Rust to riches, a Land Rover's tale

That student was Emrys Kirby, who now lives in Lancashire,  and the Marine Blue Series III Land Rover was to become the first of his collection of now ten Land Rovers still holding its place as his favourite.

Growing up, the young Emrys was used to the family car being his forestry manager dad’s Land Rover and  holidays saw them venturing off to far flung destinations like Iceland in it - so he had ’obsessed’ and dreamed of one day owning one of his own.

The 1984 A-plate was in a "pretty scabby condition with a rusty chassis, peeling paint revealing its original deep bronze green colour and the back door was held on with baler twine - when Emrys was smitten by it and bought it. He and his big brother Magnus had to go home to bring back a battery and some petrol to start it.

After the first-round renovation the Land Rover went back to uni with Emrys and sparked off the co-founding of the University of Aberdeen Land Rover Society - before moving with him to Iona at the end of his studies. 

Nicknamed Nasty, because of the smell it gave off it the leaking tank was more than three-quarters full, the vehicle helped Emrys carry out maintenance work for the Iona Community including looking after a moorland track to a fish farm  that was impassable for any other vehicle than it.

In 2000 Emrys left Iona to move to Lancaster and be with his now wife Lucinda with ’Nasty’ helping the couple runabout with materials for their property business. It had a respray in 2010 and had a 200tdi engine fitted making it more usable for longer journeys but it was the Covid lockdown in 2020 that triggered a full-on restoration after 25 years of owning it.

As Emrys was stripping the dashboard he found a business card for Oban’s Claredon Hotel and within 24 hours of posting his discovery on Facebook - Allan Mackechnie who had run the hotel and owned the Land Rover got in touch with photos which helped Emrys restoring it to as a genuine stage as he could get it. The pair have stayed in touch since.

When the finishing touches were done, Land Rover Experience North Yorkshire in Skipton approached Emrys and asked to exhibit it and that is where it was spotted by a scout for a Barbour fragrance advert.

"Rather a funny twist to the tale, given its nickname for the nasty petrol smell if the tank was over filled!" said Emrys.

After that flirt with fame, Emrys was then asked to write a book on Series Land Rover restoration and Nasty became the book cover star "a world away from the scruffy old vehicle I saved from a croft," added Emrys.

To celebrate his 40th birthday, Emrys and Lucinda decided to take Nasty and themselves back to places on the West Coast and the Hebrides that meant something to them which included Iona and its moorland track, back to the croft in Strontian, Polloch, Barra and a whisky tour in Campbeltown and meeting up with Allan in Oban where he presented the couple  with the Land Rover’s original AA badge - now a rare piece of memorabilia to go on its grill.

As for Nasty’s future, it will be with Emrys. "It’s definitely a keeper. I won’t be selling it," said Emrys who has become a recognised Land Rover aficionado being invited to write countless articles on his specialist topic.

"Land Rovers have a timeless appeal. For me it goes back to the excitement of bumping along the road in one as a child. Most people don’t really grow up and forget that thrill. There’s something reassuringly comforting to still have that feeling. Land Rover is a classic. I hope the Tea on the Tailgate groups take off in Argyll and Lochaber - there should be lots of takers, it goes with the territory."