When 50 feels like 80

Since pulling the trigger on a Series (III) Land Rover, I’ve been on a steady diet of YouTube videos. Restoration videos; how-to videos; for sale videos; and lots of fan videos. One of the best of these is on a channel called Harry’s Garage. I gather Harry knows a good bit about cars and he is very found of his 1954 Series I Land Rover.

First half of the video is a walk-around and in the second half he takes us for a ride. The person recording the video is in the back of the truck and you can see the road and the speedometer. But you can’t hear a word old Harry is saying because the truck is so loud. When the speed reaches 50 mph the truck is shaking like the space shuttle during lift-off.

Since learning my new highway top-end would be around 50 mph I’ve been setting the cruise control on my MINI at 55 to get a feel for what was coming. It felt frighteningly slow. Every other car whizzing by. How will I get used to this, I wondered.

I won’t have to. Riding along with old Harry in his Series I at 50 mph felt like 80 mph!

Starting to look like a truck

Wish I knew the names of the technicians working on my truck. Trying to put together a trip to San Diego to see the truck and maybe learn about about its history. Probably a long shot. Nice to start getting some photos again. Never seen a battery like the one below. I’m told that’s because it has to crank a diesel engine.

If you’re joining us late, you can read about the beginning of the Land Rover adventure here.

Land Rover Repair Operation Manual

I purchased a Repair Operation Manual for my Land Rover. This is different from the owner’s manual. “The purpose of this manual is to assist skilled mechanics in the efficient repair and maintenance of the range of vehicles given on the title-page.” (Series III)

Land Rover owners insist these trucks are so simple, so basic, that any good auto mechanic can service and repair them. But the truck is 38 years old and having the factory manual can’t hurt. It was pricey but a good investment.

Going topless

When my truck arrives it will have a hardtop. But I haven’t given up my dream of going topless in the warmer months. Lots of advice on this topic in the forum I’ve started haunting. This young man lives in Scotland:

“Unfortunately, living in Scotland, it’s rarely dry enough or warm enough to take the top off. I would love to get a soft top for my truck. The hardtop doesn’t really make it a great deal warmer or less draughty than the canvas. In the winter, even with the hardtop on it is bone chillingly cold. In the summer, with the hardtop on, it is like sitting in in oven. I reckon with the canvas, the summer would be much more comfortable, with the easy option of rolling the sides up and the winter would be just as equally horrendous. The funny thing is, even with the hardship and discomfort, driving the land rover in any season is always a joy and a choice.”

Yes! I hear that over and over. He shared a few photos of his Land Rover. I suppose there are perfectly restored Land Rovers sitting in climate controlled garages but I just haven’t come across those. Most owners seem to drive them, and drive them hard. I love the scruffy look of this truck.

55 mph

If you drive 70 mph on one of our nation’s interstate highways you will see plenty of cars zipping past you. If you drive 60 mph you might feel like you’re standing still. I’ve been experimenting with driving slower in preparation for switching from my MINI Cooper (which rides nicely at 100 mph) to a restored Land Rover truck which has a top-end of 50 mph. Or 55 mph, depending on who you ask.

The National Maximum Speed Law prohibited speed limits higher than 55 miles per hour. It was drafted in response to oil price spikes and supply disruptions during the 1973 oil crisis. The law was widely disregarded by motorists and it was modified in 1987 and 1988 to allow up to 65 mph limits on certain limited access, rural roads. Congress repealed the law in 1995, fully returning speed limit setting authority to the states.

I set my cruise control on 60 last week and cringed a bit watching approaching cars in my rear-view mirror. At 55 I might turn on my flashers. I’ll make some short runs on the highway but no long trips. Fun for around town but no good for getting somewhere in a hurry. And everybody is in a hurry. I didn’t really see that until I stopped.

Swapping my MINI for the Land Rover will be an adjustment. But I’m at the adjustments point of life so that’s okay. I’ve been hanging out on some Land Rover forums and old hands there tell me driving one of these old trucks demands a level of awareness. Braking, turning, simply starting the truck… Everything demands more thought. Mare attention. I find this appealing. (Ask me again in six months)

Door panels? No door panels?

I feel like a bride-to-be, picking out curtain material. Work has started on the interior of my truck. That has to be a good sign. Mr. Wolf and I both think no door panels looks sexier but the restoration guys are worried about knees getting banged by the hinge. When complete the truck will be a big old aluminum can and noisy as hell, with or without panels. I keep saying I don’t care whether it’s a boy or a girl as long as it’s healthy.

Rebuilt diesel engine

The photo below is the rebuilt engine in a 1974 Series 3. I’m not a “motor” kind of guy but I do appreciate clean and tidy and these photos make it clear the technicians working for Lucra Cars do as well. When I first started reading about frame-off restorations I knew that was what I was after. Old, but new. Better than new, in fact.

I’m eager to lean over the engine in my truck see the ground. It’s been a long time since I had a vehicle where that was possible.

Concierge Mechanic

Two of my last three primary care physicians considered (if only briefly) concierge medicine before retiring from clinical practice. I would have signed up with either of them. Wikipedia:

“Concierge medicine (also known as retainer medicine) is a relationship between a patient and a primary care physician in which the patient pays an annual fee or retainer. This may or may not be in addition to other charges. In exchange for the retainer, doctors provide enhanced care, including principally a commitment to limit patient loads to ensure adequate time and availability for each patient.”

The idea has resurfaced as I search for a mechanic to service the vintage Land Rover I hope to be driving later this year. I’ve found a garage that I think will be able to do routine service and maintenance but what I’d really like to find is a retired (?) craftsman that would like to pick up a few bucks without slaving away every day. Someone who — for a price — would treat the truck like it was his own. Perhaps we rent time at a garage (after hours?) so he’d have a place to work.

This probably isn’t a business because most of the people who invest in vintage automobile a) don’t drive them every day and b) know how to do routine maintenance themselves. And then there are people like me.

1979 Series III Land Rover

[Updates at bottom of post]

Before I tell you about my new Land Rover, let’s recap how we got here. I’ve been admiring vintage Land Rovers for years but the idea of owning one never occurred to me. In May I spotted another one on the Cool & Vintage website. A beautiful frame-off restoration of a Defender 90 Land Rover. I clicked the “more information” link and, following a brief email exchange, learned I could buy the vehicle for about $60,000. I decided I had to have it and spent a week or two begging the folks in Lisbon, Portugal (where the company is located) to take my money. They were too busy with their latest photo shoot.

A friend of a friend told me about a UK company called Arkonik that specializes in frame-off restorations of Land Rovers. I called and learned they’d be happy to build me one for $100,000 but there was a 13 month waiting list. I strongly considered it.

At this point a friend put me in touch with a “concierge buyer” in the Bay Area. I call him Mr. Wolf and he’s an expert in vintage Land Rovers. For a finder’s fee of 10%, he agreed to find the Land Rover of my dreams. And he did. It took him a bit more than a month.

We started searching for a Defender 90 but along the way Mr. Wolf suggested I consider a Land Rover Series (I,II,III) model. These are more truck-like (loud and slow). I loved the look so we expanded the search. Last week Mr. Wolf located a 1979 Series 3 Land Rover in San Diego. The restoration was still underway and the vehicle hadn’t been spoken for.

Mr. Wolf looked at  a few hundred photos and talked at length with Luke Richards, the man in charge of the restoration. He was impressed. This was it. I wired the deposit and the Land Rover was mine.

When the restoration is complete, probably by August September October. Mr. Wolf will take it back to his facility in the Bay Area and drive it for 1,000 miles to find and fix any problems (that can occur with the most perfect restoration). Then he’ll put it on a truck and send it to me. I plan to visit Mr. Wolf during the shakeout period.

I love the idea of frame-off restoration. I love the look and charm of the older Land Rover… but I want it to be “new.” In the absence of time travel, that means taking the old car apart and rebuilding it bolt-by-bolt, nut-by-nut. I find it amazing anyone can do this, for any amount of money. Clearly a labor of love.

I don’t know the full story behind Luke Richards but at one time (perhaps still) he designed and built high-performance cars. Watch the video on his website. Somewhere along the way he and his team started restoring vintage Land Rovers.

I’ll have more photos of my Land Rover as it nears completion and I’ll share them here. The color (Stone Gray) is not a Land Rover color, it’s by Mercedes. I love it.

If you had asked me yesterday how long I’ve been working on this I would have said six months. It’s been less than two. Some serious time distortion at work. I’m eager to climb in this rascal and chug up my hill but I’m enjoying the anticipation, too. Watch this space for updates.


UPDATE (August 21, 2017): The pieces that make up the hardtop have been painted. In the home stretch.

UPDATE (August 12, 2017): Back from visit to Lucra Cars in San Marcos, CA. Met Luke Richards and some of this staff. Got to put my hands on The Truck.

UPDATE: (July 19, 2017): Starting to get a few more photos of the restoration. Will update this gallery as more come in.

UPDATE (July 17, 2017): Best estimate now October 1 on the short side; November 1 on the long side. Looks like an early Christmas present.

UPDATE (July 7, 2017): We’re sticking with the new drum brakes. This truck is small and light enough that front-wheel discs won’t be necessary. The restoration was going to be a soft top but they have a hardtop in stock so that’s the plan. Will had some dollars and time to the project and I can always order a soft top down the road.

UPDATE (July 1, 2017): Brief chat with Mr. Wolf as we enter what I believe is the final phase of the restoration. I had a question about the gearbox in my truck. Some of the older Series trucks did not have synchro in all gears and that is not a good thing. I believe the Series III gearbox is synchronized. He suggested converting the front wheels from drum brakes to disc, adding that drum brakes probably wouldn’t be a problem since the truck goes so slow. I like the idea of disc brakes up front.

Mr. Wolf finds the truck

1979 Series III Land Rover Santana. Mr. Wolf sees the truck in the background of photo on Craig’s List/SF.

“Pending a visit to San Diego to visit this guy, I think this might be the one. I am very impressed with the quality of this build. Not only does the work look beautiful, but he has done lots of invisible upgrades to improve the overall look and reliability.”

“After looking through probably 500 of Luke’s pictures I haven’t seen a single thing that I don’t like, and talking with Luke has been nice, he really knows his stuff. Let’s do it! I’ll call him in a little while to get all the info.”