HAPPY DAZE

Patrick (at last) picks up his Defender at the London docks

I’ve learnt so much in the last few months about importing vehicles into the UK and exporting vehicles from Africa. While the paperwork, red tape and escalating costs can all take their toll, I was determined to get my very special 110 here. Remember they only produced 1396 of the South African 2.8i Defenders in the days when BMW still owned Land Rover.

The ship carrying the container with my Defender in, the MSC Rania, docked in the Tilbury harbour, which is situated on the River Thames, on June 3, 2017, the same day as we departed on the D-day Readers Tour, featured on page 52. Did you know there is a shipping app that allows you to monitor the movement of any ship in the world? I monitored that ship from when it left Cape Town until the day it finally docked in Tilbury.

I had to hire a shipping agent in the UK to take care of all the import duties and handling fees, and for those thinking of doing something similar you have to pay the Queen 20 per cent of what you paid for the vehicle. After adding the handling fees this amounted to around £2500.

Once the Land Rover was cleared to go I hired a very reputable transport company (at a whopping cost of £600) to go and pick up the Land Rovers. Remember there were two Land Rovers in the container, as my friend Paul Wells had also purchased a South African 2.8i Defender, but his was a 50th Anniversary 90, probably the only one in the UK. I was on a family holiday in France at the time of the harbour pick-up and I had arranged that they be dropped off at Havelock Motors Garage in Bedford. The Defenders did not have any oils or fuels in them so all of that could be done at the workshop.

Much to my absolute disgust they were never picked up. The transport company said their insurance did not cover taking the Defenders out of the container while the shipping company guys said it was not their responsibility to take them out of the container. So a few adults with brains just stood there for several hours doing nothing and had already taken my money. Imagine if the Allied Forces had adopted that pathetic attitude during the D-day landings of 1944!

The one thing that I have learnt since moving to the UK is that if you want

something done, then do it yourself. So I roped in the help of the ever-reliable Steve Miller from our ad department. He (correction, that should be his lovely wife) has a Discovery 1 while Rogers of Bedford kindly loaned us a trailer to transport my Defender back to the workshop.

It was the hottest day of the year but I was the happiest man in all of the UK. Getting the Defender out of the container was easier than taking candy from a baby and we had both of them loaded up in less than an hour.

Within minutes of setting off the Discovery started to overheat a little and so we put on the heater on at full pelt. It was mostly when pulling hard on long inclines and luckily it soon settled back to normal temperatures. It took us a little longer than intended but eventually we arrived back at our destination.

Barrie Hearn from the workshop helped us unload the Defender. I then politely asked if he could fill it with the necessary oils and fuel, and then fire it up. He did it the following day and then put it through an MOT. I am delighted to say that it sailed through.

I then sent away the MOT papers, proof of import duty payments, original South African reg docs and a few other bits and bobs to the DVLA. This was followed up by a call to confirm receipt of the documentation. Everything was in order but as the vehicle had come from another country, they have had to send an independent assessor to look at my Defender. As I write, this will be happening tomorrow. Dealing with the DVLA has been an absolute pleasure, whenever I have had to call them with yet another question, they have been very friendly and accommodating. Nothing has been too much trouble for them.

Next month I will let you know what the assessor says. The plan has always been to have it road legal for the Kelmarsh Land Rover Show and I think we just might make it. If not then I will trailer it to the show and put it on our stand!