The story of little-red-q begins around 1989 or so. My wife and I were living in Japan, but were paying a visit home to the UK around Christmas time. As we entered the village of Knockholt, near Sevenoaks, in Kent, where my wife’s parents lived, we passed the most amazing Land Rover I had ever seen. It was bright red and looked like a Land Rover, but somehow different. To be fair, I’d just arrived from the Land of the Rising Sun, where almost every car was a Toyota and a white one at that, but I was stunned nonetheless. During our brief stay, I caught sight of the Land Rover a couple of more times and my fascination grew even more. But, it was back to Japan and there the story ended.

 

Fast forward a couple of years and we were back in England to stay. Having been out of the UK for a few years, I gradually reacquainted myself with the eccentricity of the British, their fondness for tradition and ability to keep all kinds of wonderful vehicles on the road. I was particularly drawn to all things Land Rover related and slowly fell in love with the Lightweight. Realization quickly dawned that the Knockholt Land Rover was a Lightweight, but alas it was no more to be seen in the village.

Time passed and the urge to acquire a Lightweight became unbearable. One Saturday, looking through the "For Sale" ads in the Sevenoaks Chronicle, there was a Lightweight for sale not a million miles away in Badgers Mount. A visit rapidly ensued and I was speechless when I discovered it was the very same Knockholt Land Rover. The log book confirmed the Knockholt address of the previous owner and that the vehicle had been demobbed from the army on a "Q" plate. After a test ride, some half-hearted haggling and a desperate attempt to suppress my mounting excitement, the sale was agreed.

The following week, I took possession of the Lightweight and lurched back to Knockholt as I familiarised myself with the vagaries of the gearbox. At one junction, I inadvertently put the Land Rover into reverse and absolutely terrified the BMW driver behind. It wouldn't be the last time this happened.

The Lightweight needed a few things fixing initially. The auxiliary petrol tank had to be replaced as it had a hole in it—a fact discovered by my brother-in-law after he'd filled it up on route to Dover on a booze cruise. It was after one of these visits to the garage that I called to find out how the work was going. The mechanic replied "Oh, the little red Q? It's ready." I'm not sure where the "little" came from, but a name was born!