Jeffrey AronsonDear Rovers North,
While on vacation in Scotland last summer, I came across a mention in The Daily Telegraph about a Series I 80” that came up for auction. It was built on July 19, 1948 – the same day the very first Land Rover was manufactured! How often is a single-digit serial number early Land Rover ever sold? I’m fortunate to own pre-production FC101 #12 (in addition to my ’68 Series IIA 88” and a ’90 Land Rover 110 Wolf). Keep up the good work!
Eric de Rochambeau
North Kingston, RI
[Congratulations – you have a terrific fleet of Land Rovers -ed.]
Dear Rovers North,
While leading an Emergency Management training in Nairobi, Kenya, I’ve not seen many Land Rovers, but when I did, it was a surprise to see Series Land Rovers with Harvey Cranes working as tow trucks. It makes me miss my Stage 1 waiting for me at home.
David Short
Sterling, VA
[What a wonderful sight! Thanks for sharing this with our readers
-ed.]
Dear Rovers North,
Back in 1974, I bought a new Series III and, stupidly, sold it in the 1980s. It took a while, but I re-acquired the Series III twenty years later. I’ve long searched for a tropical roof, and finally saw one on a nearby Series II. It took ten years of stalking it to convince the owner to sell it to me, but I finally had it trucked to my house, sat it up on stands and covered it with a tarp. When I opened the rear door, I found an envelope containing a plastic bag. Inside the bag, I spotted a stone the size of a silver dollar; the note on it said, “Stone from the Berlin Wall.”
Shades of John LeCarre – makes perfect sense in a Land Rover.
Jerry Kirschenbaum
Little Deer Isle, ME
[A Series Land Rover is the perfect vehicle for a Cold War thriller -ed.]
Dear Rovers North,
Can you help? I have a 2008 RRS SC and I’m trying to change out the alternator. Just in front of the right front wheel there is a small radiator buried in the fender and the pipes to and from it are making it almost impossible to get the alternator out. What is this radiator (heat exchanger) for and what fluid is in it? Any suggestions for getting the alternator past it?
Evan Williams
[Two different enthusiasts at Rovers North have also owned a L320 Range Rover Sport Supercharged. Thompson Smith, Rovers North’s Creative Director, prepared a technical article in our Spring 2021 on the supercharger intercooler/radiator replacement and shared with you the factory manual steps for replacing the alternator -ed.]
Dear Rovers North,
The story in the Winter 2023 issue about resurrecting a yellow NAS 90 brought back memories of rebooting my NAS 90 — thanks to Rovers North for helping us all get there. On page 15 the photo showing the hood badge was described as having “a wee bit of moss on it…”
Forgive me if I correct your taxonomy, but this is not a “moss.” Rather, it is a lichen — a group of organisms that, strictly speaking, are not plants. While lichens can colonize smooth surfaces like auto paint in as little as a year or two in humid environments, mosses need greater texture and moisture retention on their substrates. Mosses will colonize on top of established lichens so take at least 5 to 10 years from “abandonment” to populate. A wee bit of lichen growth on a Rover can be forgiven, but moss growth represents a more serious level of neglect!
See this photo of an abandoned Series II I’ve driven past for 25 years — a lot of lichen growth but just a wee bit of moss. The mosses are the brighter green fuzzy bits in crevices that offer more moisture retention. Lichens grow everywhere but they’re sensitive to chemicals; perhaps different species grow on aluminum alloy versus steel.
Michael Gaige
Saratoga Lake, NY
[Readers never fail to amaze me with the breadth of accumulated knowledge.
As Editor, I stand corrected -ed.]
Dear Rovers North,
Really enjoyed the Winter 2023 issue and especially the article, “No Grey Poupon Here.” I have an English friend (and past Land Rover owner) who lives in Brittany, so I’ll post a copy of this article to him. I have provided a photo of my 1971 Series IIA doing urban agricultural work hauling salt marsh hay home to Cambridge with my six-month-old Westie, Duncan, lending a hand.
Seems Land Rovers can’t escape their genes when it comes to helping out with assistance, whether rural or urban.
Jim Hutchison
Cambridge, MA
[A West Highland terrier and a Land Rover can accomplish anything -ed.]
Dear Rovers North,
Having read Kevin Scott’s account of his cross-country journey in a ’67 Series IIA 109 in your Fall ’23 issue, brought back vivid memories of a similar trek I undertook in a then-new ’74 Series III 88”. However, that’s where similarities end, in that my cross-country odyssey occurred some forty-nine years ago! But that’s a tale for another day.
H.K. Salzinger
Arlington, VA
[It’s a tale that we would enjoy having your recount with our readers -ed.]
Dear Rovers North,
I just received my Winter 2023 issue of Rovers Magazine and thought of you for a possible
article. A client owns an all-original ’97 NAS Defender Station Wagon in a rare color, Arles Blue, with only 45,000 miles on it. Would Rovers Magazine be interested in featuring it in an article?
Chris Picconi
Jersey City, NJ
[We’re always on the hunt for interesting Land Rovers, as they’re usually owned and appreciated by interesting enthusiasts -ed.]
Dear Rovers North,
I’d like to take a quick moment to express my gratitude and appreciation for all you and Rovers North do for our business and for the Land Rover community.
Frankly, no other vendor shares our love for the brand, or the expertise community and passion for the Land Rover lifestyle that Rovers North does. We can confidently order from you knowing the parts you stock have been tried and tested, are unmatched in quality and in the rare instance that there is an issue with a part, you stand behind it and it is handled right away. We continually receive nothing but the best advice and service from you and your team.
This past summer at the Vineyard Series on Martha’s Vineyard, we launched Agulhas Bespoke, our custom build brand. Rovers North was a huge contributor in making Agulhas #1 possible and the major supplier of most of its parts.
We plan on attending all of the Vineyard Series events this year (Charleston, Nantucket, MV, etc.) to show our work and introduce some of our new builds.
Thanks again for everything and we look forward to continuing to work together!
Dean Kruuse
Independent Land Rover Specialists
N. Bethesda, MD
[Thanks for the very complimentary email, Dean, and congratulations on your custom Defender 110 HiCap -ed.]