Category Archives: Cars & Trucks

Grayson Wolf and Luke Richards

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Big day for The Land Rover Project. Mr. Wolf (left) is in San Marcos doing a final inspection on the truck. Luke Richards (right) was in charge of the restoration. Assuming the truck does well on this afternoon’s test drive, it’s back to the Bay Area for the final shakedown cruise.

UPDATE: Okay. Looks like the restoration is done and the truck will head for Mr. Wolf’s garage before the end of the month. Not sure how long he’ll need to “break it in” but I’m hoping to have it before the end of the year.

Eldon Land Rover

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One of my coffee shop pals reported seeing an old Land Rover on the outskirts of Eldon, a small town about 30 miles south of Jefferson City. So I hopped in the car and drove down to see if I could find it.

The owner was a gentleman who passed away a month or so back. I introduced myself to a young man (a grandson?) who was getting things ready for an estate sale. I asked if I could take a look (and some photos) of the Land Rover. No problem. He said the owner (who was in his 80s when he died) bought the truck new. And small world that it is, it’s a 1979 Series III. Same year and model as mine.

The young man said there was a fender in the building, to replace the damaged one above.

The tub was filled with parts, old manuals, etc.

The old girl looked pretty rough. Someone with more knowledge and experience than me would know if this could be restored and what that might take. He said prior to the old man’s death, he had an offer of $2,500.

Land Rover spare tire

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Everyone agreed having the spare tire on the bonnet (hood) of the Land Rover looked cool… but it was just too heavy (for me). But removing the mount left some ugly holes. I’m pleased to report the guys at Lucra Cars came up with a nice solution.

If some future owner (assuming I won’t live forever) wants to put the spare back on the bonnet, he/she can remove these six bolts, attach the mount, and put the spare back where the Land Rover gods intended.

Dashboards

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As automobiles got smarter and smarter, dashboards got more complex. My MINI dash can show stuff I still haven’t discovered, six years in. Better to have that kind of data than not (I guess), but I rarely look at most of it. Really old cars didn’t tell you much. So you had to be looking under the hood (And everywhere else, I suppose) with some regularity. But I found this simplicity refreshing. Hard to see in this photos because the museum was pretty stingy with the lighting.

Originally, the word dashboard applied to a barrier of wood or leather fixed at the front of a horse-drawn carriage or sleigh to protect the driver from mud or other debris “dashed up” (thrown up) by the horses’ hooves. (Wikipedia)

1947 Hudson Pickup

1956 Lincoln Continental Mark II

1932 DeSoto CSC Roadster

Auto World Museum - Fulton, MO

Moving spare from bonnet to rear of truck

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Nothing says “Land Rover” like the spare tire mounted on the bonnet. It’s iconic. And I was fine with keeping mine there until I discovered how difficult it was to open up the engine compartment. Something I plan to do almost daily. It was damned heavy. I did it but will I be able to in five years? Or ten?

The truck is back in San Diego where the guys at Lucra Cars are taking care of a few things they missed during the restoration, so I’m having them move the spare to a swing-out arm on the rear of the truck.

Removing the mounting bracket from the bonnet (what we call the hood) left about 20 holes. A small patch would look like a, well, a patch. So they’re fabricating a piece of aluminum that will cover most of the bonnet. (the green tape)

This will horrify Land Rover purists (sometimes known as “rivet counters”) but I’m going to be happier with the spare on the rear of the truck.

Land Rover headed back to San Diego

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The ride up to Mr. Wolf’s shop in the Bay Area was on open transport truck. Only thing available on short notice. Last night he sent it back to Lucra Cars in an enclosed truck.

Looks like it had some pricey company. Perhaps one of you car guys can ID these high-end rides.

No idea when I’ll finally get behind the wheel but if I had to guess I’d say December. Gonna call it a Christmas present.

One car too many

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From the day I decided to buy a vintage Land Rover the plan was to make it my everyday vehicle. I’d sell the MINI almost immediately. Friends and concerned strangers urged me to hang on to the MINI, if only for a few months, to make sure I could make do with a 40 year old truck. So I rented one of those U-Store-It places to keep the MINI, even though I’m not entirely comfortable with having two vehicles. The Land Rover is still a month away. Maybe six weeks.

In the meantime, the MINI’s value as a back-up ride has… diminished. Might have a crack in the head gasket which is an expensive repair. $1,500, maybe two grand?

I paid $24,000 for the MINI in the fall of 2011. The Blue Book value is around $5,000, perhaps a bit more. But that’s WITHOUT a serious engine problem. Do I invest $2K to fix the car in order to sell it for $5K? If I’m doing the math correctly, the car is only worth $3K at the moment.

I’m almost completely ignorant in these matters because I’ve always driven cars (Toyotas) for 300,000 miles or more. Then I’d buy a new one. Zero experience with used cars. And more importantly, I refuse to fuck with buying/selling used cars.

So I’ll keep the MINI until the Land Rover arrives but keeping it in storage no longer makes sense. I haven’t figured out what to do with it but I will. The local high school has a career center with an automotive program that accepts donated vehicles for the student to work on (for practice or to fix and sell). I might donate the MINI.

What I’d like to find is a “concierge seller.” Someone that finds a buyer and takes a commission.

I was a little surprised at how quickly the MINI lost value. And how difficult and expensive it was to maintain. And, yes, driving a 40 year old truck will have a new set of surprises.