Dagmar and Mario welcomed their new Series Land Rover into our midst.
Dagmar and Mario welcomed their new Series Land Rover into our midst.
In February 2004, Mario made his first contact with us by E mail, enquiring about a Land Rover we had for sale 2986 PF. A few E-mails later, Mario had secured a purchase - subject to a final visit and "approval" of the Land Rover.
May 2004, Dagmar and Mario were able to make the trip from Heidelberg to Huddersfield to view the new addition to the family.
Below is Dagmar and Mario's account of their experience
Hi Mark,
approximately four month after our visit at Land Rover Centre Huddersfield I am able to send you some photos together with a few words concerning my experiences with transport and registration.
My preference for Land Rovers started 30 years ago watching Daktari on TV. These vehicles looked so pretty and friendly, so I decided to own at least one of them in future.
A few years ago I bought my first Land Rover, a Discovery TD5. In 2002 I sold it and changed to a Defender 110 TD5 for everyday use. My wife Dagmar owns a Freelander TD4. In 2003 I spent a lot of time looking for a Series Land Rover.
In Germany there are a few dealers who specialize in these vehicles, but most of these vehicles are left hand drive. I wanted an original British version, so I searched in the Internet and found the homepage of Land Rover Centre Huddersfield.
There was a Series IIA Land Rover in a very original and un-spoilt condition.
After several phone calls and E-mails I decided to visit Land Rover Centre Huddersfield together with my wife Dagmar around May, 1st 2004 - We were so impressed with the vehicle and its lovely condition, that we decided to buy it.
I arranged that a German haulage firm picked the 2986 PF up in Huddersfield and brought it to Germany near to our hometown.
The Land Rover had only the British registration and the original number plates, so I had to transport it on a small trailer to our home. Because of the EU rights there were no costs or problems with customs. The only documents needed were the original registration document and the contract of sale.
Before I got the registration and German number plates I had to do the German MOT check.
The UK MOT check is worthless in Germany.
What is acceptable under UK MOT check is not necessarily acceptable under the German MOT check.
There were issues with a few items:
It was necessary that I upgrade hazard warning lights - I got into contact with a Triumph Garage, they obtained a system from LUCAS for me. I installed it by myself.
Another issue was that there were complaints about oil leaking of the swivel pin housings - whilst this was not serious enough to warrant a UK MOT failure, the German test is much stricter and rectification was required.
I appreciated Mark and Colin's very fast help by sending me the required spare parts, so that we were able to solve this problem. Thank you very much for your effort.
A topic of no importance was that I had to fix two reflectors on the rear. The headlights were ok, because you rebuilt them for driving on the right before handing over the vehicle. After removing these minor flaws I received my MOT certificate.
With this document, the UK registration and the contract of sale it was no problem getting the German registration.
So, as you can see on the photos we used our new old Land Rover Series IIA as our wedding car, and we are sure we will have a lot of fun with the Land Rover in future.
Last but not least we would like to thank you and the whole Land Rover Centre Huddersfield team for your kindness and helpfulness.
We appreciate your support during our visit as well as your quick help by sending us the required spare parts.
Best regards Dagmar & Mario
Pic1 was taken on the day we bought our 2986PF at Land Rover Centre Huddersfield. We are so proud to be the 2nd owner of a 41 year old vehicle in such a lovely, good and un-spoilt condition.
Pic2 shows the loading of our Series IIA onto a German trailer. The haulage contractor is a friend of us and he transports goods every week from Germany to UK and vice versa.
Pic3 Dagmar is standing in front of our new vehicle after transferring it from the big trailer to the small one which is pulled by our Defender 110 TD5.
Pic4 shows the arrival at the town hall, just a few minutes before our wedding. We got the license to park our Land Rover in the middle of the market place. It created a great stir, because it is very seldom that a couple takes an old Series Land Rover as their wedding car.
Pic5 and Pic6 shows our 2986 PF together with Series Land Rovers of our friends.
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Pic 1 - The day we purchased 2986 PF |
Pic 2 - loading into the trailer |
Pic 3 - big trailer onto small trailer |
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| Pic 4 - Arrival at the Town hall | Pic 5 and 6 - 2986 PF with "friends" | |
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