1971 Land Rover Series IIA 109 "Yute"

This 1971 Land Rover Series IIA 109 is believed to have been assembled in Venezuela during the early period of local Land Rover production. Evidence of its Venezuelan origins remains throughout the truck, including glass marked “Hecho en Venezuela,” Spanish-language switches, and details from an older restoration completed there decades ago.

Its distinctive steel-and-wood flatbed is also believed to have been hand-built in Venezuela, giving the truck the character of a true working yute. Its precise early history has been lost, but long-wheelbase Land Rovers like this were well suited to Venezuela’s mountainous agricultural regions, where simple, rugged trucks carried crops, tools and supplies over difficult roads and trails. It is easy to imagine this one earning its keep on a coffee finca, hauling sacks of coffee cherries down from the mountains, although its actual early use remains unknown.

Under the bonnet remains its original 2.25-liter petrol engine, and the older restoration has now developed a patina of its own.

The restoration has aged, the flatbed bears the marks of use, and that is very much the point. Rather than becoming a perfect artifact, this old Land Rover continues doing what it was built to do: work, travel and collect stories along the way.