Meet the 22-year-old who’s become an Internet sensation from posting videos of her travels with a 40-year-old Land Rover called Blue Tit (even clips of her fixing the engine get thousands of views)

On the face of it, it’s one of the more unlikely Instagram sensations – the trials and tribulations of a 22-year-old woman and her beloved 40-year-old blue Land Rover 90.

Yet Tati Reed, from West Sussex, has discovered a knack for making snappy, amusing videos for her @overintherover account featuring her classic 1985 petrol ‘Landy’, Blue Tit, that hold viewers spellbound and drive up clicks, even if they only show her tinkering with the engine.

At the time of writing, Tati has 426,000 followers, with individual clips garnering tens of thousands of views.

One, which shows Tati replacing a small part, has clocked up 97,000 likes. Another, in which Tati changes the gearbox oil, has amassed an impressive 19,000 likes.

But when MailOnline Travel caught up with the content creator to ask her to lift the lid/bonnet on her life with Blue Tit and their online success, we discovered that it was actually a video about a road trip that lit the social media fuse.

Tati explained that in May 2023 she began posting about a Blue Tit road trip to Europe and gathered ‘a few hundred followers’, adding: ‘A few weeks after we got back, I made a silly spoof [Bentley) video that got 23million views, and suddenly I had 53,000 followers.

‘That was a bit weird. Social media, or being on it, has never been important to me, so I sat down with my parents and went through the options: I was considering deleting the account because… I didn’t know what to do. 

‘My parents told me to keep on going, be myself, and see where it took me. I am still living by that advice at the moment.’

Tati has 426,000 followers for her @overintherover account. Above is Blue Tit at Isola 2000 in Italy, a point marking the first land border [France/Italy] she ever crossed with Tati –  ‘an ecstatic moment’

Tati says Blue Tit is ‘just heaven’

What does she think the secret to her social media success is?

She said: ‘Not taking myself too seriously, probably. There isn’t fluff, or glamourising in my content. It is very honest. Things never go to plan with a Land Rover, so why pretend?’

How did she get into Land Rovers?

Tati revealed: ‘Neither of my parents were car people. Now I am in love with them. I found out Dad used to drive them in the army, and my Grandad had an old 90 in a similar colour.

‘I didn’t know anything about them, or anything about mechanics, but I am quite practical, so when the opportunity came to buy my own, wanderlust, naivety, and a good sprinkling of gung-ho attitude took over, and I committed.

‘I said when I bought and took the keys for Blue Tit that I may as well burn the green new-owner slip, because she was never getting sold. Little did I know the commitment I was making – but I have never regretted a commitment less.’

Tati admitted that Blue Tit, which she bought for £10,000, breaks down ‘all the time’ and driving her means putting up with ‘leaks, shakes, and a bumpy ride’.

But she is, nevertheless, ‘just heaven’, said Tati, who described Land Rovers as ‘British icons that are full of character and charm’ that can ‘literally go anywhere in the world, be fixed anywhere in the world, and park anywhere and not look out of place’.

Tati and her dad converted Blue Tit into a mini glamping-ish home on wheels, with a roof tent; pull-out kitchen with gas stove, sink, cutlery drawer and mini pantry; plus a wardrobe and spare parts drawer.

Tati said: ‘I love sleeping up in my roof tent on Blue Tit. I’d choose it over sleeping in a camper van, and a lot of Airbnbs.

‘Having the fresh air all around, and unzipping a window to reveal the sights you may not have seen when you parked up in the dark the night before, is just second to none.

‘This is us broken down, four days into our first-ever road trip,’ said Tati. ‘I am on the phone to Steve, who I bought Blue Tit off, and next to me I have the roll of tools that I left the UK with. Those are the only tools I owned then. The coolant hose had a hole in it, so was leaking’

LEFT: This picture was taken a few days before Tati took ownership of Blue Tit. She said: ‘I think I was trying to hide some wires. I was so excited, but retrospectively, so naïve, in a good way.’ RIGHT: This picture was taken in Italy on the first road trip in 2023, said Tati, who added: ‘Mum had to come out to visit me. We arrived in the dark, and woke up the cows. There were valleys and mountains as far as the eye could see, and no one around. There was a slight drama when we thought our gas would explode and we’d have a burnt-down Land Rover, but all was well, thankfully. That was a perfect evening’

‘She is my home. Everything I could possibly need is in/on Blue Tit. Having this self-contained little home, which I can park literally anywhere, even the places other cars cannot get to, waking up with mountains surrounding you, or vineyards, or woodland, or lakes, or rice fields, or literally anything, but with no one around, is pure bliss.’

So far, Tati has taken Blue Tit to France, Switzerland, Italy, St Marino, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Belgium, Spain, Andorra, Wales and Scotland – and describes her as ‘the best’ travel companion, ‘though she can get a bit hot and bothered going up Alpine passes’.

And how do people react to her abroad?

Tati said: ‘She gets a lot of looks, that is for sure. The Italians think she is too slow, though. Once, we were driving through a tunnel where overtaking was prohibited, and we were in the slow lane, as per usual.

‘A lorry behind us started honking as he wanted us to go faster, but we physically couldn’t go any faster. He just held his horn and honked us out of the tunnel for maybe three minutes solid. It was deafening. The police pulled us over as soon as we got out of the tunnel. There was a bit of a language barrier – they told us we had been pulled over for “walking too slowly”. I burst into laughter because the whole situation was ridiculous… But despite my giggles, we were let free.’

Luckily, most people abroad have reacted very positively to Tati and Blue Tit.

Tati continued: ‘We’ve had surprise experiences that have revolved around very kind, very helpful random people. Because of breakdowns. We have climbed canyons with Frenchmen, shared beers on the side of the road with diamond dealers, made friends and camped with utter strangers just because they drive the same car, and camped in people’s garages and had museum tours, all because of a shared love of classic cars.’

Describing this picture, Tati said: ‘We just arrived in the Dolomites. We sort of went there by mistake and I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t even know what the Dolomites were. It was breathtaking! We just stumbled across them’

LEFT: Tati fixing the roof tent in the Dolomites. RIGHT: Blue Tit in Switzerland earlier this year. Here, said Tati, the roads are ‘ridiculously beautiful’

Tati and Blue Tit in Switzerland – ‘with snow so close, it was just the most stunning scene’

This is Blue Tit before she was renovated and sold to Tati, who remarked: ‘She was looking very unhappy, having sat behind a shipping container for so many years’

Tati also revealed that the breakdowns abroad helped teach her how to fix Blue Tit.

She explained: ‘We left for a two-and-a-half month road trip around Europe two days after I collected Blue Tit, with nothing but a roll of tools and breakdown insurance, not fixing cover.

‘When we broke down – every four days – I would call up my mechanic friend Steve, who I bought Blue Tit off, and explain the symptoms and he would talk me through testing each of the components, and eventually, we would get to the solution. It has grown from that. I still call him to help me with issues, but often I can now diagnose and fix the issues as I have typically fixed the issue before, or am expecting it to go wrong. It’s a Land Rover, it’s basically greasy Lego. How hard can it be?’

And what’s next for Tati and Blue Tit?

She said: ‘I want to cross continents, and travel the whole world, and sadly, I do not think Blue Tit is quite up to it, nor has the space. So, she is going to need a slightly bigger friend, a 110 Land Rover in the near future. I want to get a Land Rover I can live inside of, as well as outside of. A lot of this is because of the safety elements of going further afield. If I want to get out of trouble, I want to be able to lock myself into the vehicle so people can’t see me. Blue Tit is like a greenhouse, so not very conducive to security and safety.’

Along with the rest of Tati’s 426,000 followers – we can’t wait to meet Blue Tit’s new friend.

For more from Tati and Blue Tit visit www.instagram.com/overintherover and www.youtube.com/@overintherover.