Land Rover Monthly October 2021

ONE of the best trips I ever did was when I drove my mate Colin Fitzgerald’s Series I 80 inch from Broome in Western Australia, up north along the coast to a place called Cape Leveque, a round trip of nearly 300 miles. In the week prior to that we had sailed up into the Kimberley’s on one of Colin’s yachts; those real remote parts of Australia are an absolute pleasure to explore as you feel like the only person on Planet Earth. There is one rather memorable moment from that trip that I love to recount. During the drive north I stopped at an Aboriginal settlement and church to take some photos. As I got into the Landy one of them quipped: “Nice Jeep.” Obviously I had to correct…

WHEN Michael Downing, an accomplished patent attorney and Defender enthusiast, read about ORE’s predicament with potential copies of their wheel carrier design (LRM issue 281, May 2021) he reached out to them to see if he could help and share some of his firm’s (Downing IP) expertise regarding patents, trademarks and registered (and unregistered) designs. While Chris McCormack, MD of ORE, thought he had exhausted all of the options for protecting the ORE wheel carrier design they spent so long developing, Michael was able to highlight some interesting avenues and tactics to prevent any further potential copies of their product. Chris was so impressed with Michael’s outside of the box thinking that he’s officially appointed them as their legal team for any future design infringements. Chris explains: “I’m not afraid to protect…

SPECIALIST Land Rover Defender dealership LR Motors, founded by Charles Fawcett (of Twisted Automotive fame), has been purchased in a management buyout to boost sustainability. The car dealership has been acquired by Ross Munro, who has been running operations since November 2015. The business remains in Thirsk, albeit a few doors down from the original premises, with a showroom and workshop facility at Severfield Close. Previously known for selling used Defenders, LR Motors now want to shift their focus to the classic car market, thus giving each vehicle a new lease of life. A stronger online presence has already been established, with Defender owners across the UK keen to order LR branded accessories and LR surplus parts for their vehicles during lockdown. However, Ross is now seeking to move core business activity…

FOR those of you who made it to this year’s Festival of Speed you may have seen the INEOS Grenadier in action as it made its first ever run up the Goodwood Festival of Speed’s iconic hillclimb, with Esteban Gutiérrez from the MercedesF1 team behind the wheel, writes Patrick Cruywagen I was lucky enough to see it go up Goodwood hill on Thursday and it’s fair to say it turned a lot of heads. Up front, its flat, unfussy surfaces, round lights, tapered bonnet and upright screen reminded me of the retro G-wagons, while the vertical rear end and side-opening tailgate with external spare wheel is definitely more original Defender, as is the horizontal shoulder line, square side and Alpine roof windows. There’s also a hint of Willys Jeep about it. Unlike…

OFF-ROAD performance specialist, Bowler Motors, has revealed the Land Rover Defender rally car that will compete in its own championship. The Bowler Defender Challenge – a seven-series event in the UK – is based on the 90 model with a 300 PS Ingenium 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine. Using its long and successful experience of competition Bowler has transformed the new Defender into a very capable rally machine with a full roll cage, modified underbody, raised suspension, rally-spec 18 inch wheels and column-mounted paddle shifters, and much more besides. We bet our bottom dollar some of those modifications will filter through to new Defender owners, too. Michael van der Sande, Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, said: “The development of the new Bowler Defender Challenge rally car perfectly illustrates the…

Send your letters to 🖰 patrick@lrm.co.uk Anyone know where ADT 117T is? WHEN you see my surname, it’ll be no surprise to hear my husband has been a Land Rover fan since long before he could drive. His first car has been a topic of speculation for years, and so I thought I’d turn to LRM readers for help. We’d love to know where ADT 117T ended up. It was a 1979 SWB 2.25 petrol Series III in Marine Blue. It was a hard top and, during my husband’s ownership, the passenger side window was always broken. Inside, it had the deluxe black vinyl trim, but Adam put a Trackers high back seat with headrest in cloth on the driver’s side and he made (yes, made) a centre cubby box which he painted gloss…