DIFFLOCKEDTHE REGISTRY NAMED MODEL · 1957
NAMED MODELSpecial · Expedition & CampersUnited Kingdom

Grizzly Torque.

'Grizzly Torque', the custom-built 1957 Land Rover Series I 107-inch in which Canadian biologist Bristol Foster and artist Robert Bateman drove for 14 months through 19 countries on four continents, painting, filming and collecting specimens as they went — rediscovered in British Columbia and restored, and shown at Pebble Beach in 2025.

Drive it in the gameSources & evidence
Grizzly Torque — Series I, 1957 — AI rendering impression, not a photograph
BASE VEHICLESeries IBUILT BYRover Company (Series I 107); coachbuilt expedition body by an unrecorded builderIN SERVICE1957OPERATED INCanada, United Kingdom, IndiaPRODUCTION1LAYOUT4 wheels · 107″

The record

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.

Specification

MANUFACTURERRover Company (Series I 107); coachbuilt expedition body by an unrecorded builder
MODIFIER / COACHBUILDERUnrecorded coachbuilder (custom expedition body, 1957)
MANUFACTUREDBuilt 1957; restored 2020s
ENGINERover 2.0 L four-cylinder petrol (Series I 107 of 1957)
PRODUCTION RUN1
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INCanada, United Kingdom, India, Kenya
STATUSpreserved
REGISTRATIONWAC 337
EXPEDITION14 months, 19 countries, four continents (Foster-Bateman expedition, late 1950s)
CREWBristol Foster and Robert Bateman
RECORD KINDNamed model
MODEL LINESeries I
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE107″
CATEGORYSpecial · Expedition & Campers

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.

AI rendering impression

An AI rendering impression starts from the registry's own 3D model of this vehicle, which an image model then paints into a scene. It is an artist's impression of the type, made to give a feel for the vehicle in its element — not a photograph, and not a record of any particular vehicle.

Proportions, fittings, markings, colours and the setting can all drift from the original in the process. For the vehicle's actual details, rely on the registry's 3D renders, the specification and the cited sources on this page.

Where it was

CA Canada1957–2026 · 14-month world expedition 1957–58; rediscovered and restored in British Columbia
  1. BuiltRover Company, Lode Lane, SolihullUnited Kingdom · 195752.43, -1.78
  2. ExpeditionNairobiKenya · 1957–1958African leg of the Foster–Bateman expedition-1.29, 36.82
  3. ExpeditionIndiaIndia · 195828.61, 77.21
  4. PreservedBritish ColumbiaCanada · 2020–2026Rediscovered and restored48.43, -123.36

Sources

  1. 1Land 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 2026-09-11SOURCE
  2. 2https://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/ ↗REFERENCE

Registry record updated 2026-09-16T05:55:32.030Z · status: researched