The Way to Land Rover Widowhood

I never dreamt I would end up living a life dominated by Land Rovers, I mean what woman does? Somehow that is what I ended up with and for all of it’s quirks it is a life that I enjoy, most of the time. This is my attempt to explain just what living with a Land Rover Obsessive can be like.

It started in the way that many good stories do with girl meeting boy although in our case it was more life weary twenty-something meeting cynical thirty-something. That really is another story, instead it is enough to say that from the start I was aware that cars played an important part in the life of Him Outdoors. A one time mechanic he had been a boy racer and spent his free time working on rally teams. He was in short a first class petrol head, I on the other hand was not. I had never learnt to drive and came from a mostly non-driving family, I certainly did not know one end of an engine from the other but in time honoured fashion opposites were attracted and a relationship was born.

Even once we were a couple I never suspected that Land Rovers would come to take over my life. So maybe the early date to watch a Comp Safari should have been a clue but I was too in love to realise, I wanted to learn more about the things he enjoyed. I was to learn a lot more.

Before meeting Him Outdoors I honestly only had the barest awareness of what Land Rovers were. I thought that they were driven by farmers and the like and that Range Rovers were for those who thought them selves better than the rest of us. My only experiences of the marque had been mostly thanks to a gamekeeper friend of my grandfather, a teacher with a Range Rover and a Discovery owning chap I used to get an occasional lift home from work with. I could recognise a Land Rover, or at least a Land Rover badge, but that was about my limit. I certainly didn't understand the difference between Series landies and Defenders let alone between the Series I, II and III. And I am not about to bore you with them now because yes to those who aren't a part of the scene it is about as interesting as watching paint dry. Hell even to me now a discusion about the more subtle differences between the models is enough to have my eyes glazing over. I suppose that what I am trying to say is that I learnt quickly that the old adage if you can't beat them join them is very true.