Series 1 Ambulance Reborn

Some readers will have heard of Land Rover Reborn which is a service offered by Jaguar Land Rover and something that the SWLRC team visited back in 2016 and was written up HERE at the time

Well it's not just JLR who can do a wonderful job in bringing a piece of history back to life in a totally wonderful manner

Back in 2015 I came across a set of photographs that had been taken by a team who had found what remained of a Series 1 Ambulance rotting in a junk pile.

At the time a brief comment was made in the Series 1 club forum part of which is paraphrased here

This is a Bonalack and Sons ambulance bodied 1956 series one Land Rover 107". It is believed these ambulances were built to fill three RAF contracts totaling 35 vehicles and this is the second one ever built being serial No. 870600013 (the run started at 00012)  and is believed to be the only surviving example certainly in the UK, but possibly the world, so is a very rare vehicle.

It has been standing since 1969.. Due to this long period of standing, all the steel work is in very poor condition/non existent. 

The chassis (a 107" station wagon chassis) is completely gone from the seat box forward and what is left under the body is fairly thin. The bulkhead I think was removed as the only parts I have from it are the vent flaps and the VIN plate (luckily). 

The main ambulance body, which is really the rare bit, is of aluminium construction so has largely survived, it's not without it's knocks and scrapes, but is certainly savable, which is why I think this could be a worthwhile project. Also included are the original front doors, front wings, single piece floor/gearbox tunnel, windscreen and bonnet. The engine and gearbox had, unfortunately, been removed long ago, and despite my best efforts, could not be located anywhere on the property. The back axle is still fitted, and amazingly still turns freely, so moving it around and loading it on and off of trailers is relatively easy, the front axle, however, is not present.   

Paperwork wise, there is the original Buff log book, stating date of first registration as 10 July 1963, There is also an original MOT certificate dated 1969,

I heard little more until June 2019 when I was contacted by Mike, one of the project team who had come across the Land Rover Katy Ambulance Pages  and had contacted me to see if I had more pictures that could help the project.

I shared what I had, but I think that they had already found most of them through the links provided or elsewhere and wished them well. We discussed a visit, but I was not able to join them at the time due to my work commitments so I wished them well ...

The team were clearly very busy and it was not until October when Mike got in contact again saying that they had completed the bulk of the work and they would now be happy to share some pictures of their finished and really wonderfully looking vehicle

(Pictures reproduced with permission)

I am sure that there will still be the odd job that they find needs doing for some time to come, just like any Land Rover maintenance jobs "just occur".

There is an in depth article in the December 2019 issue of Land Rover Monthly which is a wonderful story of discovery and dedication. I won't repeat it here, but would recommend it as a good read. and to say that it beat the new Defender in space on the cover is something to shout about!

I've not managed to see it in person yet, but for me the nicest part of the discussions with the team was the wonderful comment from Mike which I really appreciated: -

Thank you for your help along the way, your blog was the first point of reference we came across and helped a lot! And gave us some leads! we are grateful for people like yourself who spend time researching and writing about history.

Kind regards 

Michael Tokley

I'm grateful that there are excellent mechanics who can do such good work out there keeping history alive!

Land Rover Reborn

November being cold and wet (and boy was it wet yesterday with the aftermath of Storm Angus wreaking havoc across much of Southern Britain) it was a good day (apart from the driving) to head off to Solihull again with the SWLRC to take a look at the new Land Rover Reborn Tour run by the  Land Rover Experience Team at Solihull

This new tour features the work of the Classic Workshop team who are taking old, but generally structurally sound vehicles from generally dry parts of the world and restoring them to the state that they would have left the factory.

Some may consider that this removes the history and patina of age, but it does result in a wonderful vehicle and it is according to the team there generating a number of side benefits in the way that the history and heritage is being rediscovered, documented and practised by the current generation of JLR people.

Well that's the sales pitch from JLR, and from the comments and attitude of the couple of people we were able to speak to on the line it really seemed that they were living this attitude not just saying it.

Key things I took from the visit (leaving our an awful lot that our hosts told us but I do not want to spoil the adventure for anyone planning a visit)

1. They look for good quality vehicles to start with, that generally means ones from dry climates although there was discussion about one may have come from Wales and we all know that's not a dry climate
2. The rebuild is based on what the car had originally with only very minor upgrades possible (lap straps and heaters were mentioned)
3. If it can be repaired it will be, otherwise original parts or age correct parts will be used
4. Original paint colours for the specific vehicle are being researched from the records and matched. 
5. You can get an age related plate even if its an imported ones so no nasty yellow reflective plates on your Series 1

I have to say that the workmanship on the vehicles looked absolutely superb!

Like I said land Rover can do most of their own advertising and of course they do, so if you do want to follow up, take a look at their website and these couple of nice video's

http://www.landrover.co.uk/above-and-beyond/reborn.html
http://www.landrover.co.uk/above-and-beyond/reborn-gallery.html
http://www.landrover.co.uk/above-and-beyond/advertising-reborn-gallery.html

Sorry no pictures of the actual rebuilds, but we were able to take some pictures of the club visit to the Land Rover heritage displays which is housed in the Reborn workshops

That's a clean chassis

And a nice car to look at 

You can find a victim to re-create a classic Land Rover historical picture

Health and Safety prevent the full test as was done in the early days ...

They have created a homage vehicle for the First Overland vehicles. I had to check the number plate from the book when I got home but when you look it is part one set of colours and part another, with accessories in G4 orange. It was used in a re-creation of part of a "sort of" repeat journey when it joined some modern vehicles on their way to China as far as Munich

With so few wires in the loom Dave was a bit puzzled what went where... 

And finally a team shot around the series

At the end we were privileged to meet up with Mike Bishop who runs this section for JLR and was instrumental in its founding and success. So we had another team picture...

Thanks to all at JLR for the nice visit. even if we didn't yet see the new Defender, maybe next time :-)

Speech House 2012

Having put the new wheels on it was time for a test drive, and what better to do than got to a classic car show

I had found that there was a show at Speech House in the Forest of Dean today so headed up there this morning for a look around

As usual at these things there was a good show of Land Rovers, mostly belonging to the Forest of Dean Land Rover Group including this tidy piece of Limestone

However probably the star of the whole show was this superbly restored Series 1 which has been done out as an RAC van. Speaking to the owner he'd seen a few AA Vans, but never an RAC one so he decided to do it in that style. 

It was very busy in the car park but I couldn't resist getting a picture of Katy with her new wheels on in a Lay-by in the Forest. She was driving well - every little improvement seems to be helping. I'm not sure about the black wheels they may yet get painted cream like the rest of her