The Start of the Story

A dream. The dream. Certainly for a petrolhead such as myself. Hours and hours of work and joy. Passion. A lot of passion. These are the two things you need to do this kind of work properly.

Throughout this blog, I'll share with you my journey of restoring not only my first car, but more importantly perhaps, fixing up my first land rover. It's something I wanted to do since I was a child, which to be honest I still am, but restoring a car was always one of my dreams. I have to say just how fortunate I am, especially at such a young age, a father who shares this passion with me, is willing to undergo such a project with me, to know mechanics I've come to know very well over this journey, mechanics who have taught and helped me throughout this project with techniques and tips. Having said all of this, the effort, the hours, they're worth it all. No questions asked. Now, before I waste more time, let's tell you the story. A story with many, many ups. A story of a dream coming true.

The story begins in 2014. Whilst on one of my bike trips, I came along a Land Rover graveyard close to where I live. I stopped to take a look at what was there. I scavenged for a long time, finding a 88" Land Rover with an extreme raffish charm. I went back there for weeks, if not months on end. There were ten's of Land Rovers, all in varying states and configurations, there, but somehow I always went looking for this specific one, spending hours with it. I loved it. It just had something you don't find with a usual car. Unfortunately however, this would not be the car I would later restore, this car would have a change in direction. Probably got (tyre)d of standing there. The truth is, approximately a year into my Land Rover restoration, the owner of this particular Land Rover sadly passed away. All of the cars, they went to Africa. Before I took the picture on the right, there was one Land Rover roof laying on the left side, trees starting to sprout out under the wings (fenders), plants infested the radiator, and several other Land Rovers parked close to it. Imagine a Land Rover graveyard in a miniature forest. This specific car, it was the start. The fuel which ignited my passion, my passion for automotive restoration.

Shortly after discussing the validity of this project with my parents, which went on for

several months, we talked to a Land Rover service centre in Knonau, Switzerland. We've already known them before, my dad having owned Land Rovers, we told him if he knew anyone who had what we were looking for. A Land Rover Series 3 88" Station Wagon. After a couple of days, we heard about a Land Rover enthusiast in Rafz, Switzerland, a small town close to the border of Germany and Schaffhausen. We went there to inspect what he had for sale, the car which I would eventually restore. It was a 88" Series 3 from 1980, with the safari roof, several (rather a lot) of things that still needed doing to it. At that point in time it was still a snow plough, with all of the required aftermarket pieces needed fitted to it.

Either way, for all of imperfections that were present. It still had the same raffish charm as the other Land Rover, it had in my opinion, and this is perhaps a key argument for restoring a car, it had a personality, it had heaps of character, it was honest, it wasn't simply one of the 51,198 Series 3 Land Rovers (88" and 109") made in 1980, it was different. It didn't have to prove anything to anyone. It was what it was. It might sound slightly insane to personify cars to such an extent, but for me, it's part of who I am, a petrolhead.

There was a lot that needed doing, the basics being, the axles, brakes, suspension, bodywork, interior, exhaust, wheels, wiring loom and detailing. But even at the age of 14, it was something I new I wanted to do, now matter how many hundreds' of hours I would have to invest. I wanted to do this, and I wanted to do this well. I wanted to give the car what it deserved.

I truly I am than lucky to be where I am with this, with parents who allow me to do this, and support me in such a massive project. This is the start of more than two years of hard work. This is the story of how I restored a Land Rover Series 3 88" from 1980. I hope you enjoy it.