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 Julian 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,” says Julian.

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 JLR 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 Julian says was a magnificent job, where every effort was 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.”

A part of New Zealand’s agricultural past

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 four-wheel drive vehicle. Such vehicles had only been available to the armed forces previously. Twenty toured NZ 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”.

Twenty in the garage at Taihape where she had remained for 30 years before being restored by Peter Marr. Photo / Ros Woodham

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,” says Julian.

“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 four-wheel drive capabilities.

A heartfelt journey up through New Zealand

Faced with the task of getting Twenty home to Auckland, Julian decided he would drive 1800km up through the South Island, a part of the country he had yet to explore.

Julian is a professor and research scientist at the University of Auckland and director of Manaaki Manawa - the Centre for Heart Research.

Julian has spent 15 years developing a natural pacemaker for heart failure and a new heart valve for children with rheumatic heart disease.

“I saw an opportunity for a charity event for research into natural valves for children with RHD. 1400 children develop this disease each year and require regular operations as they grow 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.

Julian’s friend, Craig Irwin drove the Defender and organised most of the logistics of the journey. Julian concentrated on daily maintenance on Twenty, and she ran beautifully.

“We left on the January 31, 2025, and JLR put on dealership events as we passed through Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier and Hamilton.”

Camping after a hot, dusty drive with Julian, left, and good friend Andrew Richards, right, who flew in from Bristol, UK to join the adventure. Photo / Craig Irwin

Twenty was infamously in the news in Wellington when the Hon David Seymour, MP attempted to drive her up the Parliament steps without permission this time, which caused a bit of nationwide publicity.

Julian and Craig 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.

“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.”