Owner John Higham from Bungendore brought the vehicle back to Griffith after researching its origins, and after a fortuitous meet with Ken Harris established its significant history.

“When I got it, the left panel had a faded sign that said T.R LEE and Sons Electrical Contractors Griffith, and I traced them back here to Griffith,” Mr Higham said.

With the original documents of the sale in 1948-49, Mr Higham determined this car arrived in Sydney in May ‘49 before going to Jackas Motors in Griffith.

“Looking at the records, it would have been in the first 20 Land Rovers in Australia,” Mr Higham said.

“So I drove here on a trip, and went to the library and the historical society so I was pulling threads that way, but what ended up happening was I was driving down Canal Street and I saw this car drive up and pull in front of me.

“I stopped and out came Ken, who told me about his work at Jacka’s, and we established that he remembered this particular vehicle because it was the first Land Rover ever sold in Griffith.”

Mr Harris, who started work as an apprentice motor mechanic in 1954 at Jacka’s Garage, worked on this vehicle throughout the following years.

“This Land Rover was purchased in 1948 by Tom Lee, an electrician, his son Charlie soon became a partner in his household electrical business and they named the business T.R LEE and son electrical,” Mr Harris said.

Wednesday morning at Acacia Motel, Mr Harris was joined by Ernie Wade, who was 16 working at Jackas alongside him, and daughter of owner Burt Jackas’ Joan Ross gathered to reminisce and discuss the restoration.

“It’s quite unusual,” Mrs Ross said.

“I’ve seen hundreds of Land Rovers but still remember this very one. It is very unexpected that we are all here like this now. It’s great to see it restored so well.”

Mr Higham bought the car in Hay in 2002.

“It had been left abandoned at a farm in Jerilderie, and I think the front might have been in a dam.

“There was a lot of rust, but it was surface rust that could be just blasted off, it was in amazing condition really.”

After buying some parts from UK, he stripped it all down, sandblasted it and restored the wheels.

“The canvass and seats I bought from the UK, an exact replica. There is a market for them in the UK so they had them there, they didn’t have to make one an they shipped it out straight away.

“All the mud guard panel, they are new made by a man in Yorkshire, but all the other panel work are all the original car, the floor, and everything.”

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A blast from the past, Mr Harris said seeing the Land Rover brought back many old memories.

“Throughout my apprenticeship I worked on this Land Rover and I remember its later years with a canvass top that had deteriorated and the sides of the canvass flapping in the wind – it looked like it was about to take off into the wind.”

For Mr Wade, he still remembers it as if it was yesterday.

“In years gone by we used to say ‘old Land Rovers never die, we just keep rebuilding them’. This is a fine example of the same,” Mr Harris said.

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