Land Rover Series I Station Wagon by Tickford

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Tickford started life as coachbuilders, trading under the name of Salmons and Sons in 1820 and moved into building bodies for cars as early as 1898. They developed an all-weather cabriolet body (with a hand-cranked mechanism) in the ‘20s and promoted it under the Tickford name (from the name of the abbey which previously occupied their location).

By the ‘30s they built bodywork for Lanchester, MG, Wolseley and Rover amongst others (see the Rover 14/6 and the Alvis TA 21 in this auction – both bodied by Tickford). After the second world war Rover turned to Tickford for bodies for their new Station Wagon based on the Land Rover chassis. The project foundered for a number of reasons, not least being the cost of the finished vehicle - £950 plus purchase tax (almost twice the price of a basic Landie).

Tickford built just 650 cars before the model was dropped by Land Rover. Tickford’s themselves did not last much longer, being bought by David Brown in 1955 and becoming part of Aston Martin. In a way, the Tickford Station Wagon was years ahead of its time with Land Rover eventually returning to the idea of a ‘civilized’ cross-country vehicle when the ground-breaking Range Rover appeared in 1970.

To modern eyes the Tickford may not appear luxurious but compared with the very basic Land Rover of 1948 it was sumptuous. Well, it didn’t leak for a start and all that solid bodywork kept the heat in and the cold out – what more could you want? The Tickford was sold as an adaptable vehicle; seven seats, split tail-gate, happy in town or country, eight forward gears, and low petrol consumption.

And it still has all those features (although the definition of low petrol consumption may have changed) and it now has much more besides. KTG 278 has great presence, it’s a Land Rover but not like many others with an air of integrity and history that cannot be replicated. KTG makes Series 1 Landies look common and presents a sort of upper-crust élan without actually losing its down-earth honesty. Not an easy trick to pull off.

It is believed that KTG was originally bought by a family with an estate (farmin’ huntin’, shootin’ – that sort of thing) in Wales and then kept by the son in Gloucestershire until around 1975. They used it extensively and there were photographs (now, sadly lost) of the car being craned onto a boat at Southampton to make the crossing to the Continent.

It was bought by old car enthusiast and all-round good guy Nick Baldwin in 1994 who kept the car until 2002, when it was auctioned off with the rest of his collection.

The current owner bought KTG 278 from the sale and handed it to Dunsfold Land Rover for a thorough overhaul. The car was featured in Land Rover Enthusiast magazine the following year (and can also be seen in The Land Rover Scrapbook, by Mike Gould). Since then the vendor has serviced the car regularly himself and has it MOT-tested most years. Its last MOT was carried out in 2015, when it passed with no advisories and the car has only done twelve miles since.

KTG is not concours and would be all the less for it. It is, instead, an honest old thing that shows its age but wears it well. The car’s rarity is off-set by the simple construction and huge spares back-up of the base vehicle, something few other cars can boast. The car may have the odd spot of rust, a few dents here and there and seats held together with a bit of tape but its very authenticity is what makes it so appealing. Brightwells hopes that the new owner does not touch those characteristics and keeps KTG just the way it is.