We're back in Somerset with this post, reflecting on a little visit to Arkonik, a place which restores Land Rover Defenders, throws new engines in them, and ships them to Charleston. Not all of them - some are local project restorations - but that's the general business model. We'd been following them on Instagram for a while and their yard was only a few miles from Jamie's Mum's so we thought we'd pop by with Buttercup to say hello. We were recieved warmly and the media manager showed us round the factory.
Obviously, there was a lot of Land Rovers. The one with the stripes was the one that started it all and was the owners. It was a shame he wasn't around as he sounded like a really interesting guy and we would have had a lot in common, especially with Jamie's love of quirky cars which I think they both shared.
It even had a painted chassis which included some of his son's artwork. Pretty cooolll.
This one was being restored for a princess in the UAE. Funny, we guessed where it was going because of the colour. Don't ask how. Apparently she was a key player in getting her Dad to get women to drive there, so we like her. The guys were doing a magificent job and the level of detail was just amazing.
There seemed to be every colour under the sun. They had their own paintroom which of course Jamie was envious of.
Poor old Butters felt a little inadequate, but she got over it. She'd probably done more in her 50 years than those Defenders anyway, and at least she had an original Landie engine.
It was super nice and generous of Arkonik to give us a tour, and we found it really interesting. We even met a few of the mechanics - there seemed to be a lot, and the guy even jokingly offered Jamie a job when they realised how much he knew about engines and gearboxes.
SEriously, Jamie would have loved it but I ain't moving to Somerset!
With Love,
Are you on HIVE yet? Earn for writing! Referral link for FREE account here