Story and Photo by: John Poole

[John Poole, Olive Branch, MS, is a manufacturing engineer who lives outside of Memphis, TN, with his Land Rovers, an MG, a Triumph and his motorcycles. –ed.]

The South has a heritage of storytelling and here in Mississippi, the home of William Faulkner, we do that as well as anyone. So here’s a story that only a Land Rover could tell.

It’s been two years now since Paul, my father and my uncles Richard Poole and Keith Sumrall took me along on a trip to retrieve a most unusual Land Rover, a rare 1967 109” Dormobile with a 2.6 liter six cylinder engine. This Dormobile had traveled the world and ended up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The trip took seven hours from my home in Olive Branch, MS; about halfway into the trip, we stopped in Madison, MS, to pick up my uncles and to convoy the remaining distance to Baton Rouge. There, we met up with its owner, Mike Moore, who sat us down for a great story about the Rover.

Every Land Rover owner has a soft spot for these camper versions of the Land Rover. The Dormobile was housed within the corporate confines of Martin Walter Limited, Folkestone, Kent. It took a conventional long wheelbase Land Rover and unbolted the metal top, replacing it with a fiberglass piece that would tilt upwards to one side. As it went up a folding canvas enclosure would elevate upward and leftward, exposing an angled roof. That gave you standing headroom and another berth for sleeping. With the removal of the front seat bulkhead the Dormobile’s special “Dormatic” seats would fold down into bed or seats around an inside table. Water tanks, a small sink, a stove, electric lights –even a chemical toilet – and cupboards completed the self-enclosed camper. It seems you could even purchase special teapots, cups, saucers, even cutlery unique to the Dormobile. If you can visualize an old VW Camper, then you have the outline in your mind of a Dormobile.

This particular Dormobile was built for a Mr. Peck, an eccentric Canadian who believed that nuclear annihilation was inevitable. To survive the end of the world as he knew it, he bought many acres and constructed a compound in the wilds of British Columbia. There he installed a hydroelectric generator to assure power and purchased the Dormobile for survival transportation. The 2.6 six-cylinder engine was the largest Rover would install in the Land Rover at the time; while it had great torque and extra horsepower over the 2.25 liter four-cylinder, its pre-war design rendered it a poor choice for long-term, full throttle running. Nevertheless, it would propel the Rover effectively. To further bolster the vehicle, Peck also ordered the stronger ENV axles front and rear. As a custom feature, this Dormobile includes a wine rack and extra cabinetry in lieu of some seating. There were also brackets installed so the folding table could be used, under an awning, outdoors in nice weather.

When the world avoided nuclear warfare, Peck decided to travel the world in his Dormobile. As was the custom of world travelers in the ‘60’s, he painted the name of each nation he visited: England, Scotland, Switzerland, Wales, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Austria, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. You can still see the faded outline of Arabic script on the roof that loosely translates into “We’re your friends.” One can only assumed it worked as Peck returned with his Dormobile to Canada. He remained in British Columbia until his death in 1991.

The Dormobile then wound up as an expedition vehicle for Green Road Wilderness Expeditions. Ray Wood’s company would take sportsmen and adventurers deep into the forests of British Columbia, and the Dormobile proved a useful addition to his fleet of 109”s.

Within a year, Mike continued, he had seen the Dormobile advertised in Hemmings Motor News. With my uncle Richard (who also owns a Dormobile) he flew up to Vancouver, BC, intent on purchasing the car. Showing all the usual caution of a Land Rover enthusiast Mike purchased it on the spot. In the GRWE shop, Mike installed new brakes and a set of new springs to ready it for the trip home.

Without hesitation Mike and Richard now set out on the 2,000 mile trip to Louisiana. There was some puzzlement at the Canadian border as the officials tried to determine why two Americans were driving a car with Canadian license plates, full of spare parts and luggage, out of their country. After some delicate negotiations, they were allowed to leave Canada and proceed on the week-long trip to Baton Rouge.

Mike recounted many trips in the Dormobile – including his honeymoon. When the unique fuel pump failed, Mike searched high and low for an exact replacement. “I wanted to keep it original,” he noted, “and not use a replacement pump.” As family responsibilities piled up, Mike accepted Richard’s offer to store this Dormobile right next to Richard’s ’65 Dormobile in Mississippi. After Mike’s tale, we looked at the Dormobile with a newfound respect. We pulled the car out from under a lean-to, feeling the yank of a stuck front wheel. Pulling the car forward did not free the brake but a tug on the rear of the car released the shoes on the drum. We put the Dormobile on a trailer and brought it back to Mississippi.

We’re moving forward gently with the car. Turning the engine with a crank demonstrates its not stuck, even though it has not been run in many years. We’ll sort out the brakes and hydraulics, check the fuel system, change out all the fluids, and have her running in no time. Right now, the two Dormobiles are undoubtedly telling stories with each other and sharing their tales of travel with the MGB-GT, Triumph TR-4A and motorcycles housed in the same shed. Then it will be ready for new adventures, and probably, more tall tales.

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