We are pleased to introduce the latest build from the Bishop+Rook workshop: Project Stormtrooper. She is a 1993 Land Rover Defender 110 Commercial (3 door panel back) who is about to undergo a massive renovation project to make her into the ultimate overland adventure vehicle.

We found this particular Land Rover Defender 110 in Wales, where she had previously been cared for by a young family who used her as an occasional camping truck. She started on the button, ran smooth, and clipped down the road nicely.  She wasn’t perfect, but we liked her as a base to build up something.  What made her even more impressive was that the kind folks at Alpine Restorations (UK) had just completed a full galvanized bulkhead swap, meaning that we had one less thing to sort out when she got home to us.

We were excited to get photos of our Defender 110 being loaded on to the transport lorry.  Unfortunately, a few hours later we were called by our transport driver, who spoke very little english, informing us that the Port Director had turned his truck away because the VIN tag was missing in the engine bay.  We had been so focused on making sure the VIN was correct and legible on the chassis, we had overlooked this simple detail.

To be fair (to ourselves), we did ask the previous owners if everything matched on the V5C (keepers document), chassis, and engine tag.  They said yes.

We were able to get her towed to a service workshop near the port where she was held (hostage) in storage while we waited nearly 3 months for the replacement VIN plate to come directly from Jaguar-Land Rover.  We waited, got not-so passive aggressive-aggressive messages from the service shop owner who was keeping her, even though we paid him to perform some maintenance and upgrades while in his care.  What of these services he actually performed was lost on us.

But that’s not the point of the story. 

She arrived at our workshop the same day as 4 other trucks, so she ended up sitting again.  The poor neglected Landy.  This was not the life she was promised when we adopted her.

That’s where “Project Overland” comes in.  We felt bad ignoring her for such a long time that we decided to make her the Princess of Wales she deserved to be.  That’s where the concept to build her out into an expedition camper came in, using our follower’s feedback and ideas as the guide for the project.

It should be an interesting journey.