It has been pointed out that that I had used a fair amount of artistic licence when describing the events surrounding the acquisition of a Land Rover with which we as a family traversed the Sahara, by an enthusiastic stranger, who fascinated by its history is restoring it to its original condition complete with its original faults!
My artistic licence was mainly to do with the fact that I had not fully grasped the ins and outs of the story and perhaps I still haven’t but I have asked for help to try and follow the circuitous life of JB, the Land Rover,
It is in itself a wonderfully mysterious story.
As I said in my last post, the Land Rover was sold to my husband’s sister, she actually took it to rallies with an exhibition on its journey across the Sahara, but one day decided that it should be converted from right hand drive to left hand drive, and negotiated with a man who would do the job, he duly came and took the Land Rover away. It was never seen again in spite of desperate phone calls to what appeared to be a non-functioning number.
Twenty years go by.
A young man buys a Land Rover from a man, whose brother has died. He is clearing up his brother’s effects and finds a cobwebbed Land Rover in a barn.
This young man became fascinated by the history of the vehicle.
Although, the Land Rover had a British number plate, its African Beninoise number plate was painted on the back. He noted the number IT1513PB and googled it. The internet picked this up and directed him to a travel blog that my son had written on crossing the Sahara. He sent a message and they became connected, so that young man could learn the journey of the life of a Land Rover.
Red Wine In MY Seventies 
DEAR TRISH, That story is just unbelievable! but it is true… great – formidable!Love, Josiane
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Thank you for that Josiane.
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Dear Trish, I liked the story of your Land Rover – as you say it: wonderfully mysterious story! lovely.Josiane
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Josiane, thank you for reading it. Love Trish.
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Thank you Josiane.
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The chap who was going to do the “work”, of converting it to right hand drive and various bodywork repairs, due to rust etc, had his workshop on an airfield which, at the time, the general public had no access. The only means of contact that we had with the chap, who was going to do the work, was a mobile phone number.
The chap did make a couple of “courteous phone calls” which, as it happened, I answered and, as it had been about six weeks since the vehicle had been taken, I thought it an appropriate time to “check on progress”. The response that I got was very positive and encouraging. The chap told me that he had “removed the entire bulkhead” from the vehicle as this was going to be replaced with another one in better condition and that he had also removed various other components from the vehicle. I was left with a vision of the front part of the roof of the Land Rover suspended/floating in mid-air as if in “magic carpet fashion”.
When the vehicle eventually resurfaced around 20 years later, it appeared that little or no work had actually been carried out.
Sadly the chap who was tasked with doing the work passed away in an accident some time after taking the Land Rover which was very sad for his family. I don’t feel it appropriate to elaborate further on the accident other than to say it had nothing to do with working on the Land Rover.
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Hi Stephen,
It was lovely to see you and thank you for the update. I never did get the story straight!
Love,
Trish.
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