Story by: Mike Koch Photos by: Matt Martin

It seemed all too familiar. At 5:45am, my alarm clock interrupted a great dream. Fumbling around my nightstand for my eyeglasses, I reluctantly rested them on my nose only to focus on the steady rain outside my bedroom windowing. Brilliant. Being the morning of British Invasion, it crossed my mind that this was some sort of payback for an episode of deferred maintenance on my 109” that the gods of vintage British cars were inflicting upon me.

They do have an odd sense of humour. My 109” and I had an enjoyable trip out to Westford, from Burlington (about a 15-mile drive, a commute for me five days/week), seeing as there was no commuter traffic to contend with and the fact that we were driving through “some fine English weather.” As I made my way through the rainy morning, I was thankful that had I applied a veritable coat of Rain X the day before, as my wipers were “on the blink” yet again. Amusingly enough, in a way only a British car enthusiast could appreciate, it was this weekend last year that they started acting up…and haven’t really ever stopped since! It was a damp, genuinely clammy morning and the meteorologists were forecasting rain all day. Resourcefully, I was appropriately dressed for the weather but the interior of my military 109”, with its ill-fitting aged canvas top, never let me forget the conditions outside. This was all a little too similar to the misty, damp Saturday morning of last year’s British Invasion in Stowe, VT. One good thing is that my 109” has been running a lot better than one year ago, when it could still be labeled a “recent acquisition.” I met my co-workers Art Limacher, Les Parker, and Rob Smith to convoy to Stowe in my 1978 military 109”, joining Les’ 1979 Air Portable.

Our camouflaged convoy made our way out of Westford, through Cambridge and Jeffersonville, and over the ‘Notch’ to Stowe, where we stopped for breakfast sandwiches and coffee. Up to this point, this was the highlight of our morning. After arriving at the decidedly waterlogged event site, I unloaded a collection of Land Rover parts from my 109” and backed it into its slip in the Rovers North display. Between my Land Rover and the droves of British sports cars pulling into the Invasion, the smell of rich uncatalyzed exhaust filled the air, choking us out

Once we had our display tent up and running, the Rovers North British Invasion Team took turns manning our vendor tent and walking the show, greeting both customers and fellow enthusiasts. In this case, “walking the show” meant wading through ankle deep mud and water more often than not. Thankfully, my LL Bean Gortex Thinsulate boots were keeping my feet both warm and dry. The rainfall would wax and wane throughout the day, in an almost uncanny correspondence to the size of the crowds under our tent! There were rows upon rows of British sports cars in attendance, but not nearly as many Land Rovers as I would’ve liked.

Having attending the show for some years now, it was refreshing to see several notably unique cars that we hadn’t seen there before. At the same time, it was somewhat disappointing to see the same familiar Land Rovers, rather than some new faces as we would’ve liked. The weather was ideal for Land Rovers and perfect for towing mired MGs, Jaguars, Triumphs, and so forth out of the mud while using the aforementioned Land Rovers. I’m putting out a call to fellow Land Rover enthusiasts to enjoy a weekend in the good company of Rovers North and the kind folks who sponsor the British Invasion for 2008! Let’s hope for some drier weather and more vibrant foliage next year. Perhaps by then, I’ll stop using such colorful language with regards to the weather at the 2007 British Invasion.

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