WHY DO WE WANT THESE THINGS????????

[4flattires]

My favorite show growing up only came on the tube once a week, it was Mutual of Omaha's Wild kingdom. I would get excited when they would show a topless Series Rover.

Ditto for me. I think I played with the Leslie scale models too as a kid. My SIIa was sighted in a yard on the other side of town and being a gearhead, it was only natural that it be sitting in my back yard instead.



Jeff

[xrover]

Wild Kingdom!!!

I was trying to figure out the show that had a series I watched as a kid.

Thanks for reminding me...

I take it no one bought one of these just for the transportation aspect.

[Jeff Aronson]

Why a Series Rover?

My British mother received magazines from home often and they were filled with ads for British cars; the Land Rover was hard to miss. I gravitated to British sports cars during the '60's - 80's, until parts and service became huge headaches as British Leyland left the US market.

I spent 6 years running only Jeep CJ's, for which there was an actual dealer in Vermont [whom I had to visit all too often]. During that time, a colleague at UVM, who knew of my British car interest, kept asking why I didn't get a Land Rover like his. He had worked in Africa and admired them so much he had to find a Series III and keep it going. He mentioned Rovers North often enough so I got the hint.

In 1990, I started out in my own business which also meant I absolutely, positively had to get somewhere in any weather. My '78 Triumph Spitfire was not the perfect answer . When I saw a group of Land Rovers in Marlborough, NH, at the old Cheshire Motors, I knew I had to have one. I found the QE IV in Maine with "only" 111,000 miles, bought it, and still rely on it daily. About 200,000 miles and over 10 years ago, I had a Rovers North rebuilt engine installed. In 2003, East Coast Rover and Rovers North made a frame-over possible. This Rover should last my lifetime.

The second Rover in my life, the QM I, arrived in 2005. It's also a 1966, this time, a hardtop with a soft top hoop set as a bonus. It's as rough as the QE I was when I first bought it and I love both of them.

They are joys to drive and own and still draw attention from male and female fans of wicked cool transportation.

Jeff

[badvibes]

you know Jim was way underpaid...

Wild Kingdom!!!

I was trying to figure out the show that had a series I watched as a kid.

Thanks for reminding me...

I take it no one bought one of these just for the transportation aspect.

Yeah Marlin Perkins had it made. Sitting in the studio saying things like, "Now Jim will wrestle the 30' anaconda into a burlap bag so it can be weighed." Marlin was cool but that Jim dude was the real Tarzan.

[LaneRover]

Come to think of it, my first Rover was the Corgi toy set from Daktari that my grandmother bought me from G.Fox and Co where she worked in Hartford. Since I still have that toy I can honestly say that I have never gotten rid of a Rover! At the moment I am up to 7 1/2.

Brent

[xrover]

To bad the croc hunter, may he rest in peace, drove Toyota's and Mitsubishi's.

He would have been way cooler in a series

[xrover]

Come to think of it, my first Rover was the Corgi toy set from Daktari that my grandmother bought me from G.Fox and Co where she worked in Hartford. Since I still have that toy I can honestly say that I have never gotten rid of a Rover! At the moment I am up to 7 1/2.

Brent

We need to see pics of the 1/2 Rover... It's a must now since you brought it up...

[LaneRover]

I'll have to do some searching to see if I still have some pics from when I bought it.

Basically it had been in an accident and there was no engine, no bodywork ahead of the bulkhead and one of the axles was missing (strangely I think it was the rear axle that was missing). It has since been taken apart and the parts stored - it did come with a nice liftgate!

I bought it and a whole basket case from a guy near Wiscasset Maine who decided against trying to make one good one.

Brent

[jp-]

My first vehice was the NADA that I still have. My father purchased it in 1985. Camping in Cades Cove is a fond memory. Soon after my Uncle got a Dormobile that we also camped in.

[greenmeanie]

I was drunk - is that an excuse?

Actually I moved over here from the UK and was feeling quite at odds with myself as I was waiting for my 101 to come of age to import. My wife liked that time as all the household jobs got done and there was no oily mess and I had a bank account. I was kicking around on the interweb one night after a few beers and decided I needed a truck. The idea was sold as a 'temporary vehicle' to use for utility duties until my 101 arrived and took over after which the Series would be diposed of.

Of course the 101 arrived and needed work so the series stayed for a bit and then misteriously was slightly dismantled (It's amajor problem dear) and hidden under all the paint cans and other stuff in the garage. Whenever the car or 101 was broken it seemed to reappear and be able to be put back in running condition. Whenever my wife remembered that it was to be disposed of the Series would somehow break and disappear into its camouflaged position in the garage. Finally my wife has accepted the truck is staying so she has come out of her nefarious existence to take her rightful spot leaking oil on the driveway. On pain of death I am now limited to two trucks. I am still in negotiation on whether a Stolly is included in this clause as it is amphibious although divorce was mentioned a few times in response.

I saw the advert for her as a straight, original, Late SIIA NADA desert truck in Santa Fe. I grabbed my tool box, got on a plane (Ah remember those days!) and flew up there with a cheque. After a quick inspection and a once round the block it was driving her back to Tucson over the weekend with absolutely no mechanical issues. I have been smiling ever since, or at least when I am not trying to avoid bugs when the screen is folded down.

In contrast buying a modern car from a dealer forcourt seems such a sleezy and, if I may say, unadventurous thing to do.

Cheers
Gregor

[xrover]

I was drunk works for cheating on your wife/other, why you gave someone a backhanded comment, it's a reason why you didnt get any yardwork done on a saturday afternoon, seems to be a good excuse for taking 3000.00 off your credit card for one last roll of the dice in Vegas, perfect for why your fire in you contained fire pit reached 8 ft high, it works great for when you want to get canned and your boss asks why you dint come to work yesterday, I expect it might work when the wife asks "why dint you come home last night?" and finally, you can use it for a reason why you didnt show up for jury duty .

I have only used this excuse for 2 of these. You figure it out...

[msggunny]

wicked cool transportation.

Wow, havent heard "wicked cool" in a while. First time i heard it was from a Marine and his wife from Maine, that was a few years ago.

[LaneRover]

we got a lot of neat little 'sayings' up in Maine

[Jim-ME]

A-yuh

[scott]

i've heard marlin and daktari mention but the best sreries movie scene is in "the god's must be crazy II" where the n'kuhn (sp?) cheif is driving a iia a in reverse while sitting on the bonnet with the wind screen down facing aft.