Story and Photo by: John Poole
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.

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Story by: Sonja Palomino Photos by: Janet Poelsma
It’s the Day After Tomorrow in Davenport, Florida. Today is February 16 at the Wallaby Ranch, the new site for the Florida Winter Roundup. It’s a freezing Friday night. Now I know what you’re thinking… freezing…in Florida…yeah, right. Really, it was freezing! As the sun dropped, so did the temperature. By 11:00pm, frost had covered the tents of the assembled enthusiasts. Some gathered around the blazing group campfire to join in warm conversation about the day’s events. Several of us remained by the fire for several hours, mostly out of fear of walking away from the heat just to go into a cold tent and praying that your sleeping bag will be thick enough to keep in the body heat. Remember, we are Florida folk. At about 3:00am we stoked the fire by adding several large logs hoping that in the morning we would be able to get it going with little effort. (…)

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Story & Photos by Jason Gottlilieb
[Jason Gottlieb, Boston, MA, has “an affinity for clunky-looking metal contraptions.” This would explain the 30-year old’s fascination with his Series Land Rovers. He uses them on his family’s farm when he tires of his financial service webcasting position and urban cycling. Here’s how he keeps them down on the farm –ed.]
Christmas morning – a time that, for me, is always much more about bringing together the people I care about and eating good food combined with lots of laughter. The days of looking forward to gifts have long passed for me. I feel I really have everything I could ever need and have moved in a direction of becoming much less “material” in the last several years.
This Christmas, however, was different. I arrived at the “family farm” in Gilmanton, New Hampshire to spend a Christmas day roaming around in the ’67 Series II-A on the property. (…)

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Story by: Randy Dickson
[Randy Dickson, White River Junction, VT, once taught auto mechanics to vocational high school students. Once electronic ignitions took over, he chose to become an Industrial Arts teacher of woodworking in middle schools. Along with his Sheltie, Molly, he’s an avid local history buff who raises a significant issue with us –ed.]
My family purchased a 1969 Series II-A 88” SW, the short-term “bug eye” model. My father selected it to replace a Willys Station Wagon with the flathead 6-cylinder. The Willys performed well but had lost a battle to the rapid rust of Cape Cod sand and salt. It probably didn’t help that we drove through salt water to our home when there was a full moon tide! Dad liked the idea of the Rover’s aluminum alloy body, and the 4-speed gearbox [Willys and early AMC Jeeps had only 3- speed gearboxes -ed]. It was Land Rover green, had the rear seats for four (child-size), and a bonnet-mounted spare. (…)

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Dear Rovers North,
Thanks for reprinting the Land Rover Enthusiast article a couple of years ago [Summer 2005 article by Kevin Girling -ed] about Land Rover Centurion Adventures in South Africa. I was finally able to go this past week for a 7 day Ivory Route trip. It was absolutely fabulous and well done. Our guide, Gerard van Megaarden, was very professional and knowledgeable. I wrote a journal of the trip and took hundreds of pictures to remember it by. The Defender 110’s with the Tdi motor worked so well in the challenging off road environment. If anyone wants information, please have them contact me.
Paul Kiszely
Via Email
[You can contact Paul through pzkisz [at] hotmail.com. We’d love to share your experience with our readers, too –ed]
Dear Rovers North,
I have to say that Rovers North News keeps getting better. Erika, my daughter, and I thoroughly enjoy it! Erika is quite a Rover enthusiast and hopes to drive one of them to school when she gets her license. (…)

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