Prototype

Exactly 70 years ago this past Friday, a new brand was introduced to the automotive world with a showcase of three all-terrain vehicles that would be known as Land Rovers. And the rest, as they say, is history. A key component of that history, one of the three Land Rover prototype vehicles – L03 – will be shown at Land Rover Legends later this month. L03 was driven from London to Amsterdam by a young Ernie Bacon (son of Mr. Bacon – the then manager of Rover Company’s London depot at Seagrave Road in Fulham). L03 was ‘despatched out’ of Seagrave Road by Mr. Bacon on Tuesday 27 April 1948, and driven to Amsterdam by a young Ernie to join the Rover Company showcase, launching what was to become among the most iconic automotive brands in the world.

Our “Video of the Week” this time is from Petrolicious and is of a 1957 Aston Martin Mk III that the owner bills as “perfectly awful.”  And no, that is not an insult, it is a term of endearment. This is not one of those over-restored, pampered, show-only cars. This is an honest to god, survivor, original. And it is simply wonderful. “Some day, down in the future, whoever ends up with this car when it leaves my garage—they may choose to restore it,” says Dave Adams. “…but I hope if and when that happens, they do it with the correct lens so it’s not over-restored.” This 1957 Aston Martin Mk III is actually the prototype for the Mk III range, and was not only used for official testing and design duties, but had also been entered into the Monte […]