Off-Road with David Bowyer
It was in 1960 that I got to drive my first Land Rover. It was in fact a pre-production vehicle made in 1948, though I didn't know it at the time. I was still at school, but during the holidays used to help on my Father's building site moving building materials and hauling a variety of trailers around the site. If anything got stuck whilst I was around the workers used to say "come on David, get your Land Rover going and pull this lorry out", and of course I enjoyed going to the rescue!
In those early days we didn't have the nylon and polypropylene recovery ropes
that we have today. We used to buy whole coils of Manila and Sizal rope from
the nearby ex WD dealer, as well as chain and lengths of heavy wire rope.
When I think back, how we never broke the back of the little 'Red Devil' (it
was painted red) I shall never know. We used to pull out quite large lorries
out of the mire and those that slid into trenches and what have you.
During the early sixties we used to go 'green laning' on some tracks bordering
the site and play 'pirate radio' between Land Rover and Base Station using ex-army
18, 19 & 38 radio sets. Oh what fun we had, and now all these years later
I sat down and studied for the 'amateur radio examination'. I gained my license
about five years ago and was given the call sign M1AEI. My intention is to learn
Morse code to enable me to upgrade to an HF license so that maybe I could become
involved with a world-wide weekly 'Net' as it is called, at a predetermined
time. There must be hundreds of Land Rover owners out there who are also amateur
radio operators as well. Or short-wave listeners (SWL) who could just tune in
and listen.
Back to Land Rovers. During 1963, the year of the great three month freeze,
I 'looked after' my Father's 1960 Series Two and the following year after passing
the driving test, this vehicle was my workhorse on the site. My Father then
purchased an Austin Gypsy for his runabout.
During the next few years my hobbies were Small Bore Rifle Shooting where I
met Tina and we shot for Hampshire. Alongside this I was involved in Autocross
and Rally Driving, using firstly a Mini upgraded with a Janspeed group 2 conversion
followed by a Mini Cooper S, 970cc in which I gained my National Rally License
whilst being the Competitions Secretary for the Salisbury and Shaftsbury Car
Club. To think I used to drive across the Brecon Beacons at warp 7 and now I
suggest that people drive "as slowly as possible"!
In 1970 we married and bought a 1958 Series Two for the Bowyer household as
a useful vehicle for towing horseboxes and trailers. Then in 1974, with children
coming along we purchased a brand new Series Three Seven Seater Station Wagon
to tow the caravan on holidays.
At that stage my 'final fling' was an MGB GT V8 and prior to that a Rover 3500,
and I've been on V8's ever since!
I should have got shares in BP! In 1978 I bought my first Range Rover, a 1973
model and it was wonderful. Shortly after that I started buying and swapping
a variety of Series One's, and by chance in 1979 I bought Sybil my 1954 Seven
Seater Station Wagon - SYB 617 which I still use daily.
Sybil - 1954 Series One Station Wagon
It was around this time that I became part and parcel of the Land Rover Series One Club, holding the position of Secretary until 2002. The Club is the largest Land Rover Club in the world.
Index
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[2] [3]
[4] [5]
[6] [7]
[8] 
(c)Goodwinch Limited 2006