A Land Rover that submerged into the sand on a Cornish shore 31 years ago has emerged again, serving as a peculiar green nautical reminder that parking your vehicle on the beach is a truly unwise decision. This isn’t the initial occasion the chassis has reappeared—it was last seen in 2017—and as the sand shifts to uncover it once more, that also reveals more peculiar discoveries like mysterious hidden pathways to armament factories and shipwrecks from 128 years ago.
Recalled by Cornwall Live, the ill-fated car submerged on January 13, 1990, when owner Ronnie Hanney took his daughters to the beach in it. Photographs from Hanney’s family depict the 1968 Series 11A Safari still whole, providing some context for this account. These Land Rovers tip the scales at around 3,301 pounds when empty, making them unsuitable for parking on unstable sands. As the sand slowly became saturated by the tide, the car became irretrievable, ending up flipped over with only its wheels visible the following day.
YouTube: biscuitsalive
There are several peculiar aspects to this story, such as the car flipping upside down. Typically, it requires approximately 14 feet of water for a car to completely overturn, and vehicles sinking into water usually submerge in the same manner they entered, so for the entire car to submerge and overturn within 24 hours is quite remarkable. The United Kingdom was battered by severe storms in January 1990, indicating there were likely extraordinary circumstances at play.
One of the oddest aspects of the car is that the rear passenger-side wheel, which protrudes most prominently from the sand, still retains its tire that somehow remains inflated. It may be filled with sandy water by now, but regardless, it serves as an intriguing case study in the sturdiness of the Series 11A’s structure.
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