Our Land Rover 110 Defender County station wagon is now 27-years young, having been bought in the United Kingdom in 1993 and delivered to us at the factory at Solihull.
It has averaged at least one long-distance overland trip (in excess of 4,000 kilometres) per year, in the process visiting twenty-four different countries and doing 83 border crossings.
By far the majority of these trips have been off the proverbial beaten track, with the norm being bad or non-existent roads, potholes, corrugations and / or badly maintained road infrastructure in southern and eastern Africa. Although the speedometer has not worked for the last ten years, it is guestimated that the vehicle has now done more than 500,000 kilometres.
What happens between or before overland trips is that the vehicle is serviced and prepared for the trip, having all the essentials looked after. However, as will always happen on a long and remote overland trip is that small things break and other things fall off, and that improvised repairs using fencing wire, duct tape and cable ties are used to keep the bodywork and interior in place.
As the saying goes nothing is more permanent than a temporary repair job, which, in the case of our Defender, has built up to such a degree that in operating the vehicle one has to contend with all these little quirks and field solutions that never receive proper attention.
It is here where Brian Blitenthall and his daughter Jackie entered into the picture – by taking a 27-year old vehicle and applying a passionate Land Rover magic touch, and ensuring that everything on the vehicle is now working again as it was when it left the Solihull factory in 1993. No small matter was overlooked, and no instant repairs were effected, applying genuine workmanship and care that are so rare in the motor vehicle industry today.
My thanks and appreciation to Brian and Jackie of Out There 4×4 for returning to us a ‘new’ Land Rover ready for new adventures and experiences!
Highly recommended!
HW & Arina
