Driving skills from the 1970s
Capturing Landies On Film
One of the foremost influences on modern media is the attraction of nostalgia.
You don’t have to create new material, just find black and white footage of Lowry-like figues moving jerkily through faintly familiar tasks, unencumbered by mobile phones, tablets, pads, pods or (most notably) traffic.
So what are your favourite nostalgia sites and sounds for the world’s best off-road brand?
This is what we’ve found:
The Dunsfold Collection’s Forrest Rover
Picture courtesy of The Dunsfold Collection
The Collection started life in 1993, as a progression of a private collection started in 1968 by Brian Bashall and continued today by one of his sons, Philip. The vehicle that started it all was a 1962 ex-military 109-inch APGP wader, after that the collection gradually grew larger.
The Dunsfold Collection’s website is a tour de force of simple, effective website design. It’s all there for you, and it’s easy to get to, too!.
Possibly the best collection of photos of Land Rovers in one place, the breadth of collected models is as impressive as the open access to them. From the mechanically beautiful Forrest Rover above to the bling-tastic ‘goldbrick’ Defender, there’s something for everyone.
As the collection was opened to the public to provide the necessary support, their Bi-Annual shows are a great opportunity to view the toys. And if you’ve got a toy of your own, you can join in the fun on their testing off-road circuit.
Don’t miss out on the Freelander test mule built into an Austin Maestro van body. Talk about falling from the ugly tree!
Dunsfold Collection Freelander Test Mule
Driving Skills
Land Rover produced, like many manufacturers, copious quantities of promotional material which never acquired a significant audience. Some of these gems have been, copyright issues aside, freed by online video sites.
Here’s one, Land Rover’s own Driving Technique, produced by the Rover Triumph Film Unit!
Many videos offer advice, hints and tricks but there’s a difference between user-generated content and expert advice.
It’s the difference between BBC and You’ve Been Framed
Here’s Land Rover Owner’s video on mud-plugging
And a video which looks like Land Rover’s own Camel Trophy training program
Readers Rides
There are also plenty of home-produced videos with hints and tips, but treat most of these with caution. Perhaps they are best used as a guide to how owners have used their video camera, but often they are fun to watch. And we always appreciate the community involvement; respect to anyone who not only spends their hard-earned on a Landy, but who is then brave enough to show the results of their proving session.
Here’s a Series 2 with a 5l V8 and an Australian in it;
Mechanical Murals
Time-lapse builds can be a visual feast, and you may even see something which helps!
Changing a chassis
Ground-up Build
Documentaries and History
There are plenty of videos of dubious legality, though the ability to find such fascinating material is perhaps what makes video sites so popular.
Here’s on on the history of The Camel Trophy
And one on a Trans-Africa adventure trip (just one lottery jackpot win, just the one..)
Then there are the usual TV Testimonials, when they either run out of things to do or money to pay for the Ferraris they’ve ‘re-styled’
So we’ve showed you ours, now it’s your turn.
If you need anything un-built then re-built, and we’ve done everything from Series 101’s (see our previous blogs) to Range Rover Sports, or serviced or repaired or inspected or modified, visit our website to get our contact details www.mcdonaldlandrover.co.uk
This post was written by Rupert Astbury.
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