Mick Forster's Series IIA 88in Land Rover
Mike bought this Land Rover off a work mate of his in 1973 and it was the first Land Rover he had owned. It was a 1966 ex-military with dual fuel tanks under the front seats and the classic military double bumper, bolted not welded!
He recalls I driving it the 20 miles from Stafford to Stoke-on-Trent just after purchasing it with a silly grin on his face the whole time. The way the Land Rover took the bends and roundabouts was a revelation to him after driving 'normal' cars. The higher sitting position gave him a view of the road and other traffic which enabled and encouraged a safer driving style based on greater anticipation of the events occurring on the road ahead. All that in the first half hour of owning a Land Rover.
During the following weeks and months the first impressions were confirmed and the pleasure derived from just driving to work was immense. Mike could choose from a number of different routes, some quicker than others all routes passing through pleasant countryside as befitting of a Land Rover. He remembers one day driving home along a particularly narrow lane when a lorry came the other way so he had to pull over into the verge, there was no tarmac there but a ditch full of mud which was a lot softer than it looked. The front nearside wheel sank and the double bumper buried itself in the bank. The lorry driver had now got past but waited to see if Mike could get out ok. He changed into low range reverse and out she came pulling half the bank with the double bumper acting like a pretty good plow. He had a quick look round, not even a dent anywhere just a lot of mud, quick wave to the lorry driver and off he went.
A work colleague of Mike's had a big Ford Zephyr and it needed towing from his house to a garage so he asked if Mike could help with the Land Rover. So of course he did, no problem at all, the thing which amazed him was that the Land Rover didn’t seem to notice the presence of the Zephyr attached to the towing hook. The performace which wasn’t fast but sort of solid, remained the same.
You can read more of Mike's tales with his first Land Rover and detils of the others he has owned since on his website www.landrover-4x4.co.uk/index.php
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