow strap
out the window, clearly wondering if the QE I needed help
getting up the hill. Continuing the pressure, I later found
a hand-painted sign, which read “Junk Pile,” staked into
the ground in front of the Rover.
David Townend of Yorkshire, England, makes and sells
clothes for classic-car buffs. “They get the car, and we
supply them with the clothes,” he explained. “People come
and say, ‘This is the car, what should I wear?’ Bentley guys
wear simple clothes, corduroy trousers and Harris tweed.
Rolls-Royce owners wear suits.”
The question of what to wear in a Series Rover requires
complex answers. It’s helpful during rainy weather to
consider something totally water repellant; Defender
owners might share similar opinions. On snowy, cold winter
days, one might suggest, “Everything you own—unless you
replace those leaking door seals.”
It has occurred to me that Land Rover advertisements
of their day dressed up the models in far different outfits.
Men, women and children wore clean clothes appropriate
for the weather implied by the advertisement.
Advertisements from the ‘70s and '80s suffer from some
genuinely embarrassing articles of clothing and hairstyles,
but they do all look clean—even the workmen!
This got me thinking about the “outfits” I wear while
in my Rover. I’m still rankled about the parting shot that
Mark Letorney sent my way at a past British Invasion.
When I tried on my then-new Rovers North waxed cotton
coat, Mark admonished me—publicly—not to “get it all
greasy.” Really!
I wonder what Jeep owners wear in their cars?
Opposite: Jeff Aronson coming to the rescue of fellow student Matt Runyanszky.
Above: Kristen Welch, Jenny Bronson & John Kurtz pose with the lion on the proper vehicle.
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