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.
I’m re-reading Distraction by Bruce Sterling. Published in 1998, it is/was frighteningly prescient. Here are a few of my favorite excerpts (does that first one remind you of anyone?).
“He’s like a not very bright child who can be deceived and managed, but not reasoned with.”
“The American national character realty wasn’t suited for global police duties. It never had been. Tidy and meticulous people such as the Swiss and Swedes were the types who made good cops. America was far better suited to be the World’s Movie Star. The world’s tequila-addled pro-league bowler. The world’s acerbic, bipolar stand-up comedian. Anything but a somber and tedious nation of socially responsible centurions.”
“It always offended him to hear his fellow Americans discussing the vagaries of “white people.” There was simply no such thing as “white people. That stereotype was an artificial construct, like the ridiculous term “Hispanic.” In all the rest of the world, a Peruvian was a Peruvian and a Brazilian was a Brazilian— it was only in America that people somehow became this multilingual, multinational entity called a “Hispanic.”
“Political reality in modern America was the stark fact that electronic networks had eaten the guts out of the old order, while never finding any native order of their own. The horrific speed of digital communication, the consonant flattening of hierarchies, the rise of net-based civil society, and the decline of the industrial base had simply been too much for the American government to cope with and successfully legitimize.”
“Knowledge is inherently precious even if you can’t sell it. Even if you can’t use it. Knowledge is an absolute good. The search for truth is vital. It’s central to civilization. You need knowledge even when your economy and government are absolutely shot to hell.”
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.
I misplaced my car keys (again). This time the key fob was attached to a Tile tracker. The iPhone app showed the keys being close but I couldn’t hear the chime so I assumed they were outside. The app displays a small green circle on a map and the tile/keys is located within.
In the screencast above the blue dot is me, moving around relative to the circle. I hurried this demo a bit and the app was playing catch-up. The device and the app work better in practice than my demo suggests. I’ve been impressed so far.
Not sure what it is about these two photos that appeals to me. I assume they were taken by Mrs. Wolf at the recent Land Rover meet-up. It’s probably loud as hell but these images seem so still and quiet.
“Terrorism is a racist term in the US. It means white people were harmed by people who aren’t white. If the shooter is white, he’s just crazy.”
— Dave Winer
The Northern California Land Rover Club held a rally in Hollister, California this weekend and Mr. Wolf took The Truck down to show off and test drive. He discovered some “issues” that have to be addressed and will almost certainly delay the delivery date. But that’s why we went with Mr. Wolf in the first place. Here are some photos from the rally:
For my money, nothing captures the Land Rover mystique like this 1951 Series (1) truck. I think he said these guys drove it down from the Bay Area (with the windscreen down!)
Serious off-roaders love to make their trucks go where they shouldn’t be able to go. Mr. Wolf called these “tank traps.”
So The Great Land Rover Project has hit a bump but — as you can see — Land Rovers love bumps.
I “met” Jim Potter and Neil Sommers on a Land Rover forum and they’ve been answering my newbie questions ever since. Yesterday I drove over to Kansas City to meet them (and their Land Rovers).
That’s Neil’s 1963 Series IIA and the photo below is Jim’s 1968 IIA.
I’m in love with the soft top on this truck and plan to order one for next spring. Jim will be switching back to his hardtop soon which he keeps suspended from the roof of his garage.
UPDATE: By the time I finally take delivery of the truck, spring won’t be that far off so I’ll probably order a soft-top and have it ready. The Hoist-A-Top is for Jeeps but looks like it would work. The Harken Hoist looks a bit complex and requires 10 ft which I’m pretty sure i don’t have. Jim made his own hoist (below).
The highlights of the trip for me were the drive from KC down to Neil’s farm in Jim’s truck. Bumpy, loud, slow… wonderful! After meeting Neil, we jumped in his truck and drove around in one of his pastures. He let me drive for a bit and it was a blast. My first time to drive a Land Rover (right hand steering!).
Neil has one of the most amazing shops I’ve ever seen. Okay, I haven’t seen that many shops but this thing was packed with every imaginable tool and some big-ass metal lathes. (I think).
Update from Neil: “The freshly painted blue machine tool is a Steptoe 16 inch metal shaper. It is painted Land Rover Marine Blue. The metal lathe is a Monarch 10EE and the big drill press looking tool is a Bridgeport milling machine.”
Behind the shop Neil had the axles from one of his Land Rovers on sawhorses (he’s doing some more restoration (that’s the chassis above). After explaining how the differential gears worked and how I would need to check the fluid levels periodically, he presented me with a custom tool for taking out the plug. Uh, yeah, maybe.
Jim and Neil are passionate about old Land Rovers and they could not have been more gracious and hospitable. I was pumped about getting my truck but now that I’ve actually driven one… (high pitched squeal!)