This Might Be The Best Land Rover Find Of All Time
If any automobile brand deserves the often overused label of "iconic," Britain's Land Rover is one of them, which has been making rugged desert and mountain-conquering vehicles since just after World War II.
Maurice Wilkes started building the first Land Rover on a Jeep chassis and axle back in 1947 on his farm in Wales, and introduced it to the world at the following year's Amsterdam Motor Show. For decades that first Land Rover was lost to history, rusting away in a barn until it was recently rescued, restored, and taken on an epic trip across the Mongolian desert.
The first production model Land Rover, affectionately nicknamed "JUE" after the letters assigned to its license plate, was originally meant to be headed to the palace of King George VI. However, it was given to Professor Ewan McEwan at Newcastle University, who held on to it until the early 1970s. Although the historic vehicle's provenance becomes a little hazy at this point, Professor McEwan appears to have sold it to a farmer in Northumberland for just £15 (about $125 today).
There it sat, forlorn and rusting, while King George yielded the throne to Queen Elizabeth, and she in turn to King Charles. Richard Hammond recently featured JUE on an episode of "Hammond's Barn" and visited the Northumberland farm that JUE called home for all those years.
Finding new life in the Mongolian desert
After being discovered in its fragile but complete condition, JUE went up for auction and was purchased by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, billionaire adventurer and founder of erstwhile Land Rover rival Grenadier.
"I think we were delighted to win the auction," Ratcliffe said. "It came with a bit of trepidation that we'd have to restore this car," he admitted.
Ratcliffe and his team took a painstaking two years to bring JUE back to life, but were able to do so using the parts that were left behind. Once JUE was back in working order, Ratcliffe quickly decided to put it to the purpose Maurice Wilkes had designed it for. Ratcliffe and his team took JUE and several other vintage vehicles on a long trip across the Gobi desert, a trip on which they said JUE acclimated itself to quite well.
"JUE was a star, absolutely unbelievable," said Ben Cussons, the chairman of Britain's Royal Automotive Club. "I have to take my hat off to JUE," added Ratcliffe. "JUE was obviously determined to show us what she was made of."