1967 Land Rover NADA 6 Dormobile Patina Preservation

This 1967 pastel green Land Rover Dormobile came up for sale in Sparks, Nevada, on the Rovers North Forum back in 2015. I quickly called the owner and arranged to purchase it that upcoming weekend. The seller was the son of the original owner and had spent his childhood camping in the Dormobile with his parents and four siblings. They had custom-ordered the truck with no cabinets so that there would be room for the whole family to sleep inside.

The Land Rover spent its whole life in California and Nevada, and, as such, was completely rust-free. It had been sitting outdoors, unused since 1985 (coincidentally, the year I was born), and therefore had fallen into quite a state of disrepair. The roof was partially caved in from snow load; the interior had been infested with rats and mice (thankfully no spiders!); a UPS truck had crashed into the right rear quarter panel; the engine, which had been converted to a Chevy 6 in the ’70s, was missing; and the transmission was sitting in the back. Needless to say, I was in love.

This was before I had my own shop to work in, so much of the restoration and repair work was done in my driveway. Here’s a partial list of work performed on this truck, which we now call Bertha: