4×4S.ORGTHE REGISTRY NAMED MODEL · 1950
NAMED MODELSpecial · Expedition & CampersUnited Kingdom

Pollyanna — Barbara Toy's Series I

Pollyanna, Barbara Toy's 1950 Series I 80-inch KYH 628, in which she drove alone from Tangier to Baghdad in 1950 and then became the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a Land Rover — shown by Land Rover Classic in its 75-year expedition-vehicle display at Pebble Beach.

Sources & evidence
Pollyanna — Barbara Toy's Series I — Series I, 1950 — AI rendering impression, not a photograph
BASE VEHICLESeries I 80″BUILT BYLand Rover (Series I 80-inch)IN SERVICE1950OPERATED INUnited Kingdom, Morocco, IraqPRODUCTION1LAYOUT4 wheels · 80″

The record

Barbara Toy, an Australian-born London theatre manager and writer, bought a new Series I 80-inch in 1950, named it Pollyanna and set off alone across North Africa and the Middle East from Tangier to Baghdad — the journey of her first book, A Fool on Wheels. Over the following years she drove Pollyanna through the Sahara, the Middle East and Asia, and with the later legs of her travels became the first person to drive round the world in a Land Rover, writing A Fool Strikes Oil, Columbus Was Right and other books along the way. Land Rover Classic included Pollyanna, still registered KYH 628, in the 75-year history of expedition Land Rovers it curated for the 2025 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, whose page reproduces the period photograph of Barbara Toy beside the loaded car.

The registry's model is a Series I 80 hard top in green with a roof rack of rolled tents, bedrolls and cases that drops as cargo in the game, and KYH 628 plates.

Specification

MANUFACTURERLand Rover (Series I 80-inch)
MODIFIER / COACHBUILDERBarbara Toy (expedition fit and roof rack)
MANUFACTUREDBuilt 1950; Tangier–Baghdad 1950
ENGINERover 1.6 L four-cylinder petrol
PRODUCTION RUN1
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INUnited Kingdom, Morocco, Iraq
STATUSpreserved
REGISTRATIONKYH 628
JOURNEYSTangier to Baghdad 1950; first Land Rover circumnavigation
BOOKSA Fool on Wheels; A Fool Strikes Oil; Columbus Was Right
RECORD KINDNamed model
MODEL LINESeries I
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE80″
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 a 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 specification, the photographs and the cited sources on this page.

Where it was

GB United Kingdom1950–2026 · Barbara Toy's expeditions 1950s; preserved by Land Rover Classic
  1. ExpeditionTangier, start of the 1950 driveMorocco · 195035.77, -5.80
  2. ExpeditionBaghdad, end of the 1950 driveIraq · 195033.31, 44.39
  3. EventPebble Beach Concours d'EleganceUnited States · 2025Land Rover Classic 75-year expedition display36.57, -121.94

Sources

  1. 1Land Rover Classic curates a 75-year history of great expedition vehicles ↗Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance · accessed 2026-09-11SOURCE
  2. 2Barbara Toy with Pollyanna, loaded for the road — the reference for this model; linked only. ↗Land Rover Classic via Pebble Beach ConcoursIMAGE
  3. 3https://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