Bought some sand bags to improve the traction over the rear wheels. To keep them from sliding around I built this little keep-your-sand-bags-from-sliding-around thing.
Category Archives: Cars & Trucks
Land Rover: First six months
In a few days I will have been driving the Land Rover for six months. I’ve grown comfortable sitting up high, bouncing and rattling along, trailed by a faint mist of diesel carbon.
I spend a good bit of time shifting up and down and today I became aware of how I can feel the gears through the shifter, meshing and engaging. All the sounds have now become familiar. My entire body is involved in turning and breaking (both manual). I imagine myself in one of those robot-like loaders Ripley operated in Alien. The machine an extension of my body (or the other way round).
On those rare occasions when I rent a car for a road trip I’m immediately aware of how little the vehicle needs me to get where we’re going. A little pressure on the accelerator, a light touch on the steering wheel. The Rover is a visceral experience. A feint reminder of what a thrill it must have been to drive those early automobiles.
1978 Toyota Land Cruiser HJ-45 Pickup
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Only $59,000. Probably a good thing I didn’t see this before I went for the Land Rover.
Cool&Vintage: 1983 Land Rover 110 V8
A gutsy offering from the Cool & Vintage guys. Photos of some of their restorations got me started down the Land Rover path.
Land Rover 4WD: LOW RANGE!
I think I understood the concept behind the high range/low range gear lever on my Land Rover. But I had never had a real opportunity to use it this weekend’s snow (about a foot).
Went down the hill in 4WD (high). Came back up in 4WD (low) and it finally clicked for me. I need to remember to engage these gear combinations from time to time to make sure all the doodads are working.
Land Rover book
“When the original Land Rover had been drawn up, there had been no proper styling team at Solihull. The appearance of the vehicle had been dictated partly by its intended function and partly by manufacturing requirements, and nobody had worried too much about what it looked like. This was, after all, a commercial vehicle and buyers were unlikely to set too much store by aesthetics as long as it did the intended job.”
— Land Rover: 65 Years of the 4 x 4 Workhorse by James Taylor (Amazon)
I received this as a Christmas gift. I don’t know if you would have to own and drive one of these old trucks to appreciate the Land Rover story. Maybe. Packed with history.
Land Rover glam shots by Henry Domke
Taking Henry for a ride in the Land Rover
I’ve had the Land Rover for four months and just got around to taking Henry for a ride. More of a photo shoot than a ride, really, but we had a good time. I’ll post some of his excellent photos tomorrow
Mystery Suzuki and old Toyota
Took a little drive in the Land Rover today and that means back roads. Two-lane blacktop. And going slow enough to spot these. Couldn’t tell you the model/year of either. I’ll go back some day during the week and talk to the people working on these. Okay, working on the Toyota Land Cruiser.
Agent Orange
Paul Bandelier has located another beauty. “It’s a 1973 F250 Camper Special. The truck was special ordered by an individual in the Denver area. He specified the big GVW Camper Special, 390, automatic, power steering, power disc brakes (which are monstrous on these CampSpec) air conditioning and dual fuel tanks. The ‘Explorer’ package is what makes for the upgraded groovy interior.” After a little TLC in Paul’s shop it will be for sale. Hmmm.
