Resurrection fun begins

Friend and leaf-sprung junkie Luke Whelan takes on Trevor’s Series I rebuild for him

THE oldest Land Rover that I own is a 1957 88in Series I 2.0-litre diesel pick-up. I purchased it in 2015 from a friend of mine, based in Dublin, Harold Mcmillan. The Series I was partially dismantled during a stalled rebuild attempt, so it was trailered home to Belfast in kit form and stored in my barn. I had always wanted to own one of the earliest Land Rovers and with prices steadily increasing, I decided to buy this particular one from Harold before the cost got completely out of reach.

I remember unloading the Land Rover and associated parts at the barn, thinking to myself that I had brought home what looked like a load of scrap metal, which I had paid €3000 for! I learned within a couple of years that I need not have worried – I received an offer of €5000 for the untouched kit of Series I parts. And untouched it remained until late last year, despite words of encouragement and pressure from Harold and another leaf sprung junkie, my friend Luke Whelan.

I knew from the outset that the original 2.0-litre diesel engine in the Series I was seized and probably beyond economic repair but – rivet counters look away now – I have a really good 2.5 NA diesel 12J engine that would work beautifully in the Land Rover, for when I found a chance to build it up into a functioning vehicle again. It was during the course of a recent telephone conversation with Luke, about 12J engines, that the subject of the Series I came up again. “No, I haven’t found time to build it, Luke – don’t know when I ever will!”

“Do you want me to put her together for you, Trev?” asked Luke. An offer like this from the man who lives and breathes leaf-sprung Land Rovers was amazing and I immediately jumped at the chance – I would finally get my Series I back on the road. Before he could reconsider the very kind offer, I had the Series I winched onto the

low-loader, the 12J strapped on behind it and various parts and panels packed into the back of my VW Transporter, and was on the road to Dublin on a rainy November morning.

When I arrived with Luke at his fascinating and very packed workshop, I commented that the last few miles of road leading to the yard gave me a sense of déjà vu. It really reminded me of where I had collected the Land Rover over five years ago. Luke laughed when he told me that I was standing at the other end of the very same yard!

As we unloaded the Land Rover and collection of parts, our discussions continued about how the Land Rover would be rebuilt and what new parts would be required. We also formulated a plan for having all of the work photographed, so that the story of the project might possibly be told in the pages of LRM – and it looks like it will be possible, with the help of Laura, Luke’s other half.

Before we commit to swapping the original engine for the 12J, there will be some investigation into whether the 2.0-litre diesel could be brought back to life and there are other decisions yet to be made. Will it be a pick-up? Should we go for full soft top? Primarily I would love to make the Land Rover into a station wagon, but the chances of finding the body panels and a Safari roof panel are very slim; but I live in hope. In the meantime, I’m just excited that we are going to put a little piece of Land Rover history back the way it should be and experience some early leaf-sprung motoring.