18
w w w. t h e l a n d y. c o . u k
News
Issue 13: March 2014
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CARRY ON
‘i’ve got everything I need in here. Cooker, sink,wardrobe…’
CAMPING Dave Blackburn wasn’t looking for a super-rare classic Range Rover, but a chance comment in a pub led to him becoming the owner of an original Carawagon. It did come in kit form, and he’s changed the engine twice himself since buying it with a Perkins tractor lump under the bonnet, but that’s never put him off – and today he’s got a classic that’s not just a great holiday machine, it’s a daily driver he can rely on to be good at absolutely everything
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and Rovers and camping are made to go hand-in-hand together. Just pack up your stuff in your very practical and desirable truck, get to your destination with minimal hassle – because you can of course drive anywhere – and enjoy all that there is to offer upon your majestic arrival. Splendid, job done, a fantastic holiday guaranteed… right? Wrong. For those of you familiar with Britain – and you should be, seeing as it’s where you live – the weather can be, let’s say, questionable. Erecting a tent in Britain’s fabulous weather can in some cases be like trying to pole-vault in a hurricane. Someone will get hurt.
Words and pictures Mike Trott Still, there are solutions to this problem. Dave Blackburn has one, and he’s been driving it to Wales, Norfolk, the supermarket, work and everywhere else for the past 15 years. ‘It never fails to do anything I ask of it,’ says Dave happily. He’s referring to his 1974 Range Rover Classic, which was one of the few to receive a camping conversion from R.J. Searle Ltd of Sunbury-on-Thames. So it’s a classic, a rarity and a great Land Rover to boot. No wonder he’s made up. Yet it took a certain level of provocation for him to buy the Rangey in the first place. ‘I was in the pub with my mates, talking about how I was getting fed up
of short-wheelbase Land Rovers and tents, when one of them mentioned that they had the parts from an old Searle conversion.’ Dave explains how the price of the conversion on a new Range Rover was horrendously expensive back when they were new, adding that for some it was on the small side for a camper, too. ‘The previous owners had sold the Range Rover without the conversion,’ he explains, ‘and replaced the roof with a very 70s and 80s vinyl roof in order to get a sale.’ If vinyl roofs make you think of Allegros and late Cortinas, you’ll be shivering with horror right now. It’s all come back together, anyway, and Dave is the proud owner of what is
Keeping the Rangey’s face looking as original as possible, its winch is hidden behind a standard-looking front bumper. The grille hasn’t been chopped up to fit it, either – in a delightful touch, the Carawagon badge lifts up for access to the freespool lever