He had also spent a fair amount of time since buying Ciggy, explaining to me how dangerous it is to drive an old Land Rover like I would the Jap truck, as they were completely different animals.
“Drive a Land Rover like the truck and you’ll kill yourself”, he said which, you have to admit, wasn’t exactly confidence inspiring.
Mind you he had said pretty much the same thing to me when we had gone to pick up the then brand new Jap truck, 6 years ago, only he was comparing the truck to a normal car. As I was going to be driving the truck back home (he had his leased truck at that time and only he could drive it), I was feeling more than a little apprehensive to start with but, as it turned out, I managed to get the new truck back home without so much as putting a dent in it and with my whole person still intact and breathing.
The first time I drove Annie into town, I crunched the gears and felt every bone rattling pothole in the 7 mile stretch but by the time I arrived back home, she and I had reached an understanding: I would take my time to change the gears slowly and she would continue to shake and rattle while rolling along.
Six months on and I love driving Annie. She has a lot more character than modern day cars and a real personality. She’ll drive beautifully for me while being noisy, with a hard as nails ride and rattling away in every corner and body panel but she is a joy. Massively tall and with the turning circle of the QE2, she isn’t to hot on manoeuvrability and yet there is something about her.
No more taking the bus into town. If I need/want to go shopping, I can simply hop into Annie and away we tootle – brilliant.
The Land Rover Owners Ex Wife 