Arthur Goddard is a rare survivor of the management team who designed, built and developed the Land-Rover in 1947-48. He was Project Engineer, responsible for turning the original ideas into a working, reliable, financially viable vehicle for the post-War world. In doing so he helped save the Rover Company from collapse, and also helped create a legend that's lasted for over 60 years.
Once the vehicle was a success, but before it became a worldwide cult, Arthur moved on to other parts of the UK motor industry, and so history tended to forget his vital contribution to 'The Best 4x4xFar'. Now living in Australia, and still working hard at the age of 89 designing components for the off-road trailer and caravan industry, Arthur was 're-discovered' through a chance remark in an internet chat between two Australian Land-Rover enthusiasts — one in Brisbane and the other in Worcestershire.
Realising the wealth of knowledge that Arthur had about the earliest days of Land-Rover, The Land-Rover Register and Series One Clubs got together to sponsor a fortnight of events in May 2010, with Arthur as Guest of Honour. This included a visit to the Lode Lane factory, the Gaydon Heritage archives, and the Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA), where the punishing 'Belgian Pavé' circuit that Arthur designed is still giving vehicle builders the chance to put thousands of miles of wear on their cars in a matter of days.
Arthur also visited many of the sites used by Rover in the late 40s to demonstrate and photograph their new off-roader, and those early publicity photos were re-created for the visit using pre-pro R16 (260AC), and Dunsfold's Centre-steer replica. The fortnight ended with a dinner in Arthur's honour, attended by many enthusiasts who keep the very earliest vehicle on the road more than 60 years later.
Clearly it was important to capture all these memories for posterity, so Graeme Aldous (Producer of the 'First Overland' DVD) shadowed Arthur with a camera on his visits, and has produced a DVD, titled 'Stop Gap'. Not only has it captured Arthur's visit for everyone to share, but it also explodes a number of pieces of Land-Rover folklore.
All enthusiasts 'know' that the vehicles were built of aluminium because there was a surplus of aircraft scrap after the War, and they were painted green because of a stockpile of cockpit paint. Arthur emphatically denied that — they were aluminium so that they wouldn't rust, and the metal was a new, special formula that had nothing to do with aircraft. Similarly, the light green was a standard Rover car colour, that was already set up in the paint guns. This and other, similar, myths were exploded by the only man still alive to tell the true story.
The 'Stop Gap' DVD is in PAL format, and is available worldwide for £22 including postage. You can order via the 'Buy Online' button on the left.
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