Premium bikini hood for Series II/IIA and III Land Rovers from Heritage 1948

Price: £188-£203

Available from: www.heritage1948.co.uk

SUMMER IS COMING, as they didn’t used to say in Game of Thrones. Hard as it is to believe as we write this, with the rain battering on our windows outside in the dark and Chelsea still only on their second manager of the season, but the days are drawing out and soon we’ll be enjoying glorious evenings of dappled sunlight as we sip Pimms and lemonade on the veranda. Or something like that.

If you have the good fortune to own a classic Land Rover, the something like that in question is apt to involve the wind in your hair, the flies in your teeth and the faint smell of diff oil in your nostrils. But mainly, enjoying the fact that you drive the coolest thing in the world.

Here’s a fact. Whether you drive an angry street racer, a menacing German power machine, an Italian supercar or any kind of luxury status symbol, one of the great truths of life is that you think all those people are looking at you in admiration.

One of the other great truths of life is that they’re thinking how much of a tosser you look.

Happily, there’s a third great truth in life too. Which is that when you’ve driving an old Land Rover with a bikini hood, those same people look at you and smile. Even the sort of lunatic who thinks a farmer’s work wagon is the same as a suit’s SUV struggles to find something to hate an a classic with it all laid bare.

So, with summer coming and all that, it’s the perfect time to think about the Bude. This is a new bikini soft-top from Heritage 1948, with versions for the 88” and 109” Series II/IIA and III.

Made uses heavy-du- saddlers cotton webbing and 100% real brass buckles, tips and eyelets throughout, all of which sounds like the right sort of stuff. The company says proudly that it’s designed, developed and hand-made in Somerset, and that no expense has been spared in making it the best on the market.

‘The Bikini hood can be removed and put on in under a minute,’ says Heritage 1948. ‘A fuss-free alternative so you can enjoy almost open-top driving while still having the reassurance of protection from showers and sun.’

Whether the full top-off-andscreen-down look can be improved upon is for you to decide. Whether said look has any form of practical use to it is less of a debating point. Either way, get one of these in your life and however cool you feel, the people looking at you will think you’re even cooler. It’s worth buying a Series Land Rover just so you can have one.

ALSO FOR SERIES LANDIES, the latest new kit from Lucas Classic includes a replacement 45D distributor cap for petrol-engined Series IIA and IIIs (far right). If yours is older still, the range also now includes a 6J junction box cover for the 1948-1958 Series I (left) and a floor-mounted dip switch (right), again for the Series I but this time from 1955 onwards. It’s all to be found at lucasclassic4x4.com.