Dear Rovers North,
The Spring 2006 issue of The Rovers North News was my first. I enjoyed the “Greetings from Iceland” article. I can’t wait to get home to my Land Rover

SFC Michael Lopez
Killeen, TX
(Currently residing in Baghdad, Iraq)

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Dear Rovers North,
Thank you for publishing The Rovers North News! My wonderful wife forwards it out to me and I spend days reading every article and reviewing my wish list of replacement parts. I must confess to a fair amount of jealousy at my wife’s mug which she received last year for a Sighting. Her Rovers North mug is a prized possession during our morning coffee. She allows my use of her mug on special occasions.

Maj. Stephen M. Dickerson, USMC
(Currently residing in Al Taqaddum, Iraq)

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Dear Mark,
I just wanted to give you a very big thank you for our recent order! I placed a large order for my fiancé, who is currently deployed overseas serving in the US Army, of Land Rover goodies for him to tinker with when he is home on R & R.

He was thrilled to get your recent Summer 2006 issue of The Rovers North News, something he looks forward to when the mail arrives on base. Your service is always phenomenal and your organization is exceptionally professional. Keep up the good work!

Melissa N
Dallas, TX
1998 Discovery Series 1
2001 Discovery Series II
2002 Discovery Series II

[We know of many Land Rover enthusiasts serving in our armed forces at this time; here’s to your safe return and future enjoyment of your Land Rovers –ed.]

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Dear Rovers North,
Thanks for the last issue of the Rovers North News. It’s always well-received. Naturally, I enjoy the Series (“serious”) bits the best. I have trouble thinking of the later plastic-laden models as being real Land Rovers. I’d love to fit one of your Hi-Ratio overdrives as – by comparison – my old Fairey overdrive only adds about half that increase. I can crank out 65 mph, but the engine is doing about 3200-3500 RPM and it worries me on the expressway. Plus, my “captive ball” steering is a bit worn and tends to “wander” requiring constant and considerable correction. I call it a “quirk.” My lady friend calls it “diabolical,” unless she needs something moved or hauled (Ha!)! But unless the Fairey explodes or something, as a newly “redundant” retiree, I’ll have to deal with it. At $1400, yours sounds lovely.

Glenn Shriver
Chicago, IL

[Fairey overdrives wear less if you keep the hypoid topped up and changed regularly. They usually make a lot of noise and pop out of gear before they fail. I have over 100,000 miles on my current one. I, too, will look towards a Hi-Ratio Transfer Box when the time comes for replacement As you know, unless your steering box and/or relay are totally worn out, you should be able to adjust the worst of steering vagueness out of your system. Check your tie rod ends and tires, too. And as disagreeable as you might find it, those “plastic Land Rovers” started up with the first Range Rover in 1970 and the Series III in 1972. Even the Defender requires the use of plastic products to be sold in the UK and Europe. As a Series II-A owner myself, I grit my teeth every time a Range Rover or Discovery ambles through an off road stretch that leaves my Land Rover heaving and shaking – to say nothing of my passenger! –ed]

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Dear Rovers North,
Thank you very much for the mug! The fact that you sourced the mugs from England speaks volumes for your company.

We really enjoy our Rovers (a ’97 Discovery and a ’92 Range Rover County) and look forward to keeping them on their feet for years to come, with your support, of course! Our four-legged rovers, Mick and Elvis, love riding in their Rovers, too.
Jay Beale
Bryans Road, MD

[Staying authentic to the core qualities of the Land Rover experience is not always easy but its worth all the effort – thanks for your compliments- ed.]

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Dear Sir,
After a successful hunting season in 2005 I decided that it was time to add a hood ornament to my 1998 Discovery. After thinking it over I did not think that the police would like my idea. So I decided to turn them into a house decoration, instead. Thank goodness for an understanding wife.

Doug Wilson
Thornton, NH

[A wife who would not want a pair of moose antlers bolted on the hood of the family Discovery? Are you sure she’s “understanding?” –ed]

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Dear Mark and Rovers North Staff:
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each of you for the fine job you have done in assisting me over the years with the regular maintenance items needed for my Land Rovers. In addition, I really enjoy receiving and reading The Rovers North News. As soon as I receive each issue I read it from cover to cover! I especially enjoy reading the Letters to the Editor section and stories about your customer’s experiences with their Land Rovers. Keep up the great work! I would greatly appreciate it if you could please forward several of your Rovers North stickers. Thank you very much for your excellent customer service and total support of your Land Rover/Range Rover customers.

Sean J. Donohue
Lake George, NY
2004 Discovery Series II SE
2002 Discovery Series II SE

[We enjoy receiving stories from readers about their experiences, great and small, in their Land Rovers. The Discovery Series I’s and II’s are rapidly becoming the vehicle of choice for Land Rover enthusiasts. You live in a stunning region of New York; enjoy you Land Rover life –ed.]

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Dear Rovers North,
I’m the contact for the Minnesota Land Rovers. I just got through the most recent, delightful Rovers North News and noted that an Eric Stussy was mentioned twice! I don’t know who he is but he sounds like our kind of feller! He lives in Minneapolis but is not a member of our club. I can only guess this because he does not know about our club. He must be a private fellow because his telephone is not listed in the telephone book. I am wondering if you could maintain his privacy and still let him know we exist. I just like getting Land Rover people together.

Garrick Olsen
Hastings, MN

[All information provided to Rovers North is confidential, but Eric, if you’re reading this issue, please log onto  www.MNLandRovers.org and see if you’re interested in meeting other Land Rover enthusiasts –ed]

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Dear Rovers North,
Keep up the good work with the Rovers North News. I can’t wait to read it when the next issue comes out.

Robert Wollschlager
Mystic, CT
[Keep sending us your entertaining Sightings, too! –ed]

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Happy Summer!
I enjoy sighting Rovers, almost as much as I enjoy sighting The Rovers North News in my mailbox.

Brian Riley
Minneapolis, MN

[Thanks for your delighted response to the News; we love publishing it, too! –ed]

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Dear Sir,
I enjoy your paper. Keep up the good work.

Allan Brown
Jackson, NJ

[Thanks, Allan. We’ll keep trying! –ed]

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Hi Guys,
I am a Rover fool. I have a ’65 109” pickup and am working with a friend to rebuild my ’66 88” SW. Look for an order coming from me soon once we figure out what we need for our engine rebuild.

Peter Hood
St. Petersburg, FL

[If you need those engine parts delivered personally, preferably during the New England winter months, ask for me – please? – ed]

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Hi Mark and Jeffrey,
Much like the African tsetse fly infects you with sleeping sickness, I have been bitten by the Land Rover bug! I own a ’93 Range Rover Classic SWB and a ’64 Series II-A 88” RHD. I just recently started buying spares from Rovers North. The service is tremendous. I also started getting your magazine, The Rovers North News. Keep up the great work!

Dendy Jarrett
Nashville, TN

[We help you deal with your Land Rover “bug.” Let Rovers North know anytime what we can do to help you get the most out of your Land Rover life –ed]

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Dear Rovers North,
I want to say “thanks” for supplying the parts that keep my ’91 Range Rover Classic on the road!

Kimberly Bufton
Galveston, TX

[We hope that you and your Range Rover stay dry this hurricane season along the Gulf of Mexico -ed]

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Greetings,
Here’s a real-life, not media Sighting. Land Rover owners are fairly scarce here in Manitoba, Canada, so I always have my eye out for them. This week past, I was driving on the Trans-Canada Highway out to a country property I have about 150 km west of Winnipeg. About a mile before my turnoff at Austin, I noticed a camper pickup pulled off on the service road. Something about the shape of the front end caught my eye and, sure enough, as I went past I saw a Land Rover. Turned off at the next road and came back on the service road to where it was parked. I discovered if was a Defender 110 fitted out with a camper body, and the travelers were German. They were Eugen and Helga Tiefert, from Stuttgart. I first had to explain to them that in spite of my jumping out of a ¾ ton Chevy Silverado diesel 4×4, I was in fact a Land Rover buff ( I was wearing my Land Rover hat) and owner of a 1982 ex- MOD Series III 109”. I admired Eugen’s Defender, as he has fitted it out himself with auxiliary tanks, snorkel, manual winch, spare coil springs on the front bumper, shovels of all kinds, and such. He said he had done up the camper himself – it has cartoons of exotic locales on the sides. They said they had shipped the Land Rover to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and were traveling across Canada. They had stopped to take some photos of the flatlands before heading up to the Manitoba escarpment. As fitted out for serious expeditions as it was, it seemed most of their trip must have been highway driving – as crappy as the roads are here.

Mark Perry
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA

[Land Rovers not only connect people to the world, but they connect the people of the world, too –ed]