Written for the March 26, 2021, issue of Penguin News under the title Classic Land Rover Series One restored and running.

A 65-year-old Land Rover Series One has recently returned to the streets of Stanley after 23 years off the roads thanks to the hard work of Stanley Resident Robert Rowlands.

The Rover, which was imported in 1964 by Mr Ernest Luxton, has an 86-inch wheel base and a 2-litre petrol engine, and has been faithfully returned to its former glory by Robert through hard work and ingenuity.

Robert told Penguin News the vehicle was used for some 20 years by the original importer under the registration No. 821, before being changed to F244 with alterations to the licence plate system. Mr Rowlands bought the vehicle in 1984 when he returned to the Islands and found that, “it was the only vehicle on the market.” He drove it to his place of work, installing the engines for the power station at RAF Mount Pleasant, all before the roads to the base were built. It was the Rowlands family vehicle until 1998 when, due to a lack of time for repairs, the vehicle was left to lay idle.

Work on the vehicle began in June 2020 when it was towed to a new location by Kenneth Jaffray and Robert.

Robert said he and Kenneth “spent some months of winter Sundays workings to dismantle it and locate and order replacement parts, including a new galvanized chassis and a new bulkhead which were only available specially built to order from England.

The bulkhead during and after restoration

“Whilst waiting for these major items, another vehicle of similar vintage was found and lifted by crane from the Mary Hill quarry to obtain some better body parts, and all were prepared and painted. The axles, engine and gearbox were overhauled and made ready for the arrival of the replacement chassis in January, and the bulkhead, which was built by an ex-serviceman who had resided on the RFA Sir Tristram at the F.I.C jetty after the 1982 war, arrived in February. After 8 months of Sundays and some days during the week the vehicle was completed, apart from the rear hard top, which has yet to be finished and fitted.”

Robert explained that there are very few of the “once very popular model” of Land Rover remaining in the Islands. “In Great Britain they seemed to have approached cult status and are trading for very high values,” he told the paper. “All the work done on Land Rover F244 should ensure it is around for many years to come.”

Nicholas Roberts, photos from Robert Rowlands