Jeffrey AronsonDaryl Beasley, Portsmouth, VA, has close connections with the Outer Banks. “My father was born in Penny’s Hill, home of the largest sand dune on the Outer Banks, near Corolla Beach on a family compound of 90 acres. Formally, the house was the Penny’s Hill Hunt Club, but to my family, it was just ‘the beach house.’ My mom was born and raised in Corolla and taught at the one-room schoolhouse. I often visit my extended family who still live on the Outer Banks.”
I sat in the passenger’s seat of Daryl’s RHD ’91 Defender 90 pickup with its 200 Tdi engine. It turned out to be my perfect introduction to the Outer Banks. We traveled south from Virginia Beach, VA, and took the Wright Memorial Bridge in Point Harbor, NC (yes, those Wright Brothers), across Currituck Sound, then north from Kitty Hawk. The hours passed quickly as Daryl regaled me with stories from his decades in this northern reach of the expansive barrier islands. No island or peninsula in the Outer Banks exceeds three miles in width. The western shore lies alongside Currituck Sound, a stretch of the Intracoastal Waterway that starts near Norfolk, VA, and ends 1,000 miles southwest in Key West, FL.
We headed toward the unincorporated village of Corolla, NC. [I mispronounced it as if it were a Toyota, immediately branding myself as a tourist -ed.] Daryl knew of its history as a remote getaway, with simple beach houses nestled in the enormous dunes, some serving as family retreats and others as hunt clubs. The Currituck Lighthouse still stands in Corolla, as does the Whalehead, a stunning 1920s mansion, now a museum and event space. Daryl’s tales of youthful shenanigans (to which I’ve sworn to secrecy) and generational histories made the two-hour drive go by very quickly.
This trip last October came courtesy of a collaboration between Checkered Flag Motors/Land Rover Virginia Beach, and the Land Rover Experience, Asheville, NC. Michael Wood, General Manager of Checkered Flag Land Rover, wanted his Defender customers to stretch their understanding of their vehicles’ capabilities. In order to best comprehend their Land Rovers, he called up the Land Rover Experience in Asheville, NC. Michael told me, “We want to change the overall ownership experience, and this event with the Land Rover Experience was created to enhance life with their Defenders.”
The resulting collaboration featured skilled instruction from experts on the Defender L663, driving along miles of beaches, meeting new enthusiasts, seeing wild horses, and enjoying fine food and wines. The Checkered Flag Defender OBX Beach Experience had the added benefit of occurring on my birthday weekend.
Matt Albritton leads the team at the Land Rover Experience in Asheville. “We wanted to solidify the reason that the owner bought their Defender. On a day-to-day basis, enthusiast owners bring their Defenders to our center, but we wanted to take the Experience to
demonstrate the features of their Land Rovers on their local terrain.” The team had some familiarity with the Outer Banks but spent a few days in advance mapping out the ideal route along the public beaches and lanes between the sand dunes.
For this training day, instructors Alastar Herbert and Darren Moore (also a Biltmore fly fishing and sporting clay instructor) joined Matt and 25 Defender enthusiasts on the Outer Banks village of Corolla early Saturday morning. Using coffee, doughnuts and bagels quite effectively as lures, Matt gathered up the attendees and explained the day’s activities. The LRE team, aided by Checkered Flag’s Garret Madigan (sales), Collin Glans and Mike Schiano (service techs), helped owners lower their tire pressures and choose the best Terrain Response settings.
Eskimo-Aleut languages have over 50 words to describe the many variations of snow; on this day, I realized that I could have used multiple terms for the types of sand under our wheels. The Defender L663 owners found that their vehicle adapted instantly to the constantly changing density and depth of the sand. When Daryl offered to let me drive his Defender L316, the only effective traction control came from the accelerator pedal, steering wheel and gearshift. As with my Series Land Rovers and my Discovery I, the task of assuring traction rested with me as the driver. I delighted in the challenge of adapting quickly to the changes I felt through the throttle, gear selection and tugs through the steering wheel. I’d be fibbing if I did not admit that the newer Defenders progressed faster along the beaches. I marveled at the capability of the Defender L663 to accomplish the drive with far less drama.
We crossed public trails between large dunes and found some hard-packed sand roads that held water from recent rains, thus enabling the near-obligatory water crossings. You can only imagine the excitement when a Land Rover convoy came across a stuck vehicle whose marque shall remain anonymous; the Land Rover Experience team provided the necessary winching to get them out.
In total, the convoy enjoyed nearly 50 miles and 5 hours of driving and sightseeing before arriving in Carova at a rented beach house for a light lunch and wine tasting, featuring sommelier Todd Elliott of the Napa Valley Far Niente winery. Mike Wood’s beach house to be home base for the day; the expansive views of the island from an upper floor balcony were spectacular. Even the Outer Banks’ fabled wild horses stopped by for a personal appearance.
The event clearly succeeded in animating the owners’ responses to their Defenders. Wade and Ashley Adler, Cape Charles, VA (“We live across Chesapeake Bay from Virginia Beach”), now each have a Defender 110 with the P300 engine. “We bought Ashley’s Defender before we moved from North Carolina,” Wade explained. “I had owned a Jeep Wrangler as a ‘play toy,’ but once I stopped in at Checkered Flag Motors, I realized that I, too, wanted a Defender.”
The Adlers already knew the value of Land Rover Experience trainings as they had attended one at the Land Rover Experience in Vermont, but this event really hit home. “Not long after the OBX Event, we went by ourselves to the Outer Banks north to Corolla. It was a nasty day weatherwise, but we felt quite comfortable driving it, thanks to the training we received that day.”
Alexander Meyer, a Brit working in Norfolk, VA, grew up learning to drive using his mother’s Series III, the family’s daily driver. He opened the door to his Defender 110 and let me wallow in the handsomely designed interior — what a change from my Series IIAs and my Discovery I. “Mike Wood convinced me to trade in my Discovery Sport for a ‘23 Defender 110,” Alexander said, “and I’m delighted with it.” We swapped stories about his decades in England and my family’s English and Welsh branches, and his considerable time spent in other countries and different cultures.
Alexander noted, “I’ve had many off-road driving experiences, but I have to say that the Outer Banks Defender Day was most memorable. Matt Albritton and his team really impressed me with their positive attitudes, their infectious enthusiasm for the vehicles and utter professionalism. Combined with the great beach setting, we not only learned a great deal but, crucially, enjoyed ourselves immensely. What I enjoyed most was that the LRE team conveyed the uniqueness, loyalty and purpose of the marque, converting owners into enthusiasts.”
“Under Mike Wood’s leadership, the team led a masterclass in how to inclusively take a whole group of virtual strangers from a baseline of off-road knowledge to where even novices could enjoy new-found confidence in their vehicles. For more experienced drivers, they enjoyed a great sense of community with like-minded enthusiasts, but for me and many others, I was learning a huge amount of my new Defender’s formidable capabilities. The clarity of delivery, the practical demonstrations and quality of instruction were all of the highest standard. New friendships were formed and new events and trips were planned.”
Despite being stuck with me all day, Daryl Beasley said, “It was a wonderful, beautiful day, mixing with excellent people. The Land Rover Experience team was so professional and helpful; the new enthusiasts I spoke with said they did a great job of instruction. I know the area well, and there were only a couple possible places they missed. I predict that our 757 Rovers group will look to create an overnight drive in the Outer Banks this year.”
Land Rover Virginia Beach
In 1964, Ed Snyder founded Checkered Flag Motors, which brought MG, Austin Healey and Jaguar model lines to the Norfolk, VA, region. Sixty years later, Ed’s family corporation dealerships represent 17 different brands — including Land Rover starting in 2013.
Michael Wood, General Manager of Checkered Flag Motors’ Land Rover Virginia Beach, believes in fostering “the entire ownership experience,” and that became the reason behind the Defender OBX Beach Experience. “The future I want is that customers come in and we talk about the total experience they have with their Land Rover vehicles, not just when they’re spending funds on the purchase or their service needs. I want to create a level of loyalty to our dealership and its JLR models that cannot be met by competitors.”