Helio, World!
“YOOOOOO ELK!” “Oh my god.” Zolon yelled over Dwight Yoakum’s “Guitars and Cadillacs” blaring from our small portable speaker we wedged into the dash. We were careening down a freezing Colorado mountain road at midnight in the 1993 Land Rover Defender 90 I had just purchased in a random Provo gas station 7 hours earlier. We narrowly missed the hulking animal around a bend at a blistering top speed of 65 miles per hour as it scrambled out of the way. At least I think it was 65 miles per hour, the bouncing speedo only read “km/h”.
Let’s rewind about 7 days. I was sitting in a Vancouver coffee shop scrolling through Bring-a-Trailer, Cars-and-Bids, and Ebay hunting for some new wheels for my upcoming move from Washington, DC to San Antonio, Texas. I was carless. The eye watering cost of an average new car in 2023 had convinced me I could bid on and win something older and used to justify the expense of something cooler. I was also convinced I could do any work to the car myself. There were Porsche 911 996’s begging to clear their flat throats through the desert, Volvo wagons to scratch the hipster itch, C10 Chevy square bodies begging me to relive my childhood on the ranch, and any number of other disastrously fun adventures waiting on my fat thumb to tap bid. I was in Vancouver to celebrate my loving girlfriend's birthday. Rafaela was bemused at my childish excitement each time a new marque rolled up on screen. I began to narrow options. 911’s have no space (maybe someday), I wanted something interesting and out of the ordinary.
Suddenly I found Defenders at the top of my mental wishlist. I adored their boxy approachable shapes that put a smile on everyone’s face. They're honest, and can go anywhere. Physically, metaphorically, and socially. As any Defender owner will tell you, the queen of England had many, the same as any tradesman. I narrowed my list down to a couple of Porsche 911 996s and about four Defenders available state-side and in-budget and started bidding. The days passed. I flew from Vancouver to Seattle for work and as suspected, the contenders began to slowly rise above my budget, knocking me out of contention. Finally it came down to two. One V8 powered North American Specification (NAS) Defender 90 for sale in Los Angeles, and a plucky green left hand drive diesel import from Portugal that had been living just outside of Salt Lake City since immigrating to the US a couple years prior. I went to sleep a few days before my work trip came to an end fully expecting both to slip out of reach.
I woke up the next morning and the LA Defender bid exploded. There went the V8! As I sat eating my breakfast, I feverishly watched the seconds count down. The green Defender was still hanging around. Barely. The final minutes came, and the real bidding battle began. First among three hopefuls, then just another and myself. After a few back and forth bids, I bid my final offer. I couldn't go any higher. I was completely maxed. Thinking I was surely out I held my breath as the clock ran down. It hit zero and the green Defender was mine!
I immediately text Zolon, one of my best friends. I knew he was in Los Angeles and about to fly back to Austin. I asked him if he wanted to join me in yet another crazy road trip in an old car. We both switched our flights to Salt Lake and had ourselves an adventure.
The next few days were anxious, but flew by, and I boarded my flight to SLC. I showed up first and Z-man followed shortly after. We took an hour-long Uber to Spanish Fork on the southern side of Provo, and met up with the seller at the gas station. Thinking of all the money I had already wired to the seller, my anxiety was at an all time high until I saw the little green truck.
The seller and his wife were incredibly kind, and they took the time to give me a bit of back story: the seller was English, and moved to Utah with his wife. While living in the UK he met a man at a car meet named Helio Valente de Oliveira, and they became friends. Helio was quite the figure in the classic car world in Portugal and the UK. The seller contacted Helio in 2019 to track down the best Portuguese Defender he could find. He wanted to avoid UK Defenders which were notoriously riddled with rust and would be right hand drive. Helio de Oliveira scoured the country and found the green Defender hidden away in the Algarve. The seller purchased it and Helio de Oliveira helped him import it. Sadly, Helio de Oliveira passed away a few years later. The seller’s story stuck and the green Defender had a name before we had even driven away!
We piled weeks of luggage into the back of Helio the Defender and drove straight to the store for a portable speaker and some blankets for the cold. Helio didn't have a radio and it was November. First impressions: Helio was slow, rattled like a drum, and the 2.5l turbo diesel was certainly not quiet. Zolon was skeptical. The first leg of our 30 hour road trip from Salt Lake City to San Antonio began. Through Moab, the red rock off-road mecca, between the southern Colorado mountains, and down into New Mexico high desert to Santa Fe for our stay at El Rey Court. We rolled in at 2 a.m., found our keys where the receptionist had left them, and made it into our room for the night.
We enjoyed a nice day of work, recuperation, some bikes in the desert, and a fun night out. We woke up the next morning and made the first modification to Helio: our hotel keys wedged and taped into the sliding side windows to stop the constant rattle. We hit the road at 7am for the second leg. Down into the Texas Panhandle, lunch in Lubbock, a stop to see my parents in my hometown Brownwood, into Austin to drop off a battered Zolon at a party, and the last leg down a congested I-35 to San Antonio and Rafaela. Helio made the slow journey home without a hiccup.
The trip to collect Helio encapsulates the inspiration for Corranta: sharing the knowledge, the community, and the fun that can be owning cars and sharing the adventure with friends. Whether you have a slow rattly old Defender, a minivan, or a brand new Honda Civic, all souls car or human: Bem-vindos!
Photos courtesy of Zolon Wilkins