Land Rover BAR

Well we didn't win the Americas Cup, and last weeks crisis at my work meant I could not be doing more prep that I wanted to be doing on Katy, but none of that stopped the Land Rover BAR team putting on a good show down at the Cardiff Bay Yacht Club

I dropped in to see what was on show and as expected it was the new stuff.

First of all to look at is the new Velar. its a smooth looking vehicle and comes heavily loaded with a lot of driver facilities and I am sure its got a decent processor inside (do car reviews need to start listing that like PC reviews ?)

It was open and I was invited in.. so even if I can't afford one I now have at least sat in one.

It seemed a bit roomier than the Evoque which is good in my mind, but I would still have the seats a little less bucketed if it was me. The multiple displays with movable controls (you can drag and drop controls and displays between them) really do make it feel like something for the Star Trek generation (thank goodness that's me)

Its not released yet of course, but I hear that orders are coming in well and that's got to be good for the company to keep it looking after people like me driving its "heritage range". Thanks to James for the fascinating overview.

The key item for the day was all the children being taken out sailing and that was really good to see, I was over age for that part of the event, but it was a good chance for me get some pictures anyway, and a really nice chat with the CBYC team.. they nearly convinced me to get back on the water and do some more sailing

And finally I got taken for a ride in a Discovery 5 on the display circuit. Its larger and roomier again of course and an incredibly capable vehicle with some obvious Land Rover Heritage

As you can tell from my inane questions I'm not up to speed on the modern Land Rovers... of course if they want to lend me one I can practise :-)

Here's the video (click on the picture and it will open a new window) with some static pictures below

Overall an entertaining couple of hours, some truly impressive vehicles, and good luck to the Land Rover BAR team next year 

Not Quite an Ambulance

As this blog is Ambulance focussed and as Land Rover have created an ambulance related vehicle it only seems fitting to share it

As they want their news shared I am sure they won't mind too much if I borrow an image

Click the picture to see their story

Cardiff Car Show 2017

With a successful MOT and a cleaned Katy I planned to head out for the Cardiff Car Show early, to meet up with the rest of SWLRC and then drive in together.

Two problems delayed me from doing that: -

• Server / network maintenance had over run at work 
• I could not find my keys anywhere

The latter was the biggest issue as the lost keys had the house key on and I had worries about leaving in case someone had picked them up. 

A full 2 hours later I found the keys in the garage where I had obviously put them and was finally able to set off and belatedly join the team at the event. 

Overall it was a good show, better than 2 years ago certainly, I think the new location is starting to gather people in or maybe that was just the excellent weather

The SWLRC highlight of the day had to be Pete Phillips entry in the main ring, which I was able to record with my new camera  

MOT 2017

PASSED !

Tyre valves were the only advise, annoying as they were replaced when I had new Wolf wheel rims only 5 years ago and I have actually had 2 fail - so definitely not a good batch of rubber used to make them

But the fix is cheap and I will get it done soon before any big runs

Pilchers Military Defender Turns up

In my Ambulance history page I have noted the Pilcher Greene defender 110 ambulances in the civilian section ... However I saw this recently http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-Ambulance-camper-defender-110-2-25-petrol-/162445506648?

Interestingly the final picture had a military contract number, so I may need to add another section to the pages. If anyone knows more please feel free to contact me via a comment below or via the contact form 

If you are interested, the vendor can be contacted through his email address hhroadss@gmail.com. My thanks to him for permission to post his pictures, and for keeping another piece of Land Rover history on the road

2016 Round Up

2016 was a fun if slow year with Katy the Land Rover. I can't entirely call it quiet as you will read. below

At the start of the year there was definitely a need  for some sort outs which I needed some help for. I was working out of the country a lot in january and February so it was not until March when i got started

The first was some electrics which I definitely needed my friend Dave's help with over the course of a couple of excellent days we got the lights and the reversing camera working, but we did have an unexpected result with the lights as you can see in the video

After that it was off to Newport caravans in May for a new skylight and then some work I did myself getting the Radio to work properly and we attended our first show of the year with the SWLRC

Then a real mystery came in when a Geoff Fletcher author of British Military Land Rovers sent me an interesting picture

Katy then became a regular commuter as Rhian's Mini was in for some work in June and July and she definitely got some attention in the BGS car park and in Cheddar gorge

I eventually tracked down that picture and Rhian and I were made welcome by the Scots Guards at the Bourlon Barracks at Catterick camp in August after a trip to Scarborough

Then it was off to Margam with the SWLRC again in September before a year end put away in November because I knew I would be working away a lot again in the run up to the end of the year. This  year I invested in an intelligent charger and so far the investment has been worthwhile as it's been very good to have it on and the battery looked after

The final Land Rover event of the year was our trip with the SWLRC to the Land Rover Reborn tour at Solihull

The final event for 2016 came in as a complete surprise when we were listed on getoffroad.com as one of the best Land Rover blogs to read. I need to add that I have not used them as a supplier, but as they have been so nice I am happy to give them a link back

All in all not a bad year for being so busy doing other things, but I do hope to be out and about more often and doing a few more upgrades in 2017

Conversions. Cuthbertson Tracked Land Rover

I took a visit with the South Wales Land Rover Club to the Gaydon British Car Museum recently and as it's Cold and Dark and often it's Wet when I get home, I am spending a little time reading a few more things about some of the Land Rovers I saw on that visit.

One of the more unusual vehicles in terms of drive train is the Cuthbertson Tracked Land Rover 

James A Cuthbertson Ltd of Biggar, Lanarkshire Scotland were an early manufacturer of rubber tracks, dating back to World War II. They took a standard Land Rover and fitted removable tracks to it to create the Cuthbertson Land Rover. This greatly lowered the ground pressure, to 1.9 lbs/sq in (0.2Nm), and allowed the Land Rover to traverse snow or swampy ground.

The Land Rover wheel is replaced with a sprocket which drives the rubber track around lower rubber wheels which are attached to a subframe which takes the pressure off the normal Land Rover running gear.

From information on-line it seems that around 15 were made which range in age from apparently a Series 1 version in the late 1950's (see Cuthbertson website link above) through Series II and Series III vehicles (of which there are many pictures on-line) with both short and long wheelbases used.

From various video's and on-line resources it seems the tracks are not good on road and very noisy on hard surfaces and are not good at "steps" where there is a high rock or ridge to climb, so not a perfect vehicle for all terrains, but they do seem to deal with the soft stuff very well.

There are a number of interesting pictures and some information on their use by the bomb disposal team here

The excellent Remlr site has a set of pictures of an Australian trial Cuthbertson

Here's a video of one in action in some very muddy conditions and it does not miss a beat in progression

And there is an excellently old fashioned Pathe News film where one can be seen at about 34 seconds

I've enjoyed reading about them, but I don't think I want one which is quite good news as I don't think one will fit on the drive.

I have to admit that a vehicle that claims to be demountable, but seems like you need a second vehicle to carry the accessory items seems not practical, but it seems the idea has not been lost because Sir Ranulph Feinnes had 110 Land Rovers fitted with Mattrack tracks for an expedition. They were successful in the prototype runs, but the expedition was cancelled

You can read about that here: -

http://www.lr-mad.co.uk/en/global-expedition-tracked-land-rovers
http://www.maxadventure.co.uk/land-rover-global-expedition/