09 February 2013
Newsdesk
As Feb 6th marked the 68th birthday of musical legend Bob Marley, ATL Automotive released an interesting time lapse video documenting the restoration work that they are carrying out on Marleys famous Land Rover. The video was screened for the first time on Tuesday at the Bob Marley museum in Kingston where 5,000 fans were expected to attend for Bobs birthday.
Marleys 1977 Series III Land Rover Defender had fallen into a state of disrepair following his death in 1981. It had been on display for several years in his home-turned-museum located at 56 Hope Road in Kingston, which is dedicated to the Jamaican singer-songwriter. According to Rohan Marley, we are very happy with the work that has transpired so far in restoring our dads car to its original condition. It has been a very technical process to locate all the parts from various countries, including an original 1977 engine from Ethiopia. We look forward to completing this project with the ATL Group in early 2013.
Marley was regularly seen driving his Land Rover around the streets of Kingston, the city that inspired such hits as No Woman, No Cry, Three Little Birds and I Shot the Sheriff using it to transport his famous band, The Wailers, and their equipment to gigs throughout Jamaica.
International star musician Julian Marley, son of the reggae king recalled fond memories of the vehicle commenting, I have always loved my fathers Land Rover and I remember driving in it from where my family lived, to nearby Hope Road and from Kingston to Nine Miles, St Ann (in North Eastern Jamaica) where my father was born.
Julian Marley continued "I love what the team is doing and would love to take the refurbished Land Rover for a test drive when it returns home".
Expert Land Rover Master Technicians at ATL Automotive, Sandals Resorts Jamaica-based sister company who are overseeing the work, started the two month long project by carefully dismantling the vehicle piece-by-piece before completely restoring the vehicles chassis, drive and power trains to full working condition. The Land Rovers body panels will be replaced or returned to their original condition as well as a complete electrical rewiring and replacing of electrical components throughout. Marleys Land Rover will also receive a replacement engine chosen from an Africa-based military vehicle that perfectly matched the engine of the original vehicle when the singer owned it.
The vehicles interior will undergo complete family reupholstering, an element of the project, undertaken by Marleys first born daughter and internationally acclaimed fashion designer and musician, Cedella Marley. Miss Marley, was recently credited worldwide for designing the Jamaican Olympic Team uniform worn by record-breaking athletes Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake at the London Olympics earlier this year, will personally design and upholster the Land Rovers three-seat bench.
Following its completion the Land Rover will return to the public eye in The Bob Marley Museum, Kingston, Jamaica.
