The Queen's Land Rovers Take Manhattan
Queen Elizabeth II had a long list of things she was passionate about: corgis, horse racing, garden design, and brooches, to name just a few. She also loved cars. During her long reign, she took a hands-on role in commissioning the vehicles that the royal family used for official duties as well as ones she and Prince Philip used around their estates. She even helped design the hearse that carried her coffin during her funeral procession.
The Queen brought more than an aesthete's eye to her appreciation. During World War II, she volunteered for the auxiliary services, trained as mechanic, and then repaired ambulances and other emergency vehicles. She learned how cars worked and how they could be modified for specific uses.
To showcase the Queen's car smarts—and highlight its connection to the royal family— Jaguar Land Rover launched an exhibition today in New York's Rockefeller Center displaying some of the vehicles the company made for her during her reign. The collection of 10 Land Rovers and Range Rovers includes vehicles built in the 1950s up to early 2000s. One of the earliest models, a 1954 Land Rover Series I State Review vehicle, accompanied the Queen and Prince Phillip when the made a months-long tour of the Commonwealth.
The Queen had many special requests for the automaker, said Land Rover Classic's Michael Bishop, who led T&C on a tour of the collection. "She asked us to make a set of bars to keep her Corgis in the back of the family's 1966 Land Rover Series IIa Station Wagon and we created a custom wood set." The company went on to offer that feature as an option on future Land Rover models.
The exhibition includes photographs and videos of the queen and her family in, and sometimes on, the cars during state visits and personal outings. In many shots she's behind the wheel navigating dirt roads as well driving past crowds of admirers. Was the the Queen a good driver? "I don't want to use the word racing too broadly, but I have to say she was a natural driver," Bishop said. "And she didn't hold back."
The vehicles will be on display through October 20.
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