HIS LAST LANDY

This Series IIA was the last Land Rover owned by the company's former chairman, Spencer Wilks, the man who steered Rover into a golden age. Mark Dixon drives it

- Mark Dixon

We're both wondering whether the Land Rover and me, its driver are going to make it through. Riding shotgun alongside me is Mike Bishop, an ex-pat Aussie who grew up thrashing Series vehicles around the Bush and is now Land Rover Classic's resident historian, and he has just pointed out that he recently had to organise the recovery of a much more modern Landy from this very stretch of boggy, rutted mud.

Our vehicle is a 1965 Series IIA with a standard 2.25-litre petrol engine. No traction control, no 'All Terrain Response' dial; just mechanical four-wheel drive and a set of period Michelin XCAs that look unhelpfully road-biased. And neither of us is wearing boots. If we get stuck in the mud, at least one of us is going to get utterly filthy.

Being a bloke - and because I'm sitting next to an Australian - I can hardly wimp out now, of course. 'I reckon she'll be fine,' I venture, with more confidence than I'm feeling. Mike, to his credit, agrees that I can give it a go. So, into low range, then I pull the gearlever back into second gear, gun the engine and launch us into the sticky stuff.

Normally the advice when off-roading is to travel much more slowly than temptation suggests. Sometimes, however, maintaining momentum is the crucial factor and that's definitely the case here. The Landy plunges into the gloop, slithering, sliding and slipping sideways as the ruts take hold, but I keep my foot in, letting the steering wheel spin through my hands as the front wheels get suddenly deflected before wrestling back control to avoid colliding with a nearby tree. The engine is roaring, our adrenaline flowing as the Landy bucks and weaves but its steady progress never falters and just a few seconds later we're clear of the danger zone and rolling to a halt.