“Maybe I’m a little impulsive,” understates St. Pete’s Liam Hawkins about his 1962 Land Rover Series 2A. “I just saw it for sale on a street and bought it!”
Boxy and slow, his Land Rover is the antithesis of every collector car, but Hawkins, a cybersecurity expert, treasures the impeccably restored 62-year-old example.
Made famous by movies featuring John Wayne bounding across Africa in “Hatari” to “Crocodile Dundee” in Australia, the Land Rover is completely simple: no power steering, no electric windows, no power brakes and no air conditioning (unless you count hinging the windshield forward onto the hood). Doors were standard, but any top was an option.
The vehicle of choice for Britain’s legendary Special Air Service (SAS), it was also beloved by everyone from Kiwi sheep farmers to the Mayfair high society of London. Hawkins’ is finished in traditional Atlantic Green, but with 52 hp (not much more than a riding lawnmower), his Land Rover isn’t a freeway flyer.
Hawkins admits, “I drive it downtown, but it never leaves the county!” Although he is not an off-road enthusiast, his Land Rover is ready: devotees say that if you put sticky tires on it, you can climb Mt. Everest.
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