Story

According to its heritage's certificate, the 1952 model-year basic export LHD specification unit number 5329 was built at Solihull in UK on or about 4 June 1952. As expected, the original colour scheme was bronze green. It is known that this 80" Series One was dispatched to Spain on 2 July 1952 as part of a batch, at least from chassis numbers 26135313 to 26135353, acquired by the Spanish distributor Romagosa y Cía. Four vehicles from this batch (5325, 5329, 5338 and 5353) are reported to still exist.

Next record is on 18 August 1953, when 26135329 is sold by Comercial Migarage dealer in Madrid to the Guardia Civil Corps for 75,000Pta (450€). The vehicle was first registered as PGC-31041, being PGC the acronym for the Guardia Civil mobile park, and later on as PGC-0022-T, where T means rural patrol. Based on the Guardia Civil records, this Series One served at the Compañía de Igualada belonging to the Comandancia de Barcelona. After 20 years of service, 26135329 was finally retired on 30 March 1973 and sent to auction with plate number B-7215-R-0, where B stands for Barcelona province and R identifies the vehicle as provisionally registered

By then, my father was looking for an all-road vehicle for our new country house located in La Cerdanya, within the Pyrenees mountains. As a result, he bought this Series One for about 100,000Pta (600€), which was then registered on 16 October 1973 as B-4266-AB, where B stands again for Barcelona province.

Right from the beginning, my grandfather reconditioned the vehicle for a more comfortable civil use and to avoid the supply problems of original UK parts in Spain, e.g. choosing equivalent Santana parts. As part of this metamorphosis, the previous Guardia Civil olive green, over the original bronze green, was covered by a bright yellow, and extra front wing lights and flashers were added due to Spanish legislation. Also, note the wooden works performed to provide rear doors and a carrier on top.

For more than 30 years, 26135329 was used by our family as an all-season recreational vehicle for going on excursions, skiing, mushroom recollection, good carrying, and many other jobs. Apart from these modern SUV-like works, the vehicle also served in special missions, like our wedding!

From 2006 to 2012, 26135329 was fully restored to meet part of its original specifications and to face the new demands of its great-grandchildren. See the project page for more details.

As a result of the rebuilding process, 26135329 was granted with H-1163-BBD plate, where H stands for historic vehicle, on 10 August 2012 at the age of 60 years. Since then, this Series One is being enjoyed again by all the family.