WELCOME TO BRUCE’S 1974 SERIES III LANDY RESTORATION PROJECT

WHY THIS SITE

Capturing the Journey

A project of this magnitude is no small undertaking. It will be an experience that will shape my (and my family's, no doubt) life in a significant way, and one that I will look back on with (hopefully!) fond memories. It is a project that has attracted a lot of interest from friends and family, but also the wider Landy community that I have interacted with on social media. It is amazing to see how many enthusiasts around the world are bringing old Series Land Rovers back to life, and one can learn incredible amounts from observing how others have tackled the challenge. As such, I wanted to create a space (preferably outside of social media) where people could follow my journey, learn from my mistakes, and support and contribute in whatever way they wish. Hence this website and blog....!

I hope you enjoy it!

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

A Passion for Landy's...

I bought my first Landy back in 1989. It was a 1971 Series 2a LWB (long wheel base), and I had romantic plans of crossing Africa in the vehicle! Although I never got to undertake the trip from Cape to Cairo, I did explore many parts of southern Africa in it with my then girlfriend (and now, long-suffering but loving wife), Jenny. Indeed, years later we even got engaged in that Landy (named "Dennis", for some inexplicable reason?), went on honeymoon in it, and even conceived our child in the back of it (naughty!)!
Thanks to "Dennis", I fell in love with the Land Rover marque, and over the past 30 years have owned more than a dozen of them, ranging from a 1957 Series 1 and a 1961 Series 2 (called "Veronica"!?), all the way through to Defenders, Discoveries and Range Rovers. Whilst the modern variants are amazing vehicles, nothing matches up to the passion and love I have for old Series Landy's and their closest cousins, the Defenders.
My entire adult life I have wanted to do a "nut-and-bolt" restoration on one, but have never had the money, time or knowledge to initiate such a project. Having recently purchased an exquisite 1957 Series 1 (see more details on this baby elsewhere on this site), the Series Landy bug re-bit, and I decided to start looking around for a suitable project vehicle. When I found a 1974 Series 3 SWB (short wheel base) parked on my neighbour's plot, the negotiations began, and the adventure was secured! The rest (as they say in the classics) was history...