Himalaya 4x4 Defender 110's

[markieboy1]

Okay lets set the record straight. The truck referred too was a full frame off nut and bolt restoration build with documented photos. The owner purchased this truck for much less than the listed price. He has driven this truck for 10 months. Why didn't he call me if there was an issue?

I am the owner of Himalaya4x4 and have been designing custom trucks for over 10 years. I started with Landcruisers, Hummers, and into Landrovers seriously for about 5 years now. I make no claims at turning the wrenches, as I leave that to the lads in the shop.
Some of the nicest builds are not on our site due to exclusivity with the clients.
I am not just a guy who imports from UK, I export from the U.S. as well as UK to many countries. I sell world wide. I design bespoke vehicles for global clients. Most recent export custom trucks to Korea, Canada and Oman.
We have a 10,000 SF shop here just off island where we restore, modify NAS and ROW Defenders. I have my shop in England where I am a partner and we build for global clients.

There are several reasons I do not post the address on my website.
a) I did have an address listed a couple of years back, and we had a Hummer stolen, plus every spare part that was usable disappeared in one night. Engines, a very expensive concept roll cage and many parts.
b) We do not have external signage that advertise what happens behind the gates. I do not have time for tire kickers, curious onlookers, and tourists bothering us while working and curious drop ins who want to take a test drive.
c) We have wasted too much time with people wanting us to fix a carb, or change a fender thinking that we service all makes of trucks. We concentrate on full LandRover and Landcruiser builds only. We take on personal full restorations, or will take care of finding the the right truck for you.
d) I don't need salesman dropping in,
side note. There is also a high tech Lazer company down the road that has no visible markings as to what goes on inside. Same reasons.
FEDEX and UPS know where we are and thats all that matters.

I cater to a certain type of client that deals mostly by phone and internet worldwide. I do not have a show room, and do not need to post "look at our big shop" photos to prove we are real. Check out facebook page "himalaya4x4" and you can see out shop and what we are up to.
I am sure working out of my mothers basement as someone so kindly put it, would be far more profitable, albeit not so professional.
For the record. Every email that is sent to an inquiry has my persoanal contact information, including our HIlton Head address.

Rather ignorant of the naysayers to write about something when they have no idea what the real story is.
ECR is very careful on how they word their facebook posts. They suggest an idea and let the public jump on board and do the dirty work for them. To be bold enough to actually post a copyright video on their facebook site with intent of defamation is puerile and childish.
Their comment about multiple brake slides is nonsense. The video was filmed a year ago, the claim that we damaged it during the video is inane. We actually did that in one shot. I was more concerned about hitting a 20K HiDef camera. Let people read into the B.S. if they want, but seriously folks...The guy has owned the truck for 10 months, and now there is a problem. The first I heard there was an issue is someone informed me that negative comments had been posted.
The buyer who bought that particular Defender haggled the price down and got a smoking deal. There was no profit on that truck. The stereo shop made 9K of the selling price. If he had a problem, why didn't he contact me about it. And lets get the six figures straight. Once you deduct the 9K for custom sound system and NAV with all the bells and whistles, shipping, duties, taxes etc it is now well under a 100K. So tell me how you can build a full frame off with all new OEM parts, pay your employees, overhead etc and make a profit? Anyone who owns or runs a business with overhead and employees knows that the profit margins are slim, and you need a skilled team to build efficiently.

The guy who bought the truck in question. I will buy it back!

If someone doesn't like wheels, then change them. If a state does not allow wheels past the wheel wells, then put larger fender flares on it if you want to keep the aggressive look. The current owner didn't buy it because it looked the same as every other defender out there, he bought it because it was different. Not every buyer wants off road trucks, and not every buyer lives where you can drive off road.

We all appreciate Defenders because they are different and uncommon. As soon as you change anything on any vehicle from what the manufacturer installed, you are customizing it to your own likes. If you don't like the way we build them, I am not offended because there are 100 others out there who do love what we do. And I have the world wide clients to show it.

We have a great shop and there is a huge following who love what we do. They know how to contact me. Anyone can if they actually use a phone to find out.

People have asked me my opinion of other builders, and even if I have had no personal experience with them, I always leave a positive comment, even ECR.
Life is too short to waste time slamming someone you do not know. Most people can see right thru negativity.

 

[spikemd]

I agree with the owner and I am actually surprised he offered a response. He only deals with high-end exclusive clients. Don't expect him to justify his website or location. These trucks are definitely 6-figure trucks and the pics say a 1000 words or more important, many 1000s of dollars. Look at the other restoration companies in the UK that charge $120-$160k. Anyone with that much cash to spend on a truck is in a different league than 99% of the people on ExPo. They sure are beautiful trucks...

 

[Red90]

Not putting down the website. I just see no point to it.

His response does more to damage his business reputation than anything written in this thread by anyone else.

 

[LtFuzz]

His response does more to damage his business reputation than anything written in this thread by anyone else.

That's a crappy thing to say -- he's defending his business against what appear to be baseless accusations. Oh, there's no street address on the website! It must be shady!

I've met a lot of great people in the Rover community but my chief complaint is the rampant aggression against shops/individuals that operate outside the forums. It's almost as if someone that doesn't contribute regularly to the Rover forum community is leaving him/herself open, as a business owner, to the merciless and unfounded wrath of the forum community. I have a great deal of respect for ECR and the work they do, but I've also noticed they're very quick to post "editorial" comments regarding other vendors or builders.

I don't think any of this is fair. There's an *** for every seat and the irony runs pretty thick when people accuse Himalaya 4x4 of building "six figure trucks". Six figures? GASP! What's the going rate for a beater 110, shipped over from the UK, that's been sitting in a peat bog for the last 15 years?

C'mon, people. There's no difference between the walnut burl shotgun trays of Overfinch's Rangies, Himalaya's stereo systems, and the "bespoke Rover lifestyle" items that adorn Expedition Exchange's homepage.

 

[Red90]

Oh good lord. I never said anything negative about the business. I know nothing about it...

I said two simple things. Do not try and put words in my mouth please.

1) He will not get business with the website without at least stating what country he is in. Maybe he does not want business through the website. It was just an observation.

2) His post above hurts the business. The grammar and spelling are poor and he is attacking people. Neither of these things attract customers.

 

[Nonimouse]

Whilst I agree with the comments on grammar and spelling (give the guy a break he was maybe a tadge wound up) I admire him for making a stand on a very public forum. He comes up with a pretty reasonable defence.

Oddly enough I don't publish our company address the webiste - in fact I give very little information apart from e-mail and telephone. Why? Because we are based in four different countries and deal with folk all over the world; we also spend a lot of our time sorting out the mess made by supposed overland specialists, who then get very upset and rather unpleasant
Hell, if I was selling vehicle at that amount of money security would be a definate worry....

I don't go much for the look, it's not me - but so what; each to their own.

I don't go for the price; but the market pays it, so that's the market's fault; who can knock someone who makes money out of such a market?

 

[Canol 109]

I think that having a physical address on a web site is pointless unless you are selling retail walk ins. The whole point of a web page is to access the worlds markets...so all this talk of being "shady" for not having a physical address posted is really just uninformed and pointless. I buy parts from all over the UK, Europe and the US....and quite frankly I don't care if they have their physical address on it...makes no difference at all.

Of course any restoration company is going to bad mouth other restoration companies...it's competition! However they need to be very...very clear and be able to back it up with hard evidence if they make libelous claims about another company.

Most companies nowadays spend much of their media dollars in the www...as this is the future of advertising to the masses...however...I have seen first hand what "bad press" can do to a firm. Legitimate and valid information if true is priceless to a company, but devastating on so many levels if untrue and gossip from the ill-informed.

my two cents....

 

[Red90]

so all this talk of being "shady" for not having a physical address posted is really just uninformed and pointless..

That is NOT what I said. Why is it necessary for everyone on the internet to add words that were not written and read things into statements?

It is such a simple point. Let's say I was in the market for a high end Defender... I live in Canada and would look around for companys that can supply a vehicle and have ex[erience in supplying a vehicle that I can legally own, nevermind how nice it is. I see this website. I have no idea if he is building truck in Europe, India or the US. If it was obvious that he was in the US then that would make me stop and look as I would know there would be little import difficulties and then I might investigate further... If the company was in the UK and there was no obvious mention of experience in exporting to North America, I would ignore them.

 

[LtFuzz]

That is NOT what I said. Why is it necessary for everyone on the internet to add words that were not written and read things into statements?

He wasn't referring to you, and neither was I.

Relax, yo.

 

[junkyddog11]

Of course any restoration company is going to bad mouth other restoration companies...it's competition! However they need to be very...very clear and be able to back it up with hard evidence if they make libelous claims about another company.

I don't think that's at all true. The guys out there who are comfortable with themselves and good at what they do pretty much let that speak for itself. (oh dear.....did I just make an inadvertent jab LOL)

 

[Canol 109]

I don't think that's at all true. The guys out there who are comfortable with themselves and good at what they do pretty much let that speak for itself. (oh dear.....did I just make an inadvertent jab LOL)

********..very true!

Written word is too often misconstrued...inadvertantly, a certain "tone" can be read into an otherwise innocent statement.

 

[MattScott]

Some of Himalaya 4x4's vehicles interest me - specifically their more 'standard' builds. I'd be curious to find out more about how they're built.

 

[dcwhybrew]

Just a couple of thoughts. I certainly don't care for Himalaya's builds, that's just my preference. However, it is interesting that negative publicity/comments from one company towards another company can have an opposite affect than what was intended. I guess this applies to people too. Anyway, interesting to see how a thread that started out negative (perhaps after the original post), seems to have gone the other direction. Just an observation.

Kudos to the owner for standing up and defending his business. Though I will point out one comment he made that I dont necessarily agree with

...I am the owner of Himalaya4x4 and have been designing custom trucks for over 10 years. I started with Landcruisers, Hummers, and into Landrovers seriously for about 5 years now. I make no claims at turning the wrenches, as I leave that to the lads in the shop....

Eventhough you don't build the trucks yourself, it is your company and you really should warrant the work that you sell. Regardless if you employ the shop guys, or contract the builds out to another company. It is your product, own it and guarantee the product.

 

[Devin W]

Eventhough you don't build the trucks yourself, it is your company and you really should warrant the work that you sell. Regardless if you employ the shop guys, or contract the builds out to another company. It is your product, own it and guarantee the product.

I don't want to speak for the original poster, but I took his comment not so much as distancing himself from the work as the fact that since he's not the mechanical expert on the vehicles he hires people who are to complete the work at a standard that he deems suitable for his business.

I've had a few utilitarian 4WD's from my first base model Isuzu Trooper to both of my Defenders. For a long time I was very proud of the fact that my trucks were so utilitarian and that I was forsaking the world of power windows and reasonable interior ambient sound levels that would allow you to carry on a conversation while I sought out my adventures "roughing" it. I imagine there are plenty of people that would think that's a joke because in their mind all you need is a backpack, pocket knife, a piece of flint, and a good pair of shoes. My point being that the level of accommodation we choose with even a Series I could be deemed luxurious to some. I sold my first Defender and bought a Disco 2 that I spent a ton of money on making it an off-roader that had capabilities similar to my D90, but in the end it wasn't a Defender so I sold it and bought a 110. After a few years, I sold my 110 to purchase an '03 G-wagen and loved it. The same kind of capability off-road as my Defender, but inside was quiet, comfortable, and well-appointed. I guess I could be a sell-out for that, but I see that what he's building is something that is appealing to me (maybe not all the cosmetics as I prefer a little more understated). Every time I see a Defender I fall in love with them all over again because there is just something that connects with the kid in me that played with Matchbox cars. To have that cosmetic with something that I (and my family) could feel very comfortable in - seems like a winning combination. Unfortunately, until I find the skills to build my own (or win the lottery) the price will be the barrier that I'll not likely ever make it over! Heck, for now, I just drive a Chevy pickup...:smiley_drive:

By the way, I don't know him, his business, or the quality of his work - my thoughts were just based on his concept which aside from his lack of a physical address on his website ( sorry, had to do it!), seems to be a good portion of this discussion.

 

[Ray Hyland]

I thought Mark's post was very nicely done considering the context.

He defended himself and his product, which is fair and expected, and he composed himself like a gentleman throughout.

As an owner of a scratched, noisy, hot and dusty Defender 110, I find the Himalaya builds very interesting. I am hoping we might be able to get one to one of the East Coast Rallies this year, and also do a review.

Ray