The Truck: Day One

Friends have been asking, “So, how do you like the truck?” All I can provide at this point are first impressions. A Series model Land Rover would not be everybody’s cup of tea. It is just so different from modern vehicles. And, unlike all of the SUV’s on the highways, this is a truck. More farm implement than car.

I’ve got the GoPro camera set up now and will share video in coming days. And it will be more video than audio because it is loud inside the truck.You’ll hear me if I shout but I won’t be making any phone calls while driving (more on that in the next post). Which is a good thing.

Land Rover Zen: Keys

To start my Land Rover you use a key. Not a fob. Not an electronic gadget that looks like a Star Trek Tricorder. A key. It doesn’t have a batter so it will never stop working. And I can take it to a locksmith and have a duplicate made. (Yes, a villain can do the same)

But the best part is there is a different key for locking/unlocking the doors on the Land Rover. And once the door is locked, you need the key to unlock it. You can’t reach through the open window and open the door with the inside handle. Nice. I can leave the windows open when it’s hot.

The truck arrives (8.25.18)

A few friends joined my in the parking lot of the local mall to welcome the arrival of my new/old Land Rover. It arrived in perfect condition and started right up.

It was no exaggeration to say I’d have to learn how to drive all over again. No power steering; no power brakes; I’m in 4th gear by the time I’m doing 25mph. No more zippy corners like in the MINI. I’ll have to work at it to make this my daily driver but that’s the goal.

The truck does fit in the garage with maybe a couple of inches of vertical clearance. The adventure begins.

Mr. Wolf’s Bon Voyage Video

The first 7 minutes of this almost 11 minute video is a tour of the instrument panel and the engine but if you stick around for the final four minutes you see the truck on the road and pulling a hill not unlike the one leading to our house. If you’ve come this far you’ll want to watch this video.

Tracking the truck


3:00 p.m. Friday, August 24 – Land Rover just left Tulsa. ETA between ten and noon tomorrow (Saturday). Transport truck will arrive at the Capital Mall parking lot in front of Dillard’s. At least that is the plan.
6:40 a.m. Friday, August 24 – Texas! Put the beer on ice!
9:20 p.m. Thursday, August 23 – Past Albuquerque. Less than 1,000 miles to go. Maybe this weekend?
7:15 p.m. Wednesday, August 22 – Just north of Phoenix. Headed this way.
7:00 a.m. Wednesday, August 22 – Crossed the border into Arizona
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 21 – Barstow, CA
3:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 21 – Truck on the move.
6:00 p.m. Monday, August 20 – The truck hasn’t gotten far since leaving SF Saturday.  Somewhere near Salinas. He still has to go to SoCal & AZ for his last two pickups & then everything on the truck goes to MO.

Land Rover on the way


At long last the truck is on the way. No delivery date yet but it should take less than a week to make it to Jefferson City, MO., depending on the number of stops en route.

Don’t know if I’ll get any lead time or simply get a call from the driver saying “come get your truck.” I have a few loyal supporters who have been with me on this journey and say they want to be on hand for the un-trucking.

I’m sure Mr. Wolf was happy to get the truck out of his shop. Space at a premium.

 

Land Rover: The Home Stretch

Mr. Wolf has been working the phones, looking for a good carrier to transport the Land Rover from Bay Area to Jefferson City.

“Got a pick up window with a great carrier, next Wednesday -Friday (Aug 15-17). They’ll tighten up the window early next week. They’re sending a driver that handles the Bonham’s & Gooding auction vehicles. I figure a week or less on the road depending upon how many stops they have to make before you.”

Sounds like we might see the thing in JC by August 24.

“Just show me Land Rover posts”

I’ve had a few folks tell me they’d like to read about my Land Rover adventure but don’t want to hunt back through my other posts (113 to date). Don’t blame you. There’s a “category” link at the bottom of each post having to do with the Land Rover. Clicking that will pull up just those posts.

Clicking the photo in the top right corner of the home page will get the same results. If you care to comment, here’s how I have that configured. The first time you post a comment, I have to approve it before it appears on the blog. After that first time your comment will show up immediately. Love to hear from you.

The Land Rover is done

Mr. Wolf has thoroughly vetted my truck and pronounced it done. If you’ve been following the story here you know what a laborious process that has been. He knew he was sending the truck to someone who doesn’t own a wrench (I’ll get some! I’ll get some!) and wanted to find and fix everything he could. He’ll arrange for transport and when we have a delivery date I’ll post it here. Tentative plan is to unload in one of the parking lots of the Capital Mall west of Jefferson City.

Now that he has the truck shipshape, Mr. Wolf added the badge I had made. I think I can safely say this Land Rover is one of a kind. Thanks entirely to his tireless efforts.

UPDATE: Not so long ago the idea of naming a vehicle would have gotten some serious eye-rolling from me. Any reference to the Land Rover would probably start and end with “the truck.” Now I’m not so sure. Depending on how much personality the truck acquires, I won’t be surprised if I find myself referring to “Mr. Wolf.” If the truck lives long enough to acquire a soul, it will be because of his efforts.