REAL LANDY TALES
LAURIE BOOL, NORFOLK
OCCUPATION: Retired
MY DRIVE: Series II called ‘Olive’
FAVOURITE DESTINATION: The local village
DREAM LAND ROVER TRIP: Scotland
LAURIE Olive and Bovril legacy: Laurie has a keen interest in Land Rovers; he has done for nearly 30 years. It first began when he moved from London to Norfolk with his wife. ‘‘My wife is a doctor,’’ Laurie explains. ‘‘She was out on a night visit once and got stuck in a field; I had my first long wheelbase Series II at the time, and I was able to pull her out of the field easily. It really caught my interest – they’re such powerful vehicles, it’s hard not to admire them.’’
Having almost owned every Series II Land Rover model since then, Laurie had started looking for a Landy which needed restoring, which is when Olive came along. It was the history behind it which really captured Laurie. ‘‘The car belonged to Lady Olive Lawson Johnston,’ Laurie says. ‘She was the granddaughter of John Lawson Johnston, the founder of Bovril, and even if you don’t like Bovril, you definitely know the brand!’’
When he bought her, Olive the Landy only had a modest 20,000 miles on the clock. ‘‘Lady Lawson Johnston actually lived on an island on the west coast of Scotland, in Loch Moidart,’’ explains Laurie. ‘‘She bought the Land Rover brand-new in ’63, but only used it to transport provisions and animal feed to her island, so she never really put any significant miles on it. The island is now owned by Richard Branson’s sister!’’
The entire restoration for Olive took around nine years, with the car being completed during lockdown. As is the case with many other Land Rover owners, Laurie didn’t have a
