Vehicle Description
1973 Range Rover
This B suffix Range Rover has a fascinating history having been
first owned by Jaguar racing driver Duncan Hamilton and then used
by the ITN journalist Michael Nicholson in his epic 14,000 mile
journey home from South Africa to England, which was immortalised
in his book Across the Limpopo.
Constructed in 1973 it was delivered to Duncan Hamilton in Lincoln
Green with a Palomino interior and came with a number of factory
optional extras. Full leather upholstery which was not standard at
the time of production and full Webasto sunroof which was specified
by Michael Nicholson prior to his epic journey.
Hamilton used the car as a daily driver for a few years before
selling it in 1976 to ITN reporter Michael Nicholson. When
Nicholson moved to Johannesburg to become ITN's first bureau chief
in South Africa the Range Rover went with him and remained there
during his four year posting. When it was time for Nicholson to
return home in 1981, rather than fly back, which would have taken
only16 hours, he decided instead to go overland and drive his
family home in the Range Rover, a trip that would take nearer
to�five months. This journey covered some 14,000 miles and
progressed from South Africa, onto Zambia, through the Nyika
Mountains in Malawi, passing wild Rhino in Tanzania's Ngorongoro,
encountering a Bull Elephant on the road in Dar es Salaam and
meeting Masai warriors before crossing the Serengetti to Kenya.
They struggled over the washed away bridges of Wei Wei and pushed
on to Sudan & Egypt before finally heading up through Greece and
reaching England in July. Nicholson subsequently wrote a book,
Across the Limpopo, which documented the story of his family's
adventure and the car is featured�extensively in it.
In the years following their trip home the car saw limited use and
was then dry stored by a later owner for many years before
undergoing a full bare shell professional restoration, which has
just been completed by Range Rover specialists Bishops 4 X 4.
Offered in excellent freshly restored condition and accompanied by
a copy of the Nicholson's book, including numerous photographs of
the car in Africa, it provides an unmissable opportunity to acquire
an iconic early Range Rover and a unique piece of endurance
motoring history.
Please contact us for further details.
