In Newfoundland, there is maybe not a more iconic politician than Joey Smallwood, who served as premier of the Canadian province from its entry into the nation in 1949 to 1972. He fought for Newfoundland to become part of Canada and fought for the province and its small, remote population when in office. Now, the Land Rover Series he drove as part of the project to expand the Trans-Canada Highway across Newfoundland is restored and going on tour.
By 1958, Newfoundland had been part of the Canadian confederation for nine years, having been a separate dominion of the United Kingdom before that. The only way across the new province was by a rail line, the “Newfie Bullet” – which had a 23-hour journey time that didn’t match its nickname. It was time to build the Trans-Canada Highway across the newest reaches of the nation.
Building the road across Newfoundland would not be an easy task. At 903 kilometers, the stretch of road would be the second-longest section after the portion in the massive province of Ontario. The rocky landscape made it the second-hardest section to build after the mountain highways that had to be built in British Columbia. And with only half a million residents, there were not many citizens in Newfoundland to absorb the tax implications of building the road.
By 1958, there was a semblance of a road network, though it was extremely rough and rugged. But with enough roadway to make a transit, Smallwood went on a trek across the province to meet its people, taking five Land Rovers on the journey with him. The Land Rovers were government vehicles purchased from Adelaide Motors in St. John’s as part of a motor pool designed to traverse the primitive transportation network. Smallwood’s vehicle was a 1958 Series II 88”, the first year of Series II production.
It took until 1965 to punch the complete Trans-Canada Highway across Newfoundland, built in an arc from Port aux Basques in the southwest, north to Deer Lake, and then east to Smallwood’s hometown of Gambo and southeast to St John’s. It was a push by Smallwood and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, both members of the Liberal Party looking to finish the costly project while they held all of the levers of power. Signs across Newfoundland said, “We’ll finish the drive in ’65…Thanks to Mr. Pearson.” That support was badly needed because the project cost $92,000,000 Canadian dollars – almost a billion dollars today.
The road was finished in November 1965, and in 1966, there was a ceremony at the meeting point, dubbed “Pearson’s Peak,” in the middle of the province. Smallwood drove west from St. John’s, taking the Land Rover and meeting Pearson, who drove east from Port aux Basques. There was a huge stone pillar built there to mark the occasion, but it seems to have vanished somewhere around the turn of the millennium.
The Land Rover avoided a similar fate. In 1984, the provincial government donated the vehicle to the Newfoundland Antique and Classic Car Club to preserve as part of the province’s heritage. Pieces were missing, and the rusting vehicle had been vandalized. The club restored it across the rest of the 1980s, taking it to their 1990 car show, where Smallwood came to visit the vehicle again. It was also part of the 1992 Confederation Tour, a classic car tour from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Victoria, British Columbia, to celebrate 125 years of Canadian confederation. It was on display several times throughout the 1990s and 2000s.
Now, with 2024 marking the 75th anniversary of Newfoundland’s joining the Canadian nation, the Land Rover is going on tour at events across the province. As part of the celebrations, it will visit historic sites across Newfoundland and Labrador, treading routes that it’s already familiar with from decades before.
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