Emberton Imperial Ltd

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Emberton Imperial Ltd We source, manufacture and supply high quality parts worldwide for classic Land Rovers, classic cars, tractors and commercial vehicles.

We specialise in 1935-85 British vehicles. Classic vehicles look best, when properly dressed! Formerly known as Emberton & Co, from our origins as 'Charlieccu' on eBay since 2015 we have become the most comprehensive supplier of Land Rover fittings, trim, badges and accessories to complete your rebuild or restoration. We specialise in correct quality;
Decals
Plates
Electrical (Lights, switches and fittings)
Instrumentation
Body Panels
We export daily across the globe. We are Tier 1 suppliers to all original manufacturer classic and continuation programmes in the UK.

It's a small world, and sometimes an even smaller railway!One of the pleasures of supplying parts for older vehicles is ...
10/10/2026

It's a small world, and sometimes an even smaller railway!

One of the pleasures of supplying parts for older vehicles is discovering where they eventually end up.

This week we received an order for a headlamp destined for a Wickham Motor Trolley used for track inspection on the Isle of Man railway. For those unfamiliar with them, Wickham trolleys were small railway vehicles used by platelayers, track maintenance and inspection crews, and have a rather fascinating history of their own.

However, this particular order brought back some very personal memories.

In the late 1980s, I used to help my father, Brian, with NU-CAST, our model railway business, and one of the models we supplied was a Wickham Motor Trolley, produced as a white-metal kit. So, after all these years, to find ourselves supplying a headlamp for a full-sized example is rather a lovely coincidence!

Curiously, we supply quite a few of these same headlamps for all manner of applications. One even ended up on a replica of Gruber's 'little tank' from 'Allo 'Allo!, and most recently we've supplied several to The Action Factory, who build vehicles and equipment for film productions. Quite what they're being used for remains a mystery, but somewhere out there a familiar-looking lamp may be enjoying a second career in front of the cameras!

From miniature railways to full-sized inspection trolleys and film sets, it's remarkable where an apparently ordinary component can end up. It's these unexpected connections, with or without Land Rovers, that make the days at Emberton Imperial so interesting!

Does anyone remember building one of the NU-CAST Wickham kits, or have photographs of the real machines in service?

Enjoy the weekend!

Charles
Charles

Meanwhile, back at Emberton…It's been a busy few weeks since the LRO Show and Automechanika Frankfurt, but despite all t...
04/10/2026

Meanwhile, back at Emberton…
It's been a busy few weeks since the LRO Show and Automechanika Frankfurt, but despite all that, a steady stream of new parts continues to arrive.
The past couple of weeks have brought the first two Searle Carawagon badges for Series Land Rovers, with another two versions still to follow. These are rather lovely things and have sent us down something of a Carawagon rabbit hole in the process.
We've also added stainless-steel washer jets with chrome-plated heads, suitable for Series IIA through to early Defender.
Our stainless-steel door hinge pins now have the correct slotted-pattern heads for Series II through to Defender, including the rear door application. A small detail perhaps, but precisely the sort of small detail we like getting right.
There are also more Defender decals, as usual reproduced from originals rather than someone's recollection of what they looked like.
Finally, we've been working on our own Defender wiper arms. Visits to some of the UK Defender builders we supply highlighted that some currently available aftermarket arms don't seem to sit particularly well on the splined adaptors, so we've been looking at doing something about it.
Not the most glamorous collection of components perhaps, but then keeping old Land Rovers going has always depended rather heavily on the little things.
Anything here you've been waiting for?
Enjoy the Indian summer!
Charles

01/10/2026

One of Linden Jacksons builds, sprinkled with parts from Emberton Imperial, the mirrors on stainless steel black painted arms and grab handles are the easiest to spot!

Automechanika Frankfurt - Part TwoWalking, talking and the occasional unexpected discovery…Firstly, apologies for the de...
28/09/2026

Automechanika Frankfurt - Part Two

Walking, talking and the occasional unexpected discovery…

Firstly, apologies for the delay. As you might imagine, returning from a biennial event with rather more projects than we left with creates a certain amount of work!

As I mentioned in my first post, sourcing parts is rarely a quick process. Some projects take years. With sufficient buying power, volume and time, the process can be shortened considerably, but specialist classic Land Rover components are considered tiny quantities by most manufacturers. And finding somebody capable of making something is really only the beginning.

The remaining three days in Frankfurt disappeared remarkably quickly - talking to existing suppliers, finding new ones and walking. A lot.

Frankfurt Messe has more than 360,000m² of indoor exhibition space - roughly twice that of Birmingham's NEC - and Automechanika makes enthusiastic use of it.

I normally arrive with a list: parts that need retooling, things we think can be improved, samples of obsolete components and, importantly, an opportunistic eye for things I didn't know I was looking for.

AI has become surprisingly useful as another research tool when preparing for shows, although its suggestions still need plenty of checking. But it remains no substitute for walking and talking.

A nice example came while sorting out the retooling of some 101 Forward Control wiper arms. Another visitor appeared, looking for a pair of wiper blades for his Porsche. He only needed two; our supplier's minimum quantities are rather more ambitious, so I was happy to help. The ensuing conversation revealed that the manufacturer is the OEM supplier of courtesy-light switches to Land Rover and makes several other switches we already stock.

Completely unplanned!

And that is really why we still go to these shows.

You can search catalogues, websites and databases from your desk. You can increasingly ask AI to point you in the right direction. But sometimes the useful discovery begins because a stranger needs two Porsche wiper blades while you're trying to reproduce a Land Rover 101 wiper arm.

There will be rather more from Frankfurt over the next few days, including what we actually brought home…

Take care! Charles

Its the first day at Automechanika, with circa 4000 exhibitors its hard to know where to start so I began with old frien...
09/09/2026

Its the first day at Automechanika, with circa 4000 exhibitors its hard to know where to start so I began with old friends and current manufacturers. Its good to meet other suppliers like LR Parts and Heritage Parts who are like ourselves trying to provide durable parts and keep the sons of Solihull on the road.
It was well before dawn when laden and clinking like the tinkers of old we headed to Heathrow, where, despite the Air Traffic Control chaos the previous day our flight left on time.
Patchy clouds lay like a net curtain over France and on into Germany, a notably slim Rhine threaded north and for a history buff like myself I recalled all those lads who travelled in like manner from Lincolnshire 82 or more years ago.
Customs was not the bureaucratic nightmare anticipated and the air train journey passed quickly in the most agreeable company of some gregarious American tourists. In fact if we hadn't found the wrong station it would have been entirely routine! Retracing our steps we found the regional station and headed into Frankfurt hauptbahnhof where similarly ambiguous signage threatened dispatch to somewhere hard to pronounce. So eager was I to avoid an inadvertent mystery tour that we debunked a station early and spent 15 inpatient minutes gazing over the geometric and orderly (though graffiti rich) cityscape before finally arriving at the Messe centre. The security staff were singularly unimpressed by my collection of obsolete Land Rover memorabilia and I was obliged to leave most of my dusty load in the cloakroom in the charge of a brace of bemused gentlemen.
Thus mostly disarmed I made a second attempt to conquer the tectonic ring of security with my remaining trinkets of steel. Predictably they saw through my cunning disguise and a further search ensued. My humour was worn somewhat thin by then and with due and rather hotly stated protest that 'this is simply not on' I was allowed to pass. Salena who had previously passed untroubled with her case was surgically intercepted and her case similarly quarantined. With our remaining parts we went in search of our favourite factories.
The next 6hrs flew by, we are now enlightened in every sense and doubtless the company bank account will experience a similar sensation when the bill arrives. Some of these projects will take a year to complete so I don't want to create unsustainable suspense but we have leads for Series braking & clutch cylinders, series axle parts, some scope to explore early Series 2 sprung base seats, several 101 parts and a few Defender parts.
Its now evening, hotels are at a premium when any such show is in town so a hostel was booked. I can't deny a wry smile escaped my lips at the brand name Shindler adoring the lifts as we headed to the dorms though the shared room had one slight issue in that there was a shortfall in the beds/occupants accounting. Fortunately this has been amicably resolved and we are now listening to mixed hits from the 1950s, eating pizza in an Fawlty-esque enclosed street cafe. The waitress handed us a menu which curiously made oblique reference to the late Maradona, and with current tensions I was reminded of a war I hadn't thought I would have to avoid mentioning in this particular part of Europe! Furthermore a pizza to share wasn't considered worthy of a second plate, neither was the subsequent pizza based nutella dessert. The evening is brightened by a steady procession of ambulances which appear to be either a Doctor led team or service facilitated by the fire department. Most intriguingly one has just passed marked 'Malteser' which reminded me of the ambulances in Zimbabwe brightly branded 'MARS', whatever next? Perhaps a tie up between Nestle and orthopaedics, 'have a break, have a kit-kat? The single Euro cent I found on the floor earlier has just fallen out of my pocket and disappeared between the slats on this floor so I think this will suffice for one day! More news tomorrow 🙄😊

Forty years at the helm.Some news from elsewhere in the Land Rover world that we thought deserved recognition.After 40 y...
07/09/2026

Forty years at the helm.

Some news from elsewhere in the Land Rover world that we thought deserved recognition.

After 40 years as Managing Director of Hobson Industries, Peter Hobson has announced his retirement, handing management control of the company to his sons Geoffrey and Richard, with Richard taking over as Managing Director.

Hobson Industries is one of those remarkable Lincolnshire businesses in a quiet village but whose work extends far beyond simply supplying Land Rover parts. From vehicle refurbishment and through-life support to the remanufacture or reconditioning of engines, gearboxes, axles and other powertrain components. Their work has helped keep civilian, military and NGO Land Rovers working long after many would otherwise have reached the end of the road. We are always thrilled to be one of their chosen suppliers!

Peter summed up the next chapter rather nicely: new management, same company values - integrity, accountability and expectations delivered. Their latest challenges including working with Ineos for the British military replacement for the Defender.

From all of us at Emberton Imperial, congratulations to Peter on his retirement, and our very best wishes to Richard, Geoffrey and the whole Hobson team for the next chapter.

Charles

04/09/2026

We often wonder where parts will end up at Julian's workshop!!

As if there wasn't enough on this week, next week is Automechanika in Frankfurt, we've a few projects in progress but I'...
01/09/2026

As if there wasn't enough on this week, next week is Automechanika in Frankfurt, we've a few projects in progress but I'm always keen to hear your thoughts, tell us in the comments — or, if you've got a particularly obscure one, send us a private message with the part number!

Its really hard to know what to take! If you have any requests please let us know sooner rather than later! No commitmen...
29/08/2026

Its really hard to know what to take! If you have any requests please let us know sooner rather than later! No commitment is required, sometimes it is nice to see what the parts actually look like for future reference ☺️.

Address

Glebe Farm, Fen Road
Boston
PE228HD

Telephone

+447940190996

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