Once a month during the summer, people bring their vintage cars and trucks to the local mall for a sort of mini rally. Very little organization but I consider that a feature. People sitting around in lawn chairs, strolling up and down, peering into engine compartments. Didn’t see any other Land Rovers but didn’t really expect to.
I grew up in “Tornado Alley” (southeast Missouri) and saw lots of them. But you don’t see them in hilly river towns like Jefferson City, Missouri. Until you do. A three square mile section of JC got hammered last night, including my friend George Tergin. Don’t have a lot of info but it sounds like it destroyed his shop and his storage units.
One of which contained the hardtop for my Land Rover. Looks like it might be scuffed up and a little bent but it’s still there. Stay tuned.
UPDATE (5/23/19): George Kopp and I visited what was once 54 Store More this afternoon. Won’t try to describe it. The hardtop to my truck was balanced precariously on a table at the back of the unit. Were it to topple off it would surely have done more damage so we eased it down to the floor and will complete the rescue when we’re allowed back in. 
Thanks to the ginormus bed on my pickup, I think we’ll be able to use that to transport to a body shop. Got a feeling those guys will be busy for a while but I’ve got all summer to get her fixed.
UPDATE (5/24/19): The hardtop has been rescued. Andrew and George did the heavy lifting but we got it in the pickup and safely home. Have the summer to make repairs.
Since switching from the hardtop to the mesh top a couple of weeks ago, I haven’t been able to drive the truck as much as I hoped. Last couple of weeks have been cold and wet. With warmer weather finally here, let’s take a ride. (Just 2 min) I’m loving the open sight lines. And it’s not as loud as the ear plugs suggest.
“Last week, production on the 25th James Bond movie kicked off, and the first set photos from Jamaica show Daniel Craig’s retired James Bond driving around in an old Land Rover Series III. It’s unclear how much screen time this old Land Rover will get, and whether or not it will be involved in any action scenes. The Series III was very slow, to say the least, with an ancient four-cylinder engine, so Bond wouldn’t stand much of a chance.” (Jalopnik)
Tomorrow we begin the process of removing the hard-top and replacing with a mesh hoop kit. More on that in a moment. The forecast is for rain the next four days (Calling for five inches in the next three days) so I decided to put the truck in my storage unit a bit early.
We were hoping to do the work just outside the unit where we’ll have some light and room to work. But I think we can make this work and I’m eager to make the switch. Here’s what the soft top will look like and here’s the instructional video by the supplier.
Behind the truck are four saw horses with 2×6 planks across them. Once the top is unbolted, we’ll lift it back to rest on the saw horses until this fall. We’ll post progress photos here.
I’m a fan of Matthew Hampshire’s photography but also wanted to see how the Flickr embed code is working these days.
Two of my favorite things: Land Rovers and coffee. Here’s the story and some more pictures.
