It’s not everyday you get to experience the breadth of
a Land Rover’s capability - without leaving the city.
However, the September meeting of Cars and Coffee Liverpool made it happen.
Halewood Land Rover Experience brought the Land Rover Terrapod - a portable urban
off-road unit which allows passengers to get a real feel for the prowess of Land Rover’s
all-terrain vehicles. Designed to show off the capabilities of the cars – the Discovery 4s,
Discovery Sport, the flagship Range Rover and the newly launched Evoque The course
features a vertiginous slope and a knife edge ramp, plus ‘walking holes’ which generate a
strong rocking action. The experience is not for the faint-hearted.
Neil Roscoe, Garry Watson and Richy Soden Barton from Jaguar Land Rover Tata, were
more than happy to collaborate with Norman Shum at Cars and Coffee Liverpool in
bringing the Terrapod to the meeting to raise money for charity. The chosen charity was
the James Apter Friendship Fund. James, passed away in September 2011 after a battle
with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. His parents James and Kim set up the fund last year to
buy toys for patients at the West Derby hospital where the nine-year-old was treated.
James was born with Cystic Fibrosis, so the fund has donated gifts to both the oncology
and CF wards at Alder Hey. To date, Cars and Coffee Liverpool has raised over £1200 and
is expected to carry on supporting and raising more towards 2017.
Kim Apter said their aim is to brighten up the day for young hospital patients in memory
of caring, popular James. “We’ve also given sticker books and little toy dogs like the one
James had. James loved them because they took his mind off his treatment. This has never
really been done for cystic fibrosis patients - it’s usually for oncology patients, but we
wanted to do something for CF kids as well.” Since James’ death, his parents have raised
thousands of pounds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
The Land Rover Experience team provided the pro drivers and vehicles for the meeting.
It was on a first-come, first served basis - free ride. A passenger makes a donation of
around £1 for an experience in any of the 4 latest models on this exhilarating Terrapod.
All money raised went to the James Apter Charity.
Both car fans and children thoroughly enjoyed the experience, giving the opportunity to
taste what Land Rover as an off road vehicle are capable of doing. As Land Rover say the
Terrapod is designed to demonstrate Articulation, Traction Control, Terrain Response
– in short, the state of the art dynamic technology that makes Land Rover a premium
SUV.
Even old 4x4 enthusiasts gave the team a warm welcome. A fun morning for everyone
involved together with many a Supercar, Classic and 4x4 vehicle owners who came from
far and wide. Special thanks to David at Leica Manchester, WSR Recycling, Lavazza
Coffee, BMW Williams, HR Owen -Lamborghini Manchester, OCD Porsche Specialist
for contributing and sponsoring the September meeting.
Other star vehicles of the show included Colin Jackson’s freshly revamped Cannonball
Mercedes Taxi C63 and Rich made a grand entrance with 40 supercars in convoy including
Rod Stewart’s old yellow Ferrari F40 (to be featured shortly in Wirral Life) which arrived
fashionably late. But what’s great about Cars and Coffee Liverpool is the sheer variety - you
never know what is going to make an appearance lurking away from the main car parks.
We found a beautiful White Datsun 240z. Remember them?
For more information
www.carsandcoffeeliverpool.com
www.jamesapter.com
www.chungku.co
Photography:
Si Hall • Thornton Cohen • The Hook Design
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