History

It's already been a few months since Pod arrived, so I've got some catching up to do. But before that, I'll tell you about the events prior to his purchase.

I already own a 1988 Land Rover Ninety - basically a Defender from before they were called Defenders. This is more of a rolling restoration - there's plenty of things that need doing, but nothing that stops me from using it as a daily driver. I'm slowly upgrading things, replacing things, servicing things, but above all it needs to stay driveable.

I was 40 last year and suddenly started to feel very old. I toyed with the idea of buying a car from 1969 as a project, but the things I liked (at the time) were all out of my price range or complete and utter wrecks. It wasn't until early this year that the idea of a second Land Rover entered my head.

I started looking at the various Land Rover forums on the interweb, and kept searching eBay for a suitable project. I wanted something that was complete, but scruffy and in need of plenty of TLC. I didn't want something that was just a box of bits, and I didn't want something that had already had loads of money spent on it.

The first candidate was spotted on the Series 2 forum - a chap called Phil from Stroud was selling his "project" Landy due to lack of time and money. It wasn't exactly what I was looking for since he had already done quite a lot of work to it, but it wasn't a million miles away and the price was fair. I faffed about trying to decide whether to go for it or not, and eventually told him I'd have it..... only for Phil to say he'd decided to keep it and finish it himself! I'm really pleased he did - he's doing a great job, but it meant I had to keep looking.

Several possible vehicles came and went on eBay - anything with an MOT always blew my budget, as the eBay madness took over and people paid silly money for fairly ordinary vehicles. Eventually another "unfinished project" appeared on eBay. It was another short wheelbase 1969 Landy - a hard top this time, that the owner didn't have the time or money to complete (sounds familiar!) The auction ended with the vehicle unsold as the owner had a strange idea of what it was worth. I made him a fair offer without seeing the vehicle, based on the pictures he'd taken - which he accepted.

I used a site called Shiply to find a courier that would bring my Landy to me for not too much cash. The deal was done, a date arranged, and it all seemed to be going to plan. I was like a kid at Christmas on the day it arrived - and here it is:

It was at about this time that I looked at the registration document - "Date of registration: August 1970". I was apoplectic with rage. I contacted the seller - do you know what he said? "Oh yeah, I forgot to check the document before I advertised it". I'm glad he was in Coventry at the time - I was so hacked off.

Mrs Jonesy pointed out that he had misrepresented the item in the original advert, and as such I was entitled to my money back. I explained this to the seller who was understandably reluctant to go back on the deal. I mentioned "Small Claims Court" and he said he'd give me half my money back and I could keep the Landy.

As soon as the registration document arrived in my name I put the Landy back on eBay (correctly advertised this time). A week or so later, the vehicle was sold and gone from the driveway. Time to start looking again!

I soon found another possible project - a 1969 short wheelbase truck cab in Norfolk. I asked question after question of the poor chap selling it, and got plenty of pictures of the Landy. I also checked the chassis number at Gaydon (home of the Land Rover archives) to ensure it was genuinely a 1969 Land Rover. It all seemed good. Here's one of the pictures I was sent.

The auction ended - I won it. The Landy was mine. Again I used Shiply to find a courier who would bring the vehicle to me.