Grizzly Torque

History

In the 1950s two young Canadians set out on an extraordinary journey around the world. The expedition was the vision of Bristol Foster, a biologist and ecologist, who invited his friend Robert Bateman, the artist and naturalist, to join him; together they mapped a route through some of the remotest terrain on Earth. To make it possible they commissioned a custom-built Land Rover Series I 107-inch with coachbuilt station-wagon bodywork, which they nicknamed Grizzly Torque. Over the next 14 months they travelled through 19 countries across four continents, painting, filming and photographing the people and wildlife they met and collecting specimens; the countries and a frieze of Bateman's animal paintings still run along the body sides, with GIN & and TONIC on the two jerrycans flanking the grille and WAC 337 on the plate. After the pair returned to Canada the vehicle was sold and disappeared from view until it was rediscovered in British Columbia; once its history came to light the new owner began an extensive restoration, and Land Rover Classic showed it in its 75-year history of expedition vehicles at the 2025 Pebble Beach Concours.

The registry's model puts its Lomas-style coachbuilt body on a Series I front, with the roof lettering, animal frieze, front jerrycans, bonnet spare and plate from the photograph.

Imagery

Registry record

Manufacturer

Rover Company (Series I 107); coachbuilt expedition body by an unrecorded builder

Manufactured

Built 1957; restored 2020s

Modifier / coachbuilder

Unrecorded coachbuilder (custom expedition body, 1957)

Engine type

Rover 2.0 L four-cylinder petrol (Series I 107 of 1957)

Production run

1

Country of origin

United Kingdom

Operated in

Canada

Status

preserved

Catalogue data

Record kind

Named model

Model line

Series I

Wheels

4

Nominal wheelbase

107″

Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.

Sources & citations

Researched sources

• Land Rover Classic curates a 75-year history of great expedition vehicles — Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2025 ('Grizzly Torque' 1957 Land Rover Series I 107 — Foster-Bateman Expedition) ↗ — Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance (accessed 2026-09-11)

Catalogue references

• https://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/cars/land-rover-classic-curates-a-75-year-history-of-great-expedition-vehicles/ https://www.pebblebeachconcours.net/cars/land-rover-classic-curates-a-75-year-history-of-great-expedition-vehicles/ ↗