1 minute read
MY PASSION
Bess Heath's custom-built Land Rovers
When I was younger, it was a family road trip around Norway that made me instantly fall in love with Land Rovers. And I’ve wanted to recreate the experience ever since. The Land Rover that I have at the moment is named ‘Larry the Landy’. I want to keep him for a while, and turn him into a camper. Then do a bit of travelling and put a roof-rack on him to accommodate a tent.
My very first one was a lightweight Land Rover, which I built with my brothers from the ground up. It was very run-down, which meant we had to take it all apart, change the parts and fix the things that we could. After that, I continued to buy old Land Rovers from eBay, doing them up to the best of my ability.
I would love to travel around Europe, and the NC500 route in Scotland is on my bucket list - one of my brothers did it in a Fiat 500. Going cross-country is the dream. And as the other two ‘Landies’ are offroad vehicles, I love going ‘greenlaning’ with them.
Land Rovers are quite simple machines. Stripping them down shows you that they’re just nuts and bolts. My parents wanted me to understand my vehicle, so I could see the warning signs if something went wrong. Doing this means that I now know the tricks of the trade, if I break down, as long as I have the tools, I can fix it and carry on. Instead of calling the AA, for example, I get to enjoy fixing my car and not worry about insurance.
I’m very protective of Larry, I’m definitely not putting anyone else on the insurance. I enjoy the fixing part of the process, but only so far as it's mine, my little baby. My dream is to have multiple Land Rovers that I’ve built, all sat in the garage.
