We knew from talking with the owner that the car had not been driven for a year or so - a little bit of warning for us. The battery was also dead.
After a 45 minute ride on the metro, we arrived to southern Madrid and walked to the house of the owner. It was clear we were in the right place, since we could easily see the Land-Rover from far away.
This Land-Rover is a Series III Santana. Basically all of the more rugged models of Land Rover for sale in Spain are Series III Santanas; there are no Defenders to be found. This particular vehicle is from 1979.
The first thing I noticed was that the front differential seemed to be leaking. It also seemed that something else was leaking, but it was hard to tell where the leak was coming from. The chassis seemed very solid - no patches, rust, or corrosion. The front tires were relatively new, but the back ones were horrendous. They would definitely need replacing.
The engine was pretty clean and seemed well kept. There was some corrosion around the radiator, and belts and pipes would need to be replaced. We expect these things though. We didn't get to see the engine working. Unfortunately, the battery the owner had charged wasn't getting the car to roll over. Really we have no idea if it is solely the battery, or if the engine would have failed to start with a better battery. This is definitely a bad point for this vehicle.
The body of the car was in exceptional condition for the most part. The bulkhead showed some rusting, but not much. The interior had very little rust, and the doors were all solid. The upholstery on most seats was good, and the interior was well kept. The only thing that I noticed - probably my favorite issue with the car - was the moss growing in the windows. Not really good for keeping water out, but maybe we could harvest some mushrooms for dinner.
We finished up with our analysis of the car, said our goodbyes, and left to visit Casa de Campo. This huge park on the western side of the city is amazing. You can spend hours walking across it. We arrived on the bus at around 19:30 and started our hunt for a place to fly our kit. The park is vegetated and pretty wild, but we needed to find an open place on a hill top. We had entered the park near Casa de Campo metro station, and I knew that there were some open hills nearer to Lago, so we set off east. We jogged a bit and finally came to a hill top. The wind was perfect.
