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So after a few weeks of looking at Isobel, unglamorously sitting in the middle of the garden, its time to move her to where she will stay for the next 2 years, well that was the plan.

New fence along the back to stop the dog getting out, and a new “car port” attached to what will become the workshop, weed mat laid, just waiting for the stones to arrive as promised at about 10:00 before we move Isobel. 10 came and went, 11 came and went, although time was not wasted.. Congratulations Lionesses, 3-1 against hosts Australia and now into the World Cup Final. 12, 1 PM all came and went, no stones!

Need to crack on, so start pulling Isobel apart.

Before I start, lets have a little look at what I have actually bought. Don’t mind the oo’s and ah’s, sharp intakes of breath and mutterings of “That’ll be expensive”. I kind off knew most of what I was getting..

So jumping ahead a little, here is Isobel in here not quite forever home, ready for work to commence, in fact after a little work already. Oh, and Jessica, the escape artist.

After an anxious night waiting, John from Car Delivery Service turned up perfectly on-time.

Time to offload Isobel.

I think it is also time to explain why “Isobel”. I have said I want this to be personal, and how much more personal can it be than naming it after my Mum, Isobel is my Mum’s middle name, who sadly passed away pretty much 12 years to the day this Land Rover arrived.

So from now on, rather than Land Rover Series 2a, piece of crap, pile of rust and other names she has recently been called, I will refer to her as Isobel.

Time to move Isobel to her resting place for the work to commence.

First challenge, how to move a 2 Ton truck, down the side of the house, into the back garden without any power. Surprisingly, with a little help from the young ones it was pretty easy, even if we did give No1 sons partner, who volunteered to steer, a bit of a scare, pushing Isobel in reverse through some tight spots at quite a speed!

That was after Son No2, face planted into the front wing, when his feet gave way on the wet path. Sorry, no pictures of that, all happened too quick, but gave us all a good laugh, and will do for some time to come. Sorry Caleb! He was demoted to taking Pictures, rather than pushing & pulling, safety first and all that.

A bit unnecessary, but let the Kids play a little, out comes the Jet washer and Isobel gets her first wash, I did ask them to not get the inside wet, no chance, as wet on the inside as the outside, but I guess that’s a typical Land Rover for you.

To be continued….. as I need to build her a carport on the side of the poorly placed workshop/garage, after I finish the new fence and any other jobs wife wants in return for allowing me to own Isobel.

I found one I was interested in, but need to follow the rules when buying!

This one was a long way away, a good 8 hour round trip (430 miles), so not wanting to leave things too long, given pervious experiences, I asked for the afternoon off at work, yes they said, so I arranged to go see it, taking with me Son No. 2.

Then it all changes again, work needs to get done, so can’t leave until much later… Damn, what now! I didn’t want to get there too late in the evening, and patience is running low.

This is when I decided to break every rule in the book, especially something everyone will tell you DON’T DO IT, even my mate Neil, who by the way was sent endless pictures of Land Rovers, with the question “What about this one?”

I messaged the seller, with “I can’t make it today until much later, are you open to an offer without me seeing it?” Gulp, basically asking the chap if I can give him loads of money, for something I haven’t seen.

Of course he said yes, why would he not? what’s the offer? After a little bit of back and forth, we agreed on a price.

I HAVE BOUGHT A 1965 LAND ROVER SERIES 2a, that doesn’t run, been off the road for 20 years, not the best pictures in the world all without seeing it!

“What have I done” (is what I said to myself) “

“It will be absolutely fine” (is what I said to the wife)

Now I need to get it down here, I don’t own a trailer, I don’t know anyone who could transport it that far… OK lets try Shiply..

Put the details in, got a couple of Quotes in less than 10 minutes, looked at one, and thought this guy knows what its all about, he has done LR’s before, so accepted his quote. I didn’t think £379 was too bad.

Got it booked in and timing worked perfectly, they would pick it up “tomorrow” (26/7/2023) and deliver it to me early morning the day after.

I would certainly use Mark and John from Car Delivery Service again. Thanks Guys!

Excited? yes for sure, anxious? absolutely, “what have I done”, still ringing in my ears?

I comforted my self by asking the question, “what could you have seen that would have made you say no”, and to be honest there wasn’t much, probably becuase I dont know much about what I’m looking at, remember, a complete novice at this.

I figured that however bad it is, I could still make it work, and if it really was that bad, would probably be able to re-sell some of the parts and get some of my money back, and worse case, I tell the wife I need to buy another one, because this one I only bought for parts for the real one!

So, while writing this, I sit anxiously, waiting for the morning of its arrival.

In the Meantime, I needed a way to get it to its final resting place (bad terminology perhaps), in the back garden, where I stupidly put the workshop so a bit of gentle pruning needed!

As I mentioned before, I wanted this to be personal, not just a car/truck, just so happens I can.

Its Birthday is 2 days after my eldest sons, it is 8 days before mine. I bought it in my 60th Birthday year, and given this is a 24 month project, it will be on the road for its 60th Birthday, hopefully. Finally, I bought it 12 miles down the road from where I spent my formative years. Tenuous perhaps, but close enough for me.

So, my new toy is on its way, come back to see it arrive and it be put away until I get all the Jobs the wife wants done, done.

I have dreamt of “doing a car” since my early 20’s. I did mess around with cars, re-built a Morris Minor, hacked around a few Fords, changed clutch’s in the road with the car parked up on the kerb and various other reckless things that would be frownded upon today.

My original dream was to build a Kit car, starting with a Jago Jeep and later a AC Cobra kit car.

But that all changed when I met Neil at work, who I now consider a good friend who is a passionate Land Rover Advocate. His wife was “Lead instructor at Land Rover experience Solihull” and is now an engineer developing the new vehicles.

After seeing his Defender 110 go through a complete rebuild,

I got to thinking!

“What about a Land Rover, that could be a lot of fun..“

So the journey began late 2022.

I started quizzing Neil EVERY DAY, reading loads of articles, watched loads of videos (all will be credited in later articles) about Land Rovers, joined LR Series forums, and have to say was completely sold immediately, the history is fascinating, the attention to detail some people go to is phenomenal, the community seems friendly and helpful, so that’s it, it will be a Land Rover, even though I have never so much as sat in one.

The first question for me was how do I make it personal, how can I make this project much more than just a car?

I decided on a Series 2a as close to my Birthday as possible, how cool to have a Land Rover pretty much the same age as me. So the hunt began early 2023.

I set the bar quite high, not too fused about the amount of work needed or to a large degree the amount of money, but importantly it needed to be close to SWB, Petrol, as original and not messed with as possible, the right age, and if possible the original engine and running gear and so on.

I asked everyone I knew who might come across one to keep an eye out, I scanned the Classic car sites, auction sites, Facebook, eBay and anywhere else I could think of to find the right one. That’s when it dawned on me, as someone else commented in one of the forums I read, “It’s Like looking for Hens Teeth”, but also felt patience would pay off.

I came across a very few, tried for a couple, didn’t follow through on a couple for various reasons, until I found one, not a 1963, but April 1964, that’s close enough, and it seemed pretty close to what I was looking for. Spoke to the seller, planned the trip to go see it, pretty much convinced that there was not much that would stop me buying, only to receive a message that morning, “sorry, I’ve sold it”, I was gutted, and really did start to think I’m looking for Hens Teeth.

Then one came up on FB Marketplace, advertised as a 1964, humm, that’s close but on further investigation, it was a 1965. Had a chat and it seemed pretty close to what I was looking for, mostly complete, chassis & engine numbers looked good, and I was sure I could make it personal, so my mind was made up, I’m going for this one.

So that is where it really started..