Expedition Imports is owned and operated by Scott Dalton, an

automobile enthusiast whose lifelong obsession with eccentric vehicles

left him with no alternative but to become an expert at fixing them.

Specializing in Land Rover, Volkswagen and anything else you drive, the

shop prides itself on obsessive attention to detail, personalized service

and a spirit of ingenuity that demands: if we can’t find a part, we’ll make it

in the family machine shop. These were principles instilled throughout

Dalton’s upbringing from his father, the owner of an engine rebuilding and

machining business and his late grandfather, the owner of a Volvo and

Volkswagen dealership.

The unofficial start to Expedition Imports was in the early ’80s when an

eight-year-old Dalton began tinkering with a temperamental go-cart. This

was his introduction into the world of mechanical things that do not

always work as they should. From there, it wasn’t long before his paper

route allowed him to buy an aluminum row boat with a rickety

ninehorsepower outboard. Dalton subsequently learned the virtue of the

emergency fix about two miles out into Long Island Sound.

Once he finally graduated to grown-up vehicles, Dalton’s preference for

German engineering and not-so-mainstream locomotion, brought him a

series of Volkswagens: first, a tricked-out, rally-inspired Scirocco, then, a

double-cab Transporter imported from Germany and then a Quantum

Syncro Wagon. Along the way, he also inherited a worn out ’76 Porsche

911, which he meticulously restored from the ground up and retrofitted

with the drivetrain from a new 911 over the course of five years.

While pursuing an active schedule of daily maintenance on his own

growing car collection, Dalton was also working professionally in the auto

industry. He drove his way through college in an auto parts delivery truck,

worked at Jaguar and Volkswagen dealerships and even caught a ride on

the Internet boom, working for a Manhattan-based online auto parts

retailer.

It was while working in Manhattan that the seeds of Expedition Imports

took root. One evening after work, Dalton happened upon a 1963 Land

Rover Series IIa which had become a planter for moss, mud and weeds.

He bought it on the spot for $500 and a six-pack of Heineken, and so

began his love affair with Rovers. Today, the fully restored Series truck

doubles as he neighborhood snow plow in the winter and an unstoppable

expedition vehicle in the summer.

With Expedition Imports, Dalton has built his hobby into a thriving

business working on the vehicles he loves. In an interesting twist of fate,

the shop is located directly across the street from the auto dealership his

grandfather founded in 1963.

Most days, Dalton can be seen riding around the North Shore of Long

Island in one of his two Rovers (and sometimes the Porsche, when it’s

really nice out), or found in the shop late into the night, keeping the torch

lit for lovers of eccentric vehicles everywhere.