The first Land Rovers are now 77 years old, and many early examples are treated more like cherished relics or museum pieces than the off-road exploration machines they were built to be. In New Zealand, however, one of the oldest 1948 Series I production Land Rovers just finished a massive 1,450-mile journey from Dunedin in the south to Auckland in the north.
The 17-day expedition was led by the newest owner of New Zealand’s oldest Land Rover, Julian Paton. Paton is a well-known name in the Series I community and owns several early vehicles. He’s British, but he’s lived in Auckland for the past eight years, working at the University of Auckland’s heart research lab. Over the summer of 2024, he learned that the 20th production Land Rover, the first one shipped to New Zealand in 1948 as a press demonstrator, was about to go up for sale. This vehicle is known by enthusiasts to be the oldest totally original production Series I in the world, and Paton couldn’t pass up the opportunity to own it.
The vehicle, nicknamed “20” after its serial number, was in Dunedin; Paton was in Auckland, about as far away as he could be in New Zealand. When he purchased it, it was at the end of a 10-year restoration performed by Series I enthusiast Peter Marr, who had purchased it out of a garage where it had been laid up for 30 years.
As Paton was arranging the purchase, he decided that instead of shipping it north, he’d drive it clear across the country, in aid of heart research. He is professionally involved in researching rheumatic heart disease (RHD), which disproportionately impacts Māori and Pacific Islander youth in New Zealand. Thus, a fundraising expedition was born. Drive4Hearts would act as a fundraiser for heart valve research to assist children with RHD. The expedition was supported by JLR New Zealand, who provided a 2024 Defender 110 as an assistance vehicle and hosted events at Land Rover dealers across the country as the expedition passed through.
The journey set off from Land Rover’s Dunedin dealership on January 31, with seven vintage Land Rovers following 20. Almost immediately, the original pavement-biased route was thrown away for more dirt tracks, with locals recommending the best off-pavement routes as they moved along. On the first day, 20 was getting her frame wet for the first time in decades as the convoy worked its way into the highlands west of Dunedin. The route on the South Island turned into about 70 percent dirt roads, while the more developed North Island route was about 25 percent off-road.
A few days into the journey, news started to make rounds in the New Zealand Land Rover community, and people joined the convoy as it moved along, aided by an online tracker. By the time they left Christchurch, they had 35 Land Rovers trailing 20, from early Series I’s to new Defenders. At Wellington, the nation’s capital, MP David Seymour attempted to drive the Series I up the steps of Parliament, replicating a story from the 1940s, which ended up becoming top New Zealand political news for the rest of the week.
As they moved across the country, the convoy connected with people not just about Land Rovers, but also about RHD, and how it had touched family members and friends. The convoy received both cash donations and in-kind gifts along the way, including fuel, food, and accommodation. A spring maker even donated the only major repair the Land Rover needed along the way: a new rear spring leaf.
Seventeen days after leaving Dunedin, the expedition came into Auckland with a convoy of 37 Land Rovers in trail and over $70,000 NZD raised for RHD research. The vehicle had operated almost faultlessly, incredibly for something so old. On the tails of a successful adventure, Paton is already thinking of where to take 20 next, with the Drive4Hearts trip having proved that there is no reason to keep a valuable early Land Rover parked in a garage or on a museum floor.
Read more: A Classic Land Rover And Trailer Just Sold For Over $400,000!
Images: Julian Paton
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