The restoration seems to have moved to the interior of the truck which — I hope — means we’re getting near the end.

The original three-across bench seats have been replaced with bucket seats (vinyl) and storage compartment. These seats are about as modern as I would care to go. Would have been fine with the originals but then I have never ridden on those. I’m sure these are better.
All of the original glass has been replaced with safety glass. That suggests the original glass was not safety glass!

The side windows on the rear of the truck slide horizontally to open and close. Just like the side windows on the cab. Suspect sight lines might be better than the MINI.

There are four vents in the ceiling of the hardtop. These can be opened and closed to control airflow that’s scooped in from the top of the truck.

When Luke Richards started restoring this truck he was going to make it a soft top to take full advantage of the beautiful California weather. And my first thought was for a soft top, too. Missouri winters be damned! But in the end I decided to invest the extra money (and time) in a hardtop which I can remove in warmer weather. Six months on, six months off.


Can’t tell from the photo above but it looks like the seats might be in, so I’d say we’re getting close.

Since I started my search for a Land Rover. Seems much longer. Serious time distortion. If I get the truck by October 1 it will have been 5 months from beginning to end.

I’ve never given a thought to having a car stolen. No annoying alarm, no Club. And I’ve never owned a car that would be particularly attractive to car thieves. In a couple of months I’ll be driving a truck that might very well catch a thief’s eye. My friend George pointed out few car thieves could drive my Land Rover because it has a manual transmission. Could that be right, I wondered?

According to U.S. News and World Report “only 18 percent of U.S. drivers know how to operate a stick shift” and “only about 5 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. today come with a stick shift. That’s down from 25 percent of cars in 1987.”

I have a little trouble picturing a car thief pushing a car unless the chop shop is around the corner. I suppose a truly sophisticated effort could involve a flat-bed truck. They’ll need to be quick about however, because my tracking device will alert me if the truck is moved.

While in San Diego this week I went up the road to San Marcos to visit Lucra Cars and see my 1979 Series III Land Rover truck and meet Luke Richards.

I had never met Luke or even spoken to him on the phone. All of my contact has been through Grayson Wolf, the “concierge buyer” who found the truck at Lucra Cars. Luke welcomed me warmly and gave me a tour of his operation and a close-up look at my truck which is nearing completion.

When I arrived Eric and Ron (above) were working on my truck. Luke explained that he had been restoring the truck for his own use when Mr. Wolf contacted him and persuaded him to sell it.

For the next 45 minutes Luke showed me all of the tiny improvements that make this restored Land Rover better than it was when it rolled off the line in Santana, Spain. Luke prefers to restore Land Rovers from the Santana plant because they’re always in better shape than the ones he gets from the UK (which are “usually shit”).

There were a couple of other Land Rovers in some stage of restoration but I think they were all Defenders. Mine was the only Series I saw. He had some more outside that were too far gone for restoration and — I assume — were salvaged for parts.

Luke finished up the tour with a visit to a nearby shop that (I think) did custom design and fabrication of aluminum body parts. The hardtop on my truck had some bad spots and this was where they repaired and replaced those.

I noticed some movie posters on the walls and asked about them. Turns out Luke and this shop have done some custom vehicles you heave — and will — see in the movies. (They told me but I can’t tell you). Photo below is Luke and Curt, owner of CRB Aluminum Fabrication Services. 

When Luke and Company finish the restoration it goes to Mr. Wolfe (in the Bay Area) where he’ll drive it to break in the rebuilt diesel engine properly and find/fix anything that might have been missed during the restoration. During this period I’ll go out to meet Mr. Wolf and get a crash course on old Series trucks. When it’s as good as he can make it, Mr. Wolf will load my new toy on a truck and ship it to me. I’m hoping by October 1. [Restoration photo gallery]

Nothing says safari like a spare on the bonnet. Probably won’t leave it there. Couple of other options. Does look sorta bad-ass.

Watching my truck (’79 Series III Land Rover) being (re)built piece by piece is delicious agony. They’re taking their time, ordering pieces as they decide what needs to be replaced and waiting for them to arrive from the UK supplier. Every couple of weeks they post four or five photos and I pour over them inch by inch. As much as I’ve enjoyed my MINI, nothing about it has this kind of attraction for me. Like all my other vehicles, it’s a way to get from A to B.

But this truck. Everything about it seems to pluck my magic twanger. Take look at the front bumper (below). It’s a big hunk of steel. No chrome. No curves. No ornamentation. Just a big metal bar. I guess the idea was if you happened to hit something (or something hit you) the bumper would protect the front of the truck. Is there a vehicle on the road to day that can take a bump at any speed without resulting in hundreds of dollars in damage? But function aside, I love the form of this thing. Could it be more simple?

And then there are the iconic Land Rover door latches. Grab. Pull. Gonna be driving through the bush? No problemo. Door handles are recessed, thank you very much.

And that lock. Won’t be needing that bluetooth remote for these. You need a key. (Even though these looks look like they could be picked with a paper clip)

I mean, there’s just no extra shit. Everything has a purpose. A function.

Waiting for new photos of the truck is exquisite torture. If we’re down to things like headlights and grills we must be in the home stretch. Next week I’ll get to put my hands on this baby (I hope) and meet the guys doing the restoration. Been awhile since I’ve been this excited. More photos »

I’ve been hanging out on a Land Rover forum and mentioned my fondness for the simplicity of the old trucks. Another member posted these photos of the engine compartment of his Audi. One with the engine ‘cover’ and one with it removed.

Legend has it that you can only change two sensors without removing the engine. The crank sensor and the Temperature sensor. The temperature sensor is underneath the AC pump though, which needs disconnected. Therefore it needs to be done at a garage as the engine cant be run with no refrigerant gas as supposedly there is no clutch on the AC pump. (doubtful IMHO). To remove the engine means dismantling everything from the rear diff forwards, lowering the engine, front transmission and subframe then lifting the car off. On the Landy you can get to pretty much every part of the engine in situ. The engine only really needs to come out if the crank needs to come out.

For all the charm of an old Land Rover, the lads (mostly Brits) who haunt this forum pull no punches about what it’s really like to drive one of these things. Cold in the winter, hot in the summer, noisy in any season. Only time will tell if I can make the transition from the MINI. I’m approaching this more as art project and philosophical exercise than a way to get downtown.