We had been saving for over a year when the text came from my buddy: “Dude, you gotta check out this Defender!”
We had been in search of a new “adventure” vehicle. We both grew up in the MidWest with Jeep families. Theresa’s family played in the rivers and mine chased mountain trails. We both decided that while we loved these activities we had more of a desire to travel and camp within the vehicle itself. That nixed the Wranglers pretty quickly and the XJs were just too small.
We looked at Tacoma’s, JK’s, even Land Cruisers, but we didn’t find anything that really spoke to us. Eventually we started joking about African safaris and the Land Rovers used. Time passed and our joke became a plan. The thought process went a bit like this:
Reliable Nope. Parts widely available? Nope.
Does it have a blind-spot bigger than Levi’s stadium. Absolutely!
Can we merge into oncoming traffic? Almost as fast as an aircraft carrier can execute a 90 degree turn
Is it the coolest dang tractor we ever did see? Yup, we should buy one.
We had planned everything down to a “T.” We knew the exact month we were going to travel on a 2-week vacation to Malaysia to begin our Defender hunt.
That was until the text.
What he had found and sent over because it was “cool” was a listing in the United Kingdom for a 1987 Land Rover 110 TUM FFR (Truck Utility Medium Fitted For Radio). This 110 known as an ex-MoD had been sold by the Ministry of Defense and picked up by the seller weeks before. There was only 3 hours left in the listing.
My travel companions, a tool roll, jump pack, tow rope, and rubber gloves.
I quickly called the seller and chatted with him. He was a stand-up guy and answered every question I could think of. I hung up the phone, and terrified I was making a mistake gambled away a significant portion of our savings. I posted a bid in the last 5 minutes and won! I had to figure out what I was going to tell Theresa….
In short, I was pretty lucky I was able to sleep in the house. So that was a plus. I called the seller back in the morning and together we worked through all the details. The 110 was to be packed into a shipping container and shipped to the Port of Houston. There it would be inspected by customs. I had been over the paperwork hundreds maybe thousands of times checking it against photos making sure engine, trans, and chassis numbers matched. Almost sick to the stomach that once it arrived at the port everything would go south. If I have learned anything from this experiment, its that you don’t mess with Customs or else… The seller was going to then pickup the vehicle from customs and drive it to Bryan, Texas.
On a sunny northern California Friday, I left work at 5:00 PM and took a cab at the airport. I had a backpack with a small tool roll, a tow rope, and my ever-trusty jump pack. I had 36 hours to get from San Jose, California to Bryan, Texas. I took a 9:00 PM to LA where I jumped the Red-Eye to Houston. Once I landed, my checked bag with tools was no where to be found. I HAD to get out of there and take a cab to the Greyhound Station to get to Bryan. I had no clothes, no tools, and no time. After hassling the staff, they finally walked the conveyor and found my bag had fell off. Freedom!
Dusk closes in just before we load the 110 on the trailer.
I made my connection with the Greyhound with no time to spare. It was pulling off the lot! Collapsing in my seat that smelled like old cigarettes and chips I fell into a exhausted sleep. When I awoke in Bryan, I managed to find my contact and we went over to the storage unit. He opened the door, and there it sat. I was so excited but too tired to show it.
After checking the vehicle and finding everything in far better condition than I could have imagined. I started the drive back north to my parent’s place in Nebraska which would become a short stopover. Getting used to the right hand drive setup only took about 5 minutes. Being left handed I may have had the advantage! I sped along the interstate at my top speed of 60mph, windows open (no AC) and vent flaps open!
It was such a joy to drive – equal parts ecstatic joy mixed with delerim from no sleep and dehydration. I had just gotten over the Oklahoma state line when I pulled over and met Dad. Being a complete pro he had driven south from Nebraska with a trailer. We were soon tied down and hauling the coolest truck this side of the Mississippi back North. I offered to drive but shortly after fell deeply asleep.
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