After the "Why on earth do you want to do that" moment, most people's second question is something like: "Why are you going in that old Land Rover?? Why don't you buy: a) A newer one, b) One that has already been kitted out or c) A Land Cruiser."

I didn't buy a newer one as, at the time, I didn't have that much spare cash to play with. I almost did buy one that had already been kitted out but was beaten to it, and I didn't buy a Land Cruiser because I always had the mental image of driving through Kathmandu in a Land Rover, not a Toyota. 

Hector started off as an ex Ministry of Defence Land Rover. He was Fitted For Radio (FFR) and was registered as first used in 1990. He came with side lockers for Jerry Cans, a Snorkel a bonnet mounted spare wheel and a 2.5 litre normally aspirated diesel engine. I didn't buy him straight from the MOD but from some chap in Wales who had bought a job lot and was in the process of smartening them up prior to selling them on - hence the "high isolack Ascot Green" paint job.

Having never bought a Land Rover before I didn't have a clue what I was looking for in order to establish whether this was a "good 'un" or an absolute lemon. Looking back on things, the smart thing to have done would have been to take a couple of people who knew what they were doing down to Wales to look the thing over for me. As it happened I printed off a "what to look for on an old Land Rover" checklist from the internet and headed off.

I ended up buying Hector for £3,500. Driving it back from Wales was a scary experience...especially when the heavens opened and the windscreen wipers broke down! We managed to limp back home, where Hector was parked up whilst I tried to figure out what I'd just done and, more importantly, what I was going to do.

These are some pictures that I took the day after I picked Hector up - hopefully you'll see the difference when you look on the "modifications" page!

Note the old snorkle, the spare wheel on the bonnet and the lack of any external add-ons at all.

These shots show the un-adorned rear door, the very basic military spec interior and the very dirty interior. Before the pic of the interior was taken I'd removed the remnants of the side seating and the radio equipment that was all bolted to the bulkhead as well as the two rifle-holders which were placed between the two front seats. Again, if I knew then what I know now all the stuff that I took out of the military spec Hector would have gone straight onto e-bay - as it was they went straight in the bin!