Thanks to Kian and Monique for throwing open the factory today. The weather was pretty poor and the M3 (the motorway, not the tank !) was a complete nightmare, but the welcome made it all worth while.
Always nice to catch up with friends old and new. Indeed, I was so busy there were people I never got around to ! (sorry, Simon
).
The main objective, though, was to see the new Lee / Grant. I have to say they're beauties - Armortek raising the bar yet again. I particularly noted the brass hinges, the fuel caps, and the opening panniers / storage boxes at the rear where the switches can go. Kian let me drive the Grant (the Lee is currently wearing Sherman tracks) which moves very briskly (when compared to a Mark IV
) - in fact, on the polished concrete floor of the factory, it's very easy to do power slides ! Kian tells me they're both selling well but, perhaps surprisingly, the Lee is a lot more popular than the Grant (which may be an engineering blessing, as each Grant turret takes 4 hours to machine
due to that lump at the back).
My wife (Helen) and dog (Mia) were also made welcome. Helen's objective was to sound Kian out about the possibility of a Series 1 Land Rover .... but I'll keep that discussion to myself
.
Unfortunately I was having such a good time I forgot to take any photos ! But others were toting cameras, and I'm a rubbish photographist anyway ....
All the best,
Chris