#17 - JCV

Some Land Rovers arrive with their history neatly recorded; others carry theirs a little more quietly. JCV is very much the latter — a 1990 left-hand drive 110 that began life as a dependable diesel military workhorse before arriving at the workshop with an invitation to become something altogether more exciting. The conversion to a Rover V8 was our own undertaking, and what a transformation it proved to be. Where once there was quiet utility, there is now a broad-shouldered, sonorous character that announces itself with considerable enthusiasm. JCV took to its new heart as though it had always been intended.

The brief was, in the finest tradition of Land Rover ownership, gloriously straightforward and quietly ambitious in equal measure. JCV's new owners had a home in Portugal and a vision to match — a beach cruiser, built for warm evenings, open coastline, and the kind of driving that makes you wonder why you ever bothered with anything else. Left-hand drive and ready for the continent, the canvas was perfect. We simply had to do it justice.

• Full nut & bolt rebuild with original chassis repaired

• Rover V8 engine conversion

• New wiring loom

• Paintwork in metallic Grasmere Green

• AP Racing disc brake upgrade

• Fox Dampers & Eibach Springs suspension upgrade

• Hand-stitched leather trimmed front seats & rear bench seats

• Marshall speaker cubby box

• Bespoke mohair soft top

• Air conditioning upgrade

• Power steering