At some point in all our lives we get the chance to do something totally awesome that means the world. My one life long consistent passion has always been cars, and mainly old British cars. I’ve been “lucky” enough to have owned and restored a Triumph Spitfire and it all started then. I now find myself gazing wistfully into the far distance thinking about Jaguar D types, Austin Healey’s, TR4’s, Mini’s or Lotus 7’s. I would really love to own another British Leyland classic one day but nothing could come close to how excited I am that as of today – I’m buying a Defender (the proper one!)
The Land Rover Defender is and always will be the coolest car on the road, sadly when they replaced it they might well have made a stunning off roader, but that doesn’t mean a thing when you look like a fat mini with stupid little rear lights, it isn’t a patch on the old one in the cool stakes, and in my opinion doesn’t deserve the name!
The old defender is what I want, it’s all I want. But it isn’t quite as simple as that! 90 or 110? (130 not for me) crew cab or station wagon? Roll cage or simple? Alloys of Steelies? Series 3 or TD5? 2005 or 2015? Td5 or tdci? Colours, interiors, style….all of it, every single thing has to be decided because at some point it was all customizable, all adjustable and thats what I love – the idea of restoring something old into something unique and totally personal.
Following the amazing success of my last car restoration project (a wheel came off when I rebuilt the entire running gear with bolts from an old barbecue instead of engineering bolts…) I have decided the best way to get the results I want out of a Defender is to restore, rebuild and fully customize remotely mainly through the power of zoom. So strap in and follow the journey of not only buying a defender but also restoring and rebuilding the truck into something special.
“The Adventure Truck” will be fully built up over the course of the next year or so ready for its great unveiling at some point in the future. The Adventure Truck will be built to be the central hub of our family adventures. It will need to be able to have bikes thrown in the back, surf boards tied to its roof, to carry skis on holiday, or tents and food for weekends at the beach, it will need to be rough and ready and not too precious. The Adventure Truck will need to be versatile, I want to be able to wash it out with a power hose, but at the same time comfortable enough to drive on expeditions or holiday. It will be asking a lot from an old Land Rover, but I hope that will part of the fun cajoling some old farm vehicle or keepers truck into a new lease of life.
So now that I have decided I am buying a Defender I will be searching for the perfect vehicle in the coming weeks to buy blind from the interweb and as the glorious covid comes to its vaccinated end over this summer I hope to be driving around the UK in its unrestored form getting to know the truck and catching up with friends and family. Hopefully The Adventure Truck will bring its very own adventure through its inception, stick around to find out. What could possibly go wrong!
Lots can, and will go wrong…but you’ll own a defender and every day will be an adventure 🤠
I’ll be checking in for advice on how to survive the journey! X
Having owned Land Rovers since 1995, every day will be an adventure! We own two Land Rovers and nothing else as back-up, so we found oursleves with no working vehicles last week! The Series 3 (1974) decided that she was on strike, started belching black smoke and subsequently ended up being towed to a local mechanic (who is yet to provide a diagnosis) and the Defender (Puma 2009) started smouldering due to a short in the wiring of our hooters! Yet, the love affair continues, and we will always own these incredible vehicles! To date, our Land Rover family members have included Nina Simone (an old V8 who sounded like she had been up all night in a shebeen), Sandy the Landy (because she was sand coloured), Lara Croft (because she was perfect), and still with us Suffering Sophie (the 1974 Series 3) and Purdey (the gun metal grey Defender) named after the Joanna Lumley character in The New Avengers! Enjoy the journey and GO BEYOND!
Jack told me his favourite car in the world was Sophie!! (He didn’t even get a ride!)
I promise to tell you all about our Defender Adventures, I’m not sure we will ever be lucky enough to go as wild as you guys!!
Xx
It’s just taken me two days to get the MGA started again – last driven in October. Let me know if I can help! xx
What a noble quest! Half the fun will be in the search, rescue and reinvention. Thereafter, it may be half usage fun and half frustration – but with pride. in the beast you’ll have created. Defending the Defender is a defensible life-time mission. Locked and loaded! He who dares…………