Project manager Craig Irwin driving Twenty on the way to the summit of the Hakataramea Pass. Photo / Julian Paton
Vintage Land Rover enthusiast Julian Paton was on holiday in Europe in July 2024 when he was contacted by a United Kingdom friend advising him to “get his wallet out”.
A rather significant Land Rover had come up for sale, and the friend knew Paton would want it.
“I certainly did want it, and I managed to persuade owner Peter Marr to wait for me to come home to buy it,” Paton said.
He is now the proud owner of Twenty, the first Land Rover to reach New Zealand’s shores.
Twenty was the 20th Land Rover made in the historical Jaguar Land Rover factory in Solihull, Birmingham and was shipped out to Wellington on September 16, 1948, for use as a demonstrator vehicle.
“After her demonstrator days, Twenty spent her working life in Taihape until acquired by Taihape Automotive Specialists in 1984, where she remained partially dismantled for 30 years, before Peter bought her in 2014.”
In Dunedin, he carried out a restoration that Paton said was a magnificent job, with every effort made to preserve her original parts, bodywork and patina.
“She really is a rare and authentic vehicle which played a major part in New Zealand’s post-war agricultural history.”
After World War II, Rover was exporting most new Land Rovers to get subsidies from the UK Government for obtaining steel, which was scarce post-war.
“The Land Rover was the first civilian 4WD vehicle.
“Such vehicles had only been available to the armed forces previously.
“Twenty toured New Zealand showing off her moves to the rural communities.”
Described as a “British version of a Jeep” in an article in the Otago Daily Times in November 1948, the Land Rover demonstrated “combining operational economy with the main functions of a tractor, light truck, portable power plant and a car”.
The Otago Daily Times also described that “with the four-wheel drive, it has been found in tests, the Land Rover will work on slopes which would not be possible for a wheeled tractor” and showed “complete efficiency for discing, harrowing, chain-harrowing, seeding and top-dressing”.
“The addition of either a rear or central power take-off enabled the use of mowers, threshers, circular saws, welders and compressors,” Paton said.
“The versatility of this Land Rover drew considerable interest.”
Twenty was famously in the news in 1948 when, with permission, she was driven up the Parliament steps to demonstrate her superior 4WD capabilities.
Faced with the task of getting Twenty home to Auckland, Paton decided he would drive 1800km up through the South Island, a part of the country he had yet to explore.
Paton is a professor and research scientist at the University of Auckland and director of Manaaki Manawa – the Centre for Heart Research.
Paton has spent 15 years developing a natural pacemaker for heart failure and a new heart valve for children with rheumatic heart disease (RHD).
“I saw an opportunity for a charity event for research into natural valves for children with RHD.”
Paton said 1400 children developed this disease each year and required regular operations as they grew, to replace their heart valves.
“In conjunction with strong interest from our paediatric/cardiothoracic surgeons and incredible tissue engineers, biomedical engineers and engineers, we have world-class facilities at the university to develop living heart valves from the child’s own skin tissue, which, when implanted, will grow with the child, reducing repeated operations and rejection issues.”
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) NZ provided a new Defender 110 as a support vehicle for Twenty.
Paton’s friend Craig Irwin drove the Defender and organised most of the logistics of the journey.
Paton concentrated on daily maintenance on Twenty, and she ran beautifully.
“We left on January 31, 2025, and JLR put on dealership events as we passed through Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier and Hamilton.”
Twenty was infamously in the news in Wellington when MP and Act Party leader David Seymour attempted to drive her up the Parliament steps (without permission this time), which caused a bit of nationwide publicity.
Paton and Irwin were rarely alone, with family and friends joining them for stretches.
Land Rover enthusiasts joined them too, and there were 37 Land Rovers in convoy up the Auckland motorway.
“We used a mixture of camping and motels and were welcomed through some of the back-country stations in the South Island, which was an amazing experience.”
The 2168km trip took 16 days and raised $70,000 for Manaaki Manawa’s heart valve project.
“We were blown away by the conversations that Twenty was the catalyst for,” Paton said.
“People shared their Land Rover memories, and they talked about their heart disease.
“The incredible humanity we experienced as we came up through the country was very humbling.”