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List of early overland expeditions, rallies and challenging journeys from 1949-1969 using Series I, II and IIA Land Rovers.
The Land Rover Series I, II, and III (commonly referred to as series Land Rovers, to distinguish them from later models) are off-road vehicles produced by the British manufacturer Land Rover that were inspired by the US-built Willys Jeep. In 1992, Land Rover claimed that 70% of all the vehicles they had built were still in use. Series I Land Rovers were produced from 1948-1958, Series II from 1958-1961 and Series IIA from 1961-1971. (Series III, not dealt with here, was constructed from 1971-1985.) This is a list of early Land Rover expeditions.
Good source: https://sites.google.com/site/landroverseriesone/history/expeditions but note some of their dates are wrong (ie Barbara Toy's groundbreaking journeys are listed as taking place much later than they did - start date possibly based on the date of publication of her first book.)
Another good source: Land Rover: The Unbeatable 4 X 4 by K Slavin, J Slavin and G N Mackie
1949. Colonel Leblanc. 80" Series I Land Rover. UK to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). "It was he [Leblanc] in fact who first started the Land-Rover expedition tradition, by taking his brand new 80-inch model to Abyssinia, as long ago as 1949, when the Land-Rover was scarcely one year old and completely untried."[2][3]
1950–1. Barbara Toy. First Expedition. Gibraltar to Baghdad and back to UK. Was in Gibraltar for Christmas 1950; visited Max Mallowan's excavations at Nimrud in Iraq in May 1951. Drove back to the UK.[4] Drove a 1950 80" soft-top Series I Land Rover, "Pollyanna", registration KYH 628.[5] Described in A Fool on Wheels: Tangier to Baghdad by Land-Rover by Barbara Toy, first published in 1955. Solo.
1951. M. Lapalu (?and other person(s) unknown) entered a Land Rover in the 16,000 mile trans Africa Algiers to Cape Town Rally, organised by the Algiers Motor Club; the Land Rover came joint first along with a Willys Jeep and a Delahaye'Coloniale' pickup - there were no British entrants apart from Land Rover. The racers were two months on the road, reaching Cape Town in March 1951.[6][7][8][9][10]
1952. Colonel Leblanc's first sales expedition. Trans Africa. One Land Rover and one car, a Rover P4; two man team, Leblanc and Roger McCahey (who drove the Land Rover). Left 27 February 1952. Algiers in Algeria to Nairobi in Kenya 'and back up the other side'.[11]
1952. Barbara Toy. Second Expedition. Libya. 1950 80" Series I Land Rover, "Pollyanna", registration KYH 628, soft top replaced with station wagon body prior to trip. Six or seven month expedition. Left UK March or April 1952; arrived back in the UK (Dundee) October 1952. Described in A Fool in the Desert: Journey in Libya by Barbara Toy, first published in 1956. Solo.
1952. Alwyn Bisschoff. Crossing the Sani Pass, Lesotho. Maseru to Mokhotlong, end of 1952. Not that many miles but difficult terrain.[12]
1953. Barbara Toy. Third Expedition. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. 1950 80" Series I Land Rover, "Pollyanna", registration KYH 628. Described in A Fool Strikes Oil: Across Saudi Arabia by Barbara Toy, first published in 1957. Solo.
1953. The Beak family. Trans Africa journey. Bath, UK to Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Left 22 January 1953, arrived Salisbury 15 March 1953. Team.[13]
1953. George and Joy Adamson. Trans Africa journey. Nairobi, Kenya, through Uganda, French Equatoria (now DRC, CAR and Cameroon), Nigeria, Algeria and eventually into Europe. Left Nairobi on 21 March 1953. Described in Bwana Game: The Life Story of George Adamson by George Adamson, first published in 1968. Team.[13][14]
1954. Colonel Leblanc Land Rover testing expedition. 4 Land Rovers. Left UK March 1954, returned August 1954. UK to Sahara, Nigeria, the Cameroons, the Belgian Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Abyssinia and Eritrea to Suez. A sea-crossing will be made to Beirut for a journey through the Middle East via Bagdad, and thence over roadless mountains in Turkey to Greece and back to UK across Europe. 22,000 miles.[15][16] Photo:[17] Interestingly in the photo which is captioned "25th February 1954: Members of the Trans-Africa team pose for photographs outside the Rover factory in Birmingham. The Landrovers will travel over 25,000 miles, something never before attempted, over the Sahara, through the Belgian Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), into the Middle East via the Nile Valley and back through Turkey. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)" there are six men and two women (it is of course possible that the women were office staff involved with the expedition). Four Land Rovers in shot. Team.
1954–5. Operation Roverland. Tasmania to England. H. Hill-Venning, K. J. B. Teesdale and Mrs Teesdale. Hobart, Tasmania, across Australia, then (presumably shipped to) Ceylon, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and across Europe to London. Left Hobart July 1954; arrived London July 1955. 32,000 miles. Team.[18]
1950s. Laurens van der Post. Various expeditions to the Kalahari, including the famous one of 1955. Team.
1955–6. Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition. 1 September 1955–6 March 1956. Described in First Overland: London-Singapore by Land Rover by Tim Slessor, first published in 1957. Team.[14]
1956. Peter Townsend. Round the world. Described in Earth, My Friend by Peter Townsend, first published 1959. Solo.[19][14]
1956. Colonel Leblanc Land Rover expedition. Beirut to Baghdad drive in 22 hours described, a distance of some 515 miles as the crow flies. Colonel Leblanc, Roger McCahey and possibly others.[20]
1956?. The Orr Family. Brazil to Canada. A family of nine (2 adults, 7 children) in a single Land Rover (!). Described in 12,000 Miles by Land Rover. From Brazil to Canada by Mary McCombe Orr, first published in 1957. Later editions reprinted under the title Nine in a Land Rover from Brazil to Canada.[21]
1956–7. Barbara Toy. Fourth Expedition. Round the world trip. 1950 80" soft-top Series I Land Rover, "Pollyanna", registration KYH 628. Described in Columbus was Right!: Rover around the world, first published in 1958. Solo.
1957. Foster-Bateman Expedition. Round the world. J. Bristol Foster and Robert Bateman. "Grizzly Torque" Series I ambulance, registration WAC 337. 27,000 miles. Team.[22][23][24]
1957. Cambridge Stanley Expedition. Trans Africa expedition. Followed in the footsteps of Sir Henry Morton Stanley's epic journey of 1874–77 from Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic coast. Four members in the team, including Dick Stanley (H. M. Stanley's grandson), and Neil Maconochie. Two Land Rovers: 88" soft top, registration WAC 340, and a used long wheelbase pick up registration (possibly Zanzibar plate) KFM 579, purchased in Zanzibar.[25]
1957. Weaver Expedition. Cape Town to London. Mr and Mrs Weaver. 14,000 miles. Team.[26]
1957–9. Eric Edis and team. London to Australia and back. Described in The Impossible Takes A Little Longer by Eric Edis, first published in 2008. Left 28 October 1957; returned 21 March 1959. 16 person team (11 men and 5 women). Unsure how many Land Rovers; one with registration FWG 446. Team.[28][29]
1958. Davies, Sims and Deacock Expedition (the 'Housewives' Expedition: Anne Davies, 35, Eve Sims, 25, and Antonia Deacock, 26). London to India and back. 16,000 miles. Left London 5 May 1958, returned 5 months later. Described in No Purdah in Padam by Antonia Deacock, first published 1960. Team.[30][31]
1958. Rallye Méditerranée–Le Cap. Trans Africa rally. Tangiers to Cape Town. 10,000 miles.[32][33]
1958-1959. Colonel Leblanc Land Rover expedition. Trans Africa. Cairo to Addis Ababa and back, through the Nubian Desert (Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, as was). Colonel Leblanc, Roger McCahey and possibly others. Journey took eight weeks or so.[34]
1959. Barbara Toy. Fifth Expedition. Ethiopia. Described in In Search of Sheba: Across the Sahara to Ethiopia by Barbara Toy, first published in 1961. Solo.
1959–1960. Herbert Zipkin Cinematography Expedition (1st of 2). London, Europe, Middle East, across Africa north to south ending at Cape Town. Series II 1959 109" station wagon, registration 1069 NX. Solo.[35]
1960. Darien Gap. The first vehicular crossing of the Gap was by the Land Rover "La Cucaracha Cariñosa" ("The Affectionate Cockroach") and a Jeep of the Trans-Darién Expedition of 1959–60, crewed by Amado Araúz (Panama), his wife Reina Torres de Araúz, former Special Air Service man Richard E. Bevir (UK), and engineer Terence John Whitfield (Australia).[36] They left Chepo, Panama, on 2 February 1960 and reached Quibdó, Colombia, on 17 June 1960, averaging 201 m (220 yd) per hour over 136 days. They travelled a great deal of the distance up the vast Atrato River. Team.[37]
1960-1961. Cambridge TransAmerican Expedition, up the Pan-American Highway. Mike Andrews, Ben Mackworth-Praed and Martin Hugh-Jones travelled from south to north, leaving Buenos Aires in September 1960. After 15 months had reached 500 miles from the Arctic Circle in Alaska in December 1961, but had to abandon their attempt due to bad winter weather. Land Rover registration 7925 NX, sold in Alaska t the end of the expedition. Mackworth-Praed published a book about the attempt, Year with Three Summers. Team.[38]
1961. Barbara Toy. Sixth Expedition. Timbuktu, Mali to Tripoli, Libya. Described in The Way of the Chariots: Niger River - Sahara - Libya by Barbara Toy, first published in 1964. Solo.
1961–2. Herbert Zipkin Cinematography Expedition (2nd of 2). Started in Holland, then through Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Hong Kong and finished in Japan. 6 months. Series II 1959 109" station wagon, registration 1069 NX. Solo.[35]
1963 or earlier. Wendy Carnegie. UK to India. Land Rover pulling a caravan. Described in Gipsy Doctor by Wendy Carnegie, first published in 1963. Solo.[19]
1966. West-East Crossing of Australia Expedition. Left Steep Point WA 3 May 1966, arrived Cape Byron NSW, 20 August 1966. Five team members: Mike Leyland, Mal Leyland, Pat Leyland, Keith Davey and Ted Hayes. Two Land Rovers. Described in Where Dead Men Lie by Mal Leyland, first published in 1967. Team.[39]
1968. Pegasus Overland Expedition (Crossing deserts). UK to New Zealand. John Proffit, John Doran, John Bate, Tom McCormack and Victor Parkinson left Liverpool 6 August 1968. Travelled through UK, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and finally to New Zealand. Desert crossing 12,856 miles + 5,560 miles. Met the Grandmothers' Expedition to Australia en route. One Land Rover, registration BS 7727. 5 man Team.[40][41][42]
1968. Grandmothers' Expedition to Australia. UK to Australia. Melanie Delmont, Mavis Britter, Lilian Humphreys, Helen Scott, Phyllis Howard and Ann Spink. Left 12 August 1968. Met the Pegasus Overland Expedition en route. 6 women, 3 Land Rovers, one registration noted: YKV 219. Team.[43][44][42]
1950s-1960s. John House. Travels through East and Central Africa. In his first Land Rover he set out from Northern Rhodesia on a journey which led him to Kenya via Lake Nyasa, then west across the Serengeti Plain to Lake Victoria, through Southern Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanganyika. Described in Land Rover My Love by John House, 1995.[21]
1966 or earlier, possibly mid-1950s. Colonel Leblanc Land Rover testing expedition. Three women and six men (including the colonel) in the team. Four Land Rovers, registrations: OUE 271, OUE 272, OUE 273 and OUE 274. This might be an expedition undertaken not too long before or after the 1954 - that had two women on the team and the Land Rovers look very similar. However, the only evidence I have found so far for this expedition is a photo in a book, with the caption 'Colonel Leblanc (far right) before setting out on one of his Land-Rover expeditions.' Leblanc died in 1966 so this provides a terminus ante quem for this expedition.[45]
Newspaper interview in 1957 the bet took place in 1950;[46] in a 1963 interview it is given as 1951.[47]
Pollyanna was a 1950 Land Rover, bought second hand (a demonstration model)
A Fool on Wheels says she bought Pollyanna in November and by Christmas was in Gibraltar, about to start the journey.
Drove from Tripoli all the way to Baghdad; drove back to UK (A Fool in the Desert, 8)
As was doing her second expedition between March/April and October 1952, can't have left Christmas 1951 for her first expedition as can't have driven from Tripoli to Baghdad (spending some time in Iraq sightseeing) and back to UK in three months ready to take off again almost immediately for her second expedition. So must have left in Christmas 1950 (can't have been Christmas 1949 as Pollyanna a 1950 model).
She visited Max Mallowan's excavations at Nimrud. The finds for that season included the stele of King Assur-nasir-pal II.[48][49] According to the Mallowan archaeological report, the dig season ran from 7 March 1951 to the end of April. Toy says she visited after the digging had finished ie probably in early May 1951.
A return to Libya rather than part of the first expedition:
station wagon body on Pollyanna rather than soft top as in first expedition (A Fool in the Desert, 3)
arriving at Tripoli by ship with Pollyanna as freight: 'it was Libya again' (A Fool in the Desert, 4)
newspaper article says Toy back in Dundee, UK after 11,000 mile (!) Libya expedition in October 1952; says during her time in Libya she dived in Benghazi Harbour (as described in A Fool in the Desert). Same article says 6 month expedition; book cover (inside front) of A Fool in the Desert says seven. ie left UK either March or April 1952.
^Coslett, Paul (May 2008). "Across four continents in a Land Rover". ((cite news)): |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |Arriving in Western Australia ahead of the 1st London to Sydney car ralley. url= ignored (help)