I’ve always found moving classics on rather difficult and I know from chat in the office that I’m not the only one. Oddly, though, it is something that has got easier as the years have gone by.
I blubbed when my first Morris went to pastures new, yet here I am once more, faced with the prospect of waving farewell to another of my classics and my heart strings remain intact.
That isn’t to say that I don’t care. The thing about owning multiple classics is that there is almost always going to be some kind of rotation. Different cars have different benefits and there comes a time when one is sat on the driveway too long without moving. This time it’s the Land-Rover that has remained static for too long and is subsequently faced with the prospect of a new owner.
Instead of getting upset though, I am being terribly pragmatic about the decision and looking at the reason why the SIIA has been sitting there making a dent in the gravel.
I bought the Landie as an antidote to the Porsche 912. Parts for pennies and something that could never draw parallels with the Stuttgart 2+2. In that way, it succeeded, but where it also excelled was the ‘throw it at me’ attitude, which was to say the least refreshing after the pains of keeping and maintaining something a little more ‘prissy’.
Only weeks after buying it, I drove the Landie to Le Mans and back without a murmur. It was fantastic… if a little slow. Canvas tilt rolled up. Door tops removed. Wonderful.
