It would be difficult to find someone who knows less about cars and trucks than I do. In 50+ years of driving I’ve never done more than change a flat tire. Never changed the oil or put on new wiper blades. Never had an interest. So nobody was more surprised than I when I decided to purchase a vintage Land Rover.
I’ve run into a few people over the years with a passion for old vehicles and every one of them loved messing with them and and fixing them up. Anything from a full nuts-and-bolts restoration to a tune-up, they all had a garage full of tools and loved getting their hands greasy.
I just wanted to have and drive an old Land Rover. Which is how I wound up working with Grayson Wolf more than a year ago. As a “concierge buyer” his role is to help people like me find a particular car or truck. The ten percent finders fee probably discourages a lot of folks, especially those guys I describe above. They know enough — or think they do — to find a good deal and then fix it up when they get it home.
Finding me a Land Rover should have taken no more than a few months. At least that’s my guess. Mr. Wolf gets his fee and moves on to help the next guy. How my journey wound up taking more than a year (and costing almost twice the original estimate) is here for those that missed it. But through it all, Grayson stuck by me. But now we’re near the end. He’s driving my truck to find and fix the hundred-and-one little things that need fixing on a restored vintage truck. From today’s email:
“Just looking for the usual suspects: loose things, things that need minor adjustment. Yesterday I stopped in San Carlos to pick something up and when I got back out to the truck the starter trigger wire had fallen off, so I couldn’t engage the starter. The little female spade connector just didn’t have enough bite to hang on to the terminal on the starter, so I just pinched it a little tighter and plugged it back in. Problem permanently solved! The throttle cable needed a minor adjustment and lubrication. Also, the steering wheel was a bit off center after Philippe adjusted the steering box, so I straightened that out. I also removed the fancy new Old Man Emu steering stabilizer I put on before it went to Philippe, as it was making the steering too heavy at low speeds. I will include it with the truck when it ships out, and if it needs to be reinstalled (too much kick-back through the wheel when driving on rough dirt roads) it pops on with two 14mm nuts, very easy. With your fancy new workbench, this will be a walk in the park for a Rover owner like yourself!”
“I put about 100 km on the truck yesterday, and aside from the minor things mentioned above, she’s driving great. I’d like to drive it for another couple days, then do an oil change (brand new engines often pollute the first round of oil quickly) and it should be good to go.”
He’ll put the Land Rover on an enclosed transport truck and in a few days or a week or whatever, we’ll all gather in a big parking lot here in Jefferson City and watch my truck roll down the ramp. Not the end but a new beginning.